The Great Sandy Strait has almost unlimited barramundi, mangrove jack and threadfin habitat….. you just need to know how to fish it. Fortunately, today’s guest Ryan Holdsworth gives his tips freely and will put you on the right course to success!
Mangrove Jack Fishing Episodes
- Mangrove jack fishing is white knuckle, “take no prisoners” lure casting. Exhilarating and frustrating at the same time! They can be caught in fresh or salt water.
- Mangrove jack love structure, so target areas like rock ledges, sunken logs, pylons, laydowns and mangrove roots. Cast your lure as close to the structure as possible and be ready for a strike at any time.
- Water flow is crucial for mangrove jack fishing and figuring out the tides is key. Look for places where flowing water hits banks, snags, rocks or other structure and jacks will be there.
- You need to be concentrating 100% of the time. Mangrove jack fishing is about the first 1-2 seconds after the fish eats your lure. If you don’t turn the jack in this time he’ll likely run you into the snags.
- Tackle for mangrove jack fishing needs to be in good shape and relatively heavy for the size of the fish. A lure retriever is a “must-have”!
- Soft plastic lures such as paddletails, curltails, shads and so on in 3-5″ sizes, fished on jig heads or rigged weedless.
- Hard bodied diving lures from 75 to 120mm long.
- Floating stickbaits, poppers or other surface lures.
- Soft plastic frogs rigged weedless
Episode 580: Mangrove Jack Roundup With Greg Vinall
Mangrove jack are a popular North Australian specie, but how much do you know about their habits and behaviours?
Episode 547: Fishing Around Exmouth In Spring With Steve Riley
Every time I interview Steve Riley about fishing the Exmouth area I get blown away by the opportunities on offer, but I think this interview could be my favourite so far. Steve spills the beans on five land-based fishing spots that are available to visiting anglers during spring. In the course of the conversation we cover everything from bream and whiting to tuna, reef species and pelagics including monster GT from the beach. What a destination!
Hinchinbrook Winter Mangrove Jack With Adam Royle
They might be considered a “warm-months” species, but Adam Royle fishes for Hinchinbrook mangrove jack right through the winter months with good success – even on topwater lures! In this episode he does a great job of explaining exactly how he achieves good catches of red dogs when the water is a little on the cooler side.
Episode 525: Five Best Queensland Sportfishing Destinations With Damon Olsen
Damon Olsen has spent over 20 years exploring every corner of every reef between Fraser Island and the tip Of Cape York. In today’s episode he walks us through the five destinations he’d really like to go back and fish all over again!
Episode 511: Five Best Winter Fishing Spots In The Wet Tropics With Kim Anderson
The wet tropics rivers and estuaries are often thought of as wet season options, but long time local guide Kim Anderson dispells that myth!
Episode 506: Nigel Webster’s Top 5 Winter Fishing Spots On The Sunshine Coast
Nigel Webster is a long-term Sunshine Coast resident, fishing journalist and TV presenter. In this episode he shares his five favourite places to fish the Sunshine Coast during the winter months, complete with lure list!
Hotspots: Five Best Winter Fishing Spots Around Hinchinbrook
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Episode 481: Gold Coast Mangrove Jack With Owen McPaul
The Gold Coast area is famous for stonking, horse jacks, and today’s guest Owen McPaul catches his share of trophies!
Episode 440: Gladstone Mangrove Jack With Bryce Rodgers
Gladstone anglers are spoilt for choice when it comes to mangrove jack fishing, so today’s ALF podcast guest Bryce Rogers shares some tips for those wanting to take advantage of the opportunities!
Episode 432: Hinchinbrook Channel Mangrove Jack With Jeff Wilton
Hinchinbrook has a well-earned reputation for being a Mangrove Jack hotspot and today’s guest Jeff Wilton is amply qualified to talk us through how to catch them.
Episode 429: Gold Coast Mangrove Jack With Alex Watson
Spring is when mangrove jacks on the Gold Coast pontoons start coming to life and today’s guest Alex Watson sure knows how to catch them!
Episode 406: Bundaberg Mangrove Jack With Daniel Robson
Mangrove Jacks in winter? That’s very doable on the Queensland central coast and Jack specialist Daniel Robson is just the one to tell us how it’s done!
