THE GREAT ONES

For those of us who fish temperate waters, mulloway are a prize catch usually made at great effort. Night is the most productive period to fish and patience is a must. But be warned, the chance of addiction is rife and as numbers increase, the addiction is not satiated, but rather grows exponentially. Cure is hard and cold turkey, a nightmare! Mulloway men and women develop a single minded obsession to the point where all other fish species lose their appeal. Each big fish creates its own memory … but never like the first one.

Reportedly, “mulloway” is an indigenous word meaning “the greatest ones”, and it fits perfectly. Whilst, “jewfish” is a shorter version of "jewelfish" which originated in days past when the oversized ear bones (otoliths) of mulloway were collected for use as jewellery. Whatever you call them, there is a code to be cracked and the opportunity to catch quite a number of fish over time. Multi mulloway trips whilst not a regular event, do occur and most experienced anglers have experienced the odd mind-blowing adventure. That said, and it can’t be stressed enough, that mulloway stocks have been decimated over the last few decades