Shroom, the Sydney lure designer behind ShroomTail soft plastics, has put up one of the cleanest live-bait jewfish walk-throughs of the season - and ended it with a 50 cm mulloway boated on the very first proper drop.
The target species was clear from the opening line. "In this video, I'm going to show you how to catch a mullaway, otherwise known as Jewish on live baits," Shroom told viewers as he laid out his gear on the wharf.
The rig was deliberately heavy for an estuary session: a 6-to-12 kg 8T rod, a 4000-size Twin Power reel loaded with 20 lb braid, a snap clip, a glow bead, a heavy-duty swivel, 30 lb leader and a 5/0 circle hook tied with a five-turn uni knot. The sinker was a Star Sinker size two - Shroom paraphrased the sweet spot as anything from roughly 40 g up to 110 g, depending on what the rod could hold.
The live-bait outfit was the opposite. "This is just a really basic 1,000 reel. This is just a 1 to three pound. The important part is I've got a small hook and a split shot," he said, rigging a size 10 long-shank on six-pound leader to harvest yellowtail scad - known locally as yakas - on slithers of pilchard.
The bait grind was as instructive as the main rig. Shroom hooked a Sydney cardinal first ("this is not what I'm after"), then a fat yaka, then a target-sized lollipop yaka that he hooked through the head behind the gill plate and lobbed back out under the wharf lights. "Usually the smaller the yaka, smaller the live bait, the more likely it's going to get eaten," he reasoned.
The first two livies never made it back to the boat. One came up dead with the jaw mangled and the body torn - clearly hit by something with crushing power. The second got smashed near the surface by a green-backed tailor that snipped the 30 lb leader clean off and left the 5/0 circle hook hanging out of its jaw when Shroom lifted it onto the wharf. "Don't put your fingers in there. You'll lose your finger," he warned the camera, releasing the chopper before it could damage itself further.
With only one yaka left in the bait bucket, Shroom rigged the final livey and lobbed it out gently with the glow-tip set as a bite indicator. "One thing about live bait fishing is don't assume that nothing is going to happen. Even if nothing really is happening, you're chasing big fish. You don't have too many opportunities, but when it does happen, you'll know exactly when it happens," he said.
Minutes later the tip lit up. He trusted the circle hook, kept tension on, and after a clean fight under the wharf lights swung the fish up himself, no net assist. The result was a 50 cm mulloway - what Shroom called "the ghost of the estuary, the secret silver" - hooked perfectly in the corner of the jaw on the circle.
The whole fish was photographed, the hook backed out, and the mulloway sent back alive on a three-second tail kick. "That's the catch we all want. That's the stuff that I'm sure everyone's trying to chase," Shroom said as it swam off, before resetting the rig for another go.
For estuary anglers who have never converted on a live-baited jewfish, the takeaway is hard to ignore: a stiff 6-12 kg rod, 30 lb leader, a properly sized circle hook, a small head-hooked yaka, and the patience to outlast tailor bycatch is enough to put a metre-class fish within reach - even off a public wharf.