Episode 365: Hinchinbrook Mangrove Jack With Ben Weston
The Hinchinbrook Channel is mangrove jack heaven, with it’s myriad of snaggy, jack infested waters. Ben Weston is a local fishing guide who loves targeting this species in the Hinchinbrook area.
Episode 332: Townsville Mangrove Jack With Hodgie
Hodgie is a celebrated and much loved Australian fishing personality who has become known for his jack fishing prowess since relocating to Townsville.
Episode 326: Maroochy River Mangrove Jack With Luke Opelt
The Sunshine coast can be a top place to chase jacks….. but that doesn’t mean they’re easy! Luke Opelt fishes them often and fishes them hard, and in todays episode he shares his strategies.
Episode 293: Coffs Harbour Mangrove Jack With Shane Holding
The mangrove jacks in rivers around Coffs Harbour are feisty, but fish quite differently to those further north. Our guest for Episode 293 is Shane Holding, who took a decade of jack fishing experience to Coffs Harbour only to find he was on a steep learning curve!
Episode 288: Sunshine Coast Skinny Water Mangrove Jack With Dean Jackson
Dean Jackson of SCF Australia takes us in search of Mangrove jack in his home waters around the Sunshine Coast.
Episode 257: Cairns Mangrove Jack With Phil Laycock
Cairn’s Trinity Inlet is coming of age since the implementation of a net free zone in 2015. Local jack specialist Phil Laycock shares his tips for fishing what he rates as the premier jack destination in Far North Queensland.
Episode 255: Gladstone Mangrove Jack With Daniel Cook
Gladstone boasts numerous estuaries, creeks and inlets that are home to plenty of big, fat jacks. And Gladstone-based kayak angler Daniel Cook has a reputation for knowing how to tame them.
Episode 234: Hinchinbrook Mangrove Jack With Arnie Joseph
The Hinchinbrook area in Far North Queensland is mangrove jack fishing paradise! Local resident and jack obsessed lure fisho Arnie Joseph shares some great tips in Episode 234!
Episode 198: Gold Coast Mangrove Jack With Shaggy Seghers
The Gold Coast is famous for turning out some amazing mangrove jack fishing and Shaggy Seghers has made a fine art of catching them. In this episode we get some great tips for fishing the southern estuaries of the Gold Coast for the tenacious red dogs.
Episode 194: Exmouth Mangrove Jack With Ben Svenson
When it comes to fishing the Exmouth area, most anglers think of reefies or pelagics. Few realise there’s an exciting mangrove jack opportunity that east coast anglers would give their right arm for! Ben Svenson enlightens us in this podcast.
Episode 184: Noosa River Mangrove Jack With Phippsy
Mangrove jack are the thugs of the northern estuary systems and in this episode Noosa fishing personality Andy “Phippsy” Phipps shares his tips and tricks for targeting this great sporting fish.
Hinchinbrook Mangrove Jack With Jimmy Falkenberg
Mangrove jack fishing is usually a heavy tackle, locked drag affair. But North Queensland angler Jimmy Falkenberg catches quality red dogs on 4lb string. In this episode he explains how.
How To Catch A Mangrove Jack On Lures With John Costello
Fishing for mangrove jacks on Queensland’s Gold Coast is white knuckle, nail biting stuff, but local fishing identity John Costello knows more than just a few secrets for taming the red dogs!
Episode 122: Baffle Creek Mangrove Jack With Jason Medcalf
Baffle creek is mangrove jack heaven, their only real worry is Jason Medcalf! Fortunately for us Jase doesn’t mind spilling a few secrets 😉
Episode 33: Bowen Mangrove Jack With Dan Kaggelis
Bowen is a well-kept secret when it comes to mangrove jack fishing. Or it was, until Dan Kaggelis spilled the beans in tis episode on how good the jack fishing can really be – and how you can get in on the act!
Episode 26: Tweed River Mangrove Jack With Brad Smith
The Tweed river offers exceptional fishing for oversized mangrove jacks, and who better to tell us how to catch them than Brad Smith? Brad’s been guiding clients to catch jacks and other species in this area for 25 years and proves he’s a wealth of knowledge.
Episode 18: Nerang River Mangrove Jack With Mick Horn
Mangrove Jack are legendary for their speed, power and aggressive nature. Gold Coast jack guru Mick Horn shares his secrets for targeting this tough sporting species.