First Jewfish of Winter - Georges River

It was about this time last year that we started getting a few jewfish in the Georges and now that the ABT/Hobie series is finished for a few months (there is still the Squidgy Southern Series though), I thought I'd try to tangle with a few of my other favourite fish. It had to be a mid-week assault though as my weekends are pretty much tied up with family sport, so I ventured out for an early morning half-hour to catch dinner.

With a 10 knot SW blowing, it was a bit cooler than Forster a few weeks back but the water wasn't as discoloured as I thought it would be. No boats out here and I hoped I'd hook up quickly and be back for a warm shower before work.

Thankfully I came up trumps and at 51 cms, it's an ok start to the season. This guy was caught on a Strike Pro Blade lure and gave a very decent account of himself, seeing as I hooked him on 4lb braid and 8 lb leader.

Feeling that tell-tale head-shake reverberate up the line is just magic and I'm hoping it'll be another few months of peering over the side waiting to see these silver-purple fish rise out of the depths to a waiting net (or gaff )! My biggest to date is 82 cms (and that's the one in the DVD) and I'd love to crack the meter mark this winter.

Maybe I'll have another crack this week as this one went down a treat. I prepared a home made curry paste of onion, garlic, eschallots, ginger, chilli, fresh tumeric, coriander, cumin, clove, salt, pepper and lime zest, coated the fillets and baked them wrapped in foil. Superb!

Yep, I've gotta get some more...

cheers,

Cid