Mangrove Jack
name: Mangrove Jack
other names: Red Bream, Dog Bream, Saltwater Bass.
The colour of mangrove jack is quite distinctive, varying from bright reddish-brown to dark olive-brown. Fins have a pinkish hue, with the tail generally a darker shade. Each scale has a dark spot, which gives the appearance of crisscrossing lines on the body. Juveniles possess a blue line below the eye, which is also often evident on the adult. The mangrove jack is an extremely strong fighter and regularly finds shelter among submerged snags, making them a very challenging recreational species.
Mangrove Jacks live in estuaries, rivers or tidal creeks until they reach sexual maturity. They then move to offshore reefs. Sometimes they are found well up in the freshwater reaches of rivers. Mangrove Jack prefers dense cover, and when they attack fish, bait or lure, they dive back into that cover, often resulting in snags and cut lines. When they are on offshore reefs they are much easier to capture, but they are a very powerful fish.
Mangrove jacks are considered one of the premier estury sport fish, growing to over 16 kilo. They are a mid-water to bottom feeder that relies on underwater structure to ambush food and elude capture.
Like other fish from its group, mangrove jacks are thought to produce a large number of pelagic eggs, spawning in estuaries.
Mangrove jacks respond well to lures cast into heavy cover. The angler needs to exercise authority soon, or risk getting busted off by these strong characters .The initial explosive hit, dogged fight, and not uncommon bust-up, often leaves the angler in awe of the fish's power. Popular techniques for catching these include trolled or cast lures, fly-fishing, as well as live and dead bait fishing.
