Seaway Mulloway Fishing Overview

The Seaway produces many mulloway each year and 2010 has seen more caught than ever before.  However 99% of these are undersize from 60-70cm.  With the new Queensland size limit of 75cm this means you need to target the big ones if you want to take one home for the table.  This article will go into detail not only how to catch them on lures but also how to target the bigger fish, it includes information on both lure fishing and bait fishing.

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Tides

Because of the unique structure of the seaway and the fact that there are always eddies regardless of tidal flow, the mulloway in the seaway prefer to feed when there is a bit of run in the water as it brings bait to them without much effort. Mulloway congregate in eddies close to current lines, these change according to the tide so pay attention to what the waters doing.

The Pipeline also yields quite a few fish, but because it is the most exposed to current tends to do so around the ends of the tides as they begin to slow.

Targeting the Big Fish

If you want to catch the big fish consistently then you need to target them with big livebaits, and not just any livebaits, 40cm+ Pike, Tailor or mullet.   Herring, Slimies or yellowtail and lures will generally only catch school size fish with the very occasional larger fish.  Catching quality livies can often be harder than catching the mulloway itself.   Timing is also important, big mulloway are generally only caught at dusk or dawn or during the night, though tidal changes during the day can yeild a good fish occasionally.  You can use a standard running sinker rig but these tend to get stuck on the bottom, I use a custom rig which enables me to fish a livie within a metre of the bottom at all times.  It consists of a standard 2 hook rig(Gamakatsu 7/0) on a metre long 50lb trace this is tied to a swivel then I place a 5mm bead on the upside of the swivel then its tied to a 5 m long shock leader of 40lb then tied onto 50lb braid.  Next part is a sinker(4 oz) on a 1.5m long trace of 12lb mono tied to a clip.  This clip is then attached above the bead.    The sinker is sacrificial and if it gets stuck allows you to easily bust off.  Sounds complicated but it works and works well and enables you to keep your bait within a metre of the bottom at all times.

Lure Fishing Mulloway in the Seaway

Lure fishing for mulloway in the seaway is really comes down to only 2 lure types, Softplastics and Vibration Lures/Blades.  Soft plastics are by far the most popular, technique is simple drop it to the bottom, jig it up, give it a few flicks rinse and repeat ad nauseum.  The Berkeley Jerk shads in 5 & 7 inch size are the most used but others like big curl tails also work.  My favourite method is vibration lures with the Zipbaits Vib 90-35g being my top lure.  Using vibration lures in the seaway requires alot of concentration as the likelyhood of getting stuck on the bottom is high, and if you are not close to the bottom you won't catch anything.  Drop it to the bottom, then lift it up about a metre, then rip it up quick with 3 or 4 jigs then drop it back to the bottom, lift it up about a metre then just let it sit there for 3 seconds or so.  Due to the lifelike appearance of these lures its amazing how many fish will hit them while they are just sitting there.  You can also try  just little jigs moving it up about 30cm or so at a time.

Thats pretty much it, Mulloway are not hard to catch once you figure them out.  They are not the greatest sportfish in the world either but they are a beautiful fish with quite a mystique about them.