Species › Australia & New Zealand › Mulloway (Jewfish)

Saltwater

Mulloway (Jewfish)

Argyrosomus japonicus · jewfish, jewie, butterfish

Water temp
61–73°F
Peak season
Nov–Feb
Best light
Low light
IGFA record
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Mulloway (Jewfish) (Argyrosomus japonicus.JPG)

Photo: Show_ryu · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

OverviewWhere & WhenHow to CatchGearRegulationsRecordsForecastCatches

Overview

Mulloway are elongated, silver-bronze drums with a row of pearly spots along the lateral line and large, mirror-like scales, found around southern Australia from Queensland to Western Australia and also in South Africa, where they are called kob. They patrol estuary holes, breakwalls, surf gutters and inshore reefs, often in small schools, feeding on mullet, tailor, squid and crabs mainly at night and around tide changes. Slow-growing and long-lived, they are closely managed, and the combination of size, rarity and difficulty makes them the most revered inshore trophy in Australia.

Typical size6–20 lb (3–9 kg); 24–36 in
Trophy50 lb+ (23 kg); 70 lb+ is exceptional
Table fareGood — large fish are coarse; smaller 'schoolies' are excellent

Where & when

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Estuary and surf mulloway fish best in the warm months from November to April, with big fish moving into river mouths on summer floods; Western Australia's Murchison River mouth and South Australia's Coorong peak in late summer and autumn.

Hawkesbury River, AustraliaDeep NSW estuary with year-round jewfish holesCoorong and Murray Mouth, AustraliaSouth Australian surf beaches famous for big mullowayMurchison River mouth, Kalbarri, AustraliaWA's best-known shore mulloway fishery

How to catch

Live-baiting deep holesAnchor over a deep estuary hole, bridge pylon or breakwall on the last of the run-out tide after dark and fish a live mullet, yellowtail or squid on a lightly weighted running rig with a 6/0–8/0 hook. Let the fish load the rod before striking.
Soft plastics on the dropWork 5–7 in paddle-tail or jerk-shad plastics on heavy jigheads along drop-offs and gutters, hopping them slowly off the bottom with long pauses. Dawn and the two hours around a tide change are prime.

Gear

Rod7–8' medium-heavy spin, or 12–13' surf rod
Reel4000–6000 spinning
Line30–50 lb braid; 40–60 lb fluorocarbon leader

Lures

large paddle-tail soft plasticssoft vibesdeep-diving hardbody minnows

Baits

live mulletlive squidfresh squid stripsbeach wormstailor fillets

Regulations

Every Australian state sets a minimum size and a low possession limit for mulloway, and NSW requires a recreational fishing license; some regions impose extra restrictions because stocks are depleted. Check the state agency's current rules.

Records

IGFA all-tackle world record: not listed. State and regional records are kept by each fish & wildlife agency.

Frequently asked

Why are mulloway called jewfish?

The name is an old Australian colloquialism of uncertain origin that has been applied to several large fish, and it stuck to mulloway in NSW and Queensland; the species is also called butterfish in South Australia and kob in South Africa. 'Mulloway' comes from an Aboriginal word and is now the official name used in fishing regulations.

Bite forecast — Mulloway (Jewfish)

Recent catches

Posted by anglers on the live map, filtered to Mulloway (Jewfish).

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