Episode 162: Airlie Beach Red Emperor With Tony Bygrave

Tony’s Top Tips For Red Emperor Jigging

• A big part of jigging red emperor is finding the fish. Tony reckons you want a quality sounder with a powerful through hull transducer that will allow you to mark fish and structure at speed in depths of 50-80m. Once found, reds are aggressive and usually aren’t too hard to tempt with a well presented jig.
• A good place to start fishing for reds is the “fern grounds”, which are relatively flat areas between Airlie and the reef where there are gravelly and sandy patches with occasional small bumps in about 50m of water.
• Selection of the right size jig is critical, it needs to reach the bottom at a given depth, wind and current and be worked vertically.
• Persistence, backing yourself and relying heavily on your electronics are all part of the red emperor jigging equation.
• It’s important to accumulate a bunch of marks over a period of time. Red emperor seem to move between isolated lumps on the bottom in otherwise relatively featureless bottom, so move between your marks until you find where they’re holding.
• Best fishing tends to be in the days leading up to the new moon, especially if a tide change coincides with the low light periods around dawn and dusk. Light winds are important not just for angler comfort and safety but for ensuring the boat isn’t drifting too quickly.
• Red emperor jigging is a year-round option in the Whitsundays, but during the winter the better quality fish seem to come in closer to shore in the areas between the reef and the shore.

Tony’s Red Emperor Jigging Tackle

• Shimano Ocea Jigger 1500 baitcast reel on Zenaq Fokeeto 645 jigging rod with YGK PE4 braid and YGK 60-70lb fluorocarbon leader.

Tony’s Best Red Emperor Lures

• Xesta slow flap jig 100-150g. Free spool it to the bottom, thumbing the spool as it drops. Watch for signs of the lure being taken on the fall and be prepared to set the hook several times to penetrate the hard mouth of the red emperor. Work the lure up with small lifts to around 5-10m off the bottom and drop it down again. Once the drift is such that the lure is no longer vertical, crank it back to the rod tip and drop again for another run.
• Lamble Bait half pitch jig is fished in the same way as the Xesta, but can be worked a little more aggressively.
• A large Zerek Cherabin on a 2oz jig head is deadly on red emperor, but as with all soft plastics in deep water can only really be fished effectively during the tide changes on glassed out days. Other times the weight required to get this lure to the fish is too great and spoils the lure action.

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