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Mulloway Rigs


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Hey guys,Wasnt going to post up but i have had enough with missing mulloway.Me and my mates have been doing alot of fishing in westlakes for mulloway at the moment. I have had no dramas in locating and getting runs but i just cant seem to hook them.I have had them scream off and striked, i have waited for the 2nd run, i have waited a minute while its swam around deciding what to do and just cant pull off a hook up. I usually find i have yanked them back out its mouth they either come back alive with a few marks, dead with no marks, or the back of the tail has teeth marks. I have always ran a single hook usually a 6/0 if its a larger bait ill run a 8/0 always pin them in the back. I went 2 hook rig tonight, one in the back of the head and other above its tail, missed a hook up but that might have just been bad luck. Im also thinking about going a hook through its mouth and pin a treble though the back of its tail thoughts on this?.I see alot of people have there drags preset but thats a bit hard where we fish im using a bait runner so i have it backed off then wack it into gear.Any help is apprecaited on the best way to increase the hook up, its killing me inside. ;)

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Ay bud are you using circle hooks. If not use em there great for that sort of thing. If they bite it you will pin em in corner mouth deep then there buggered normally.

This is the way to go, since i changed to circles my hookups have been far greater and a lot more success on landing them. ;) :woohoo: I also only use the one hook through the top lip/nose. Hope this helps you. ;)
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I know snapper are slightly different to Jewies, but my last Big Red was caught on a live slimey Mackeral and I feel the technique mentioned below is a sure fire method to knock over some big West Lakes Jews.This mackeral was rigged on two snoozed 6/0 Gammakatsu Octopus circle hooks. One was put through its top lip only and the second was rolled under its spine so point of hook was facing its head but deep enough not to paralyse it by hitting its spine.The big red gobbled it up and hooked it plum in the jaw on Patternoster rig witht he slimey swimming/being suspended a foot off the bottom.worth trying this rig for Mullies. I anchor mine to the bottom with a 3oz lead and my trace is normally only like a foot and a half long.Heres the result if your yet to see it26.9lbSARed.jpg

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You'll get them on bait ( if you can hook them unlike me lol) and lures. Thanks for that boys what do you boys recommend brand and circle hook size? Do you use a running rig with the circles? Also being bait runner do you just flick it into gear or do u tighten the drag slowly, I'm not a big fan of that because I don't know what drag I'm running. Should I put pressure on the main run or wait until they slow. Thanks guys

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My Live baits are always fished in Gear with fighting drag dialled in.Ie the hooks set immediately as it goes to swim off with the bait. The reel has the drag set ready to fight fish. The only disadvantage if you where mulloway fishing and sitting on land is you would have to hold your rod. On the boat we can put in A STURDY rod holder provided we trust that the rod holder won't get bent and the rod subsequently pulled out and pulled into the water.The other thing I forgott to mention is the spacing of the two circles. I have em spaced about 10cm apart but you could space them up to 15cm for whole live big mulletForgett runs...when using circles, when theyve bit theyve been hooked. Dont strike, just let your rod load up, slow lift and baam your on!

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Thanks for that boys what do you boys recommend brand and circle hook size? Do you use a running rig with the circles? Also being bait runner do you just flick it into gear or do u tighten the drag slowly' date=' I'm not a big fan of that because I don't know what drag I'm running. Should I put pressure on the main run or wait until they slow. Thanks guys[/quote']Gamakatsu, for livebaiting for mullies I'll use 4/0, 5/0 or 6/0 depending on the size of the bait. With circles just have the drag set and let them hook themselves.
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I haven't deliberately caught a jewies from shore, but here's what I do in the Port from my tinny;I use a spin reel with 30lb braid and run an easy rig plastic slider on it with a small bit of line 10cm to a snapper lead depending on current or the.size and energy of the live bait. The braid goes to a swivel, and 40lb mono trace is.used. I Snell 2 6/0 gammagatsu octopus hooks (never circles). I hook my st or tommie once through the shoulder and once on the tail so that the bait is facing out head first away from my trace. I fish almost full strike and will turn my drag up a half turn to where I like it for the fight. For a live bait this it what happens for me.... The Jew just smashes and starts ripping line, if this happens I strike bloody hard! Or, the livey might get excited and cop a knock. Knock knock on the.rod as the.Jew gets it in its mouth how it wants to go down the hatch, I hold the rod in anticipation and as soon as line starts ripping I strike hard as and hook the bugger. Any fish I've lost has been 95% shit angling, shit gear or bad luck, very rare I miss a fish if it is ripping line.Heaps of people dissagree with how I go about things, ie no circles, rigging the hook face out and smashing a strike at the.first sign of a run, but hey, I've done not too bad of late, and only lost my massive dream mully due.to poor.quality mainline. Won't make.that mistake again.But hey, you've caught a mulloway in Westlake :clap: I haven't ;)

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:clap::d/ Got to agree with everything your saying there Jack. If your not using circles you should hit it hard when it first bites. Bugger giving the fish a chance to swim with it and drop the bait.I dont let snapper run with it or Jewies run with it. :dry: I learnt quickly when I owned my baitrunner that using the baitrunner feature was causing me more lost fish than when I didnt use the baitrunner mode.Brett
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Personally I dont like circle hooks,I prefer suicide style hooks, always use two hooks for mulloway, massive difference in hook up rate. Agree with Surf generally larger fish tend to hook themselves, simply engage the reel and wait for the rod to double over, usually mullies hit the turbo button at this stage. How soon you strike would depend on hook and bait size, half a pilly on a 4/0 you could strike asap,Legal bream with two 10/0s in it may wanna give it some extra time.

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@ JackYou dont find having your livey facing outward makes them more likely to drown ?
Glad you asked ;) If there is enough current to drown my livey' date=' then I don't reckon you need a live bait as a normal deadbait will present nice and natural in a decent current :)[/quote'] Still would use a livey over a dead bait no matter what the current. Only use dead baits when i can't manage to get any livies. ;) :woohoo:
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Thanks for all the replys, issue i will have is keep drag tight. Ill take 2 rods, give circle hook on the bait runner and a double hook setup on the other. See which one does better. I wont piss about with what they are doing with the fish as soon as i get to the rod ill give it a wack.I have found in my experiance in the lake, they either grab it and scream off, then you find your line gets slack then rips heaps tight constantly, you can feel the fish through the rod.Or they take off with a quick little burst then does as above goes slack and tightens up.

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I've fished westlakes alot for mullys and rarely do i miss a hook up.What tend to do and consider you try it,even if only on one rod is to use you're 2 hooks snelled 5/0s preferably thin wired gauge depending on bait size, but only pin one hook,closest to rod tip through shoulder of live bait eg(trumpeter)letting the other freely swing, using a simple bean sinker and swivel running rig.most important thing is to not let fish run with bait, have drag reasonably tight but not fighting drag,when the mully grabs the bait he will mouth it and run thats when he'll spit it out,having the drag tighter than normal running always pins them staight away on either hooks,usally in corner of mouth.Somehow it works and i've had good success.

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  • 4 months later...

I always run 2 J hooks between 5/0 and 8/0 on 50lb sunline shock leader. Centuri on the bottom hook and the standard snell on top hook all on the same line. For drag i run very loose drag, so you can pull it easily with your hand without resistance and then when it starts taking line tighten up and set hooks. Seems to work well and i dont get many bust off.As for bait i have got em on dead pilly's but live trumpeters work best followed by mullet.

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