How to Catch Mulloway: A Beginner's Guide for Australian Anglers

Mulloway are the fish that turn good anglers into obsessed anglers. Silver flank, big shoulders, croaking call from the swim bladder, and the habit of living in the kind of water you almost cannot reach. They are the most rewarding fish you can target from an Australian shore. They will also break your heart. That is the deal.

This guide is written for someone who has caught a few fish and now wants to chase the next thing. Mulloway are not a starter species in the way flathead are, but the techniques are not complicated either. Patience is the gear that matters most. Every term that might trip you up is explained the first time it appears.

What is a mulloway?

The mulloway (Argyrosomus japonicus) is a member of the croaker family. The croaker name comes from the noise the fish makes by drumming its swim bladder, an audible kuk-kuk-kuk you can hear when one is on the deck. You will hear them called mulloway, jewfish, jewie, silver king, or butterfish for the very small ones. Same fish.

They live in coastal waters from southern Queensland down through NSW, around the bottom of Australia through Victoria, SA, and into southern WA. They are not a tropical fish.

The size classes anglers talk about are:

  • Soapies or schoolies. Up to about 70cm. Silver, small, often in schools. Pull hard for their size but the eating is soft and washy, hence the soap name.
  • Mid-size mulloway. 70 to 100cm. The bread-and-butter target, good eating once cleaned and bled properly.
  • Metre fish. 100cm+. The benchmark catch. Many anglers fish for years to land their first metre jew.
  • Big silvers. 120cm+. Genuine trophies. Most are breeding fish and most experienced anglers release them.

The all-tackle record is over 75kg and about 2 metres long. Most metre fish you catch will be 12 to 18kg.

[IMAGE: Side-on photo of a 1 metre mulloway held horizontally over the water, silver flank visible, large eye and small barbel on the chin]

Where to find mulloway

Mulloway live in three kinds of country. They move between them with the season and the tide.

  • Deep estuary holes. A 4 to 8 metre deep hole in a river or estuary, especially with bridge pylons, oyster racks, or sunken structure nearby. The fish hold deep and feed in the current.
  • Surf beach gutters. Especially deep wide gutters next to a rocky headland or river mouth. Night fishing on a long beach is the classic Aussie mulloway method.
  • Rock platforms and breakwalls. Wash zones around headlands and the rock walls of river mouths. Spring and autumn often fish best here.

State-by-state starting spots

New South Wales

  • Hawkesbury and Pittwater (north of Sydney). The deep holes of the Hawkesbury are legendary jewfish country.
  • Sydney Harbour. The Sow and Pigs reef, deep wharves, and bridge pylons.
  • Botany Bay and Georges River. Captain Cook bridge, the oil wharf, the runway walls.
  • Hunter River (Newcastle). Stockton breakwall is a jewie classic.
  • Clarence River, Macleay River, Hastings, Bellinger. Any big North Coast estuary has resident jew.
  • South Coast beaches. Seven Mile, Pebbly Beach, Bermagui.

Queensland

  • Brisbane River. Big resident jewies hold around the bridges.
  • Gold Coast Seaway and the Tweed. The walls and the channels.
  • Noosa River bar and the deeper holes upstream.

Victoria

  • Gippsland Lakes and the Lakes Entrance bar. Big jew country.
  • Glenelg River (border with SA). Famous for big black-coloured fresh-water-influenced jew.
  • Hopkins, Curdies, and other deep-mouthed western Victorian estuaries.

South Australia

  • The Coorong. Iconic SA jewfish country. Long beach, big fish, lots of patience.
  • Murray Mouth. When it is open, the run of fish is unbeatable.
  • The Onkaparinga and Port River.

Western Australia

  • Swan River. Resident metre fish in the deep holes from the city upstream.
  • Peel-Harvey estuary.
  • The lower Murchison and Gascoyne.

The recurring advice. Pick one piece of water near you and learn it. Mulloway reward time more than they reward travel.

When to fish for mulloway

Mulloway feed on a moving tide, in low light, and most aggressively when the water has some colour and some current. The big windows are:

Two hours either side of the top of the tide on a high tide that lands at dawn or dusk. That overlap of moving water, low light, and a feeding window is the formula. Plan your trips around the tide chart, not your weekend.

The new moon and the full moon. Tidal flow is strongest around the full and new moons (the spring tides). