Getting jacked in the South East by Simon Goldsmith

Highly-strung, aggressive and with a reputation for a crash-and-grab approach to living, mangrove jack are a fish that all light tackle anglers, both experienced and inexperienced, dream of catching.
Found and caught throughout Queensland, it's perhaps in the southeast of the state where they are most revered. Here they occupy the mantle as the premier sportfish of the estuary. A species that has benefited from urban development and the increased abundance of habitat (bridges, pontoons, jetties), mangrove jack in the southeast can be found in good numbers and in XOS sizes. While they are abundant in numbers they are far from easy to catch, with limited bite windows, bust-offs, weather, and gear failures just a small selection of things that can influence angling success and consistency. Mick Horn, Alex Roy, and Dean Thomson are three anglers that in many ways have unearthed the keys to jack fishing success, and through hundreds of hours on the water have cracked the jack code. Here are their insights.
TIME TO GO
It's no secret that mangrove jack come to life once the weather starts to warm. However, different anglers start targeting these fish at different times...