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Warwick Joyce

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Cap coast jigging
December 01, 2011, 09:06:36 PM
Hi all, a quick report from the cap coast. The trip started at 2am this morning but had been in the making for a few months. Finally everything lined up, we had the mark, window of weather and most of all enthusiasm that could have rowed the boat out there ;D
Man it was dark when we left the marina, no moon and slightly overcast, but we pushed onward at a cautious 40km/h hoping for no loud thuds :o A couple of hours later we were in the zone, bottom found and jigs tied on. Johan was the first down and up boating a nice nanniguy for the esky, next up it was myself and not far into the retrieve I was on! Not a big fish by any standards but it was the species we were chasing- Amberjack :D
Another few small models came up before Pat was absolutely smashed on the drop 8) First calls were a shark, there aren't many species in these waters that hit that hard and go! Pat was using a no name overhead (ebay special) and was fast running out of line! After a short chase in the boat, to prevent more line out, Pat had his head turned- but that didn't mean it was going to be easy!
I give full credit to guys who pull xos ambers as these things can fight good :D
A few sweaty minutes later Pat boated a great fish of about 20kg (? estimated). About half an hour later it was the same story all over again, Pat gets smashed on the drop. No boat chase this time but it still gave a good workout.
Things quietened down a bit as the tide slowed and finding bait balled up was getting harder, then we found a nice bump with fish hanging off the side. First it was Johan locked on for a few minutes only to drop midway up. Then it was Pat on again to a nice fish and I thought I'd better get my line out to make way. So I started winding like hell only to be pulled straight back to the bottom! Double hookup ;D
A pair of nice fish boated estimated at 13-15kg (?)
All in all a ripper trip considering we only jigged for about 2 1/2 hours, first time chasing amberjack and first time for Johan jigging! What a way to break him in ;)
Rods, reels and lures were nothing special, z4500h, twinpower 6k, Maria and Williamson jigs

Cheers









Graham Scott

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Re: Cap coast jigging
December 01, 2011, 09:44:20 PM
nice work warwick. they're good AJ's for CQ

Travis Heaps

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Re: Cap coast jigging
December 02, 2011, 09:54:01 AM
Boom!  That awesome MC, itchin to get out there and give them a shot now.

Doug Lindsay

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Re: Cap coast jigging
December 02, 2011, 09:10:17 PM
Nice work Warwick! Any further clues as to your location? :)

Mark Harris

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Re: Cap coast jigging
December 02, 2011, 11:50:01 PM
Nice fish Warwick and well done.

Amberjacks are one of my very favourite species to target. Fantastic sport and also they CnR very well. One day I would love to fish for them on the topwater as they do on the eastern seaboard of the US.

What jig weights do you need on the Cap Coast?  Just idle curiosity.

Jay Burgess

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Re: Cap coast jigging
December 03, 2011, 02:33:11 PM
Love your work. Nice sized AJ's  8)

Would love get a chance to have a crack at them!

Warwick Joyce

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Re: Cap coast jigging
December 03, 2011, 07:08:50 PM
Nice work Warwick! Any further clues as to your location? :)

Thanks Doug!

Sorry I cannot disclose the location, apart from saying yeppoon, as far too many fish are not released by local anglers :-[

Mick Cunningham

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Re: Cap coast jigging
December 03, 2011, 07:09:45 PM
Well done warwick and others

didn,t know there was any AJs up there ...
all i caught was the nanniguy  ;) ...
would be nice to give them a crack .... ::)

Doug Lindsay

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Re: Cap coast jigging
December 03, 2011, 08:30:05 PM
Nice work Warwick! Any further clues as to your location? :)

Thanks Doug!

Sorry I cannot disclose the location, apart from saying yeppoon, as far too many fish are not released by local anglers :-[
All good mate. I know what you mean. I don't know who could be bothered bringing home a massive box full of fish and having to deal with it :( But plenty still do.

Mark Harris

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Re: Cap coast jigging
December 03, 2011, 08:34:58 PM
Keep it secret Warwick and more power to you on that.  Ajs are poor eating but I am sure there are plenty who would still fill up a boat with them.

Warwick Joyce

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Re: Cap coast jigging
December 03, 2011, 08:42:11 PM
Cheers Doug ;D

Hey Mick, you'll have to come up sometime and go for a ride in my boat, I'll take you to the AJ field!

Mark, I was running Maria Flame (?i think) jigs around the 120g range, pat had Williamson abyss 180g and up. I generally run between 120 and 230. You have to go a fair way to get out into water deeper than 50m so those weights are plenty.

Mark Harris

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Re: Cap coast jigging
December 03, 2011, 08:49:57 PM
Wow those are light jigs.... gentle currents up there I guess.  Lucky man to have a decent Amberjack fishery reachable with such light jigs.

Kaiser Pro Shop

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Re: Cap coast jigging
December 04, 2011, 03:33:21 PM
Awesome stuff!

Luke Wyrsta

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Re: Cap coast jigging
December 04, 2011, 08:30:26 PM
Well done Warwick. There are some monster AJ's up there - someone just needs to put in the time!

Warwick Joyce

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Re: Cap coast jigging
December 04, 2011, 08:40:37 PM
Cheers Luke, I'm sure there are going to be bigger ones somewhere! Just a matter of finding them. These were only 1 population, there has to be more ;D
It was nice seeing a good range of sizes in that area, it shows a healthy breeding population.
Maybe finding the bigger ones requires bigger jigs? To target the larger ones more?
I'm interested in others thoughts on jig size and profile when they target larger AJ's.