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MJ and JP play hard in the jungle
  |  First Published: January 2016



I hope everyone had a great Christmas break! It’s time to open the fishing account for 2016! This is the year to tick those new species of the list and smash a few PBs!

Far North Queensland is such an amazing place to fish. When it comes to wetting a line, there are so many different options. From world class reef fishing, close quarter snag bashing and, of course, the sweet water trekking. Our brilliant fishing is something I don’t take for granted. For the folks that live up this way, we certainly know how lucky we are to have this huge playground for adventure right at our doorstep!

The mangrove jack are still going off this month and will continue to do so for a while as the hot humid weather really sends them into full aggression mode! Keep your lures close to structure and hold on tight because when they hit they will already be on their way back to cover. A nice tight drag setting and some fancy rod work will get you out of trouble most times. But a few bust-offs will inevitably occur in any jack session! But that’s half the fun and what brings us back time and time again!

If you want to get stuck into a few jungle perch this month, it’s worth making a trip to the rainforest country up around the Tully region. If you’re willing to put in the hard yards and trek through the jungle to reach the more secluded places you will be rewarded for your efforts with trophy fish. These honey holes are so much fun. Jungle perch are the ultimate light tackle sports fish – in some cases the JP will hit your lure right at your feet! They fight hard, look amazing, and the country you get to experience in search of them is truly breathtaking!

When targeting the sweet water, a light spin outfit is the way to go. Most of the presentations are very small and in some situations you will want to cast them a long way to avoid giving away your position – especially with jungle perch. You can find yourself walking a few kilometres to reach a honey hole, and in some cases one wrong move can shut down the entire pool. I like to use 4lb braid with an 8lb fluorocarbon leader. The 8lb will normally last an entire session rubbing over rocks and timber without compromising the resilience of the leader. If I could only take one lure with me for my sweet water outings it would be a Zman 2’’ GrubZ. These soft plastics are ten times tougher than anything else out there, and because of their buoyancy they really come to life in the water, even when sitting on the bottom! Rig them on a TT lures HeadlockZ jighead and you have one deadly fish-attracting presentation!

I hope everyone starts this next big year with some great adventures and look forward to catching up with you all next month!

Fish on!

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