Trolling for Big River Reds by Greg Carter

Mangrove jack are one of Queensland's most treasured estuarine sport species. Just about every serious saltwater angler tries to tackle these brutes at one time or another, often with mixed results and always with some tall tales to tell.

They are caught in northern NSW in smallish numbers but as you travel north along the Queensland east coast their density thickens until you reach the Cape, and then it tapers off slightly as you venture back down into the Gulf of Carpentaria. Although the numbers of jacks caught in South East Queensland (SEQ) are lower than in Tropical North Queensland (TNQ), the average size is much bigger.

Over 6 years of recreational fishing and guiding on the Cape and in Cairns I seldom caught or saw clients catching jacks over the 50cm mark. I have seen literally hundreds caught in the 40s, but rarely bigger.

In the Noosa River during October 2011 I saw at least 12 over 50cm landed from my boat alone and I know many others were having similar success, so it's safe to say that there are some big jacks down south.

My theory is that the further north you travel the earlier in their breeding cycle they head offshore to the reefs and therefore there are fewer really large jacks found in northern estuaries and rivers.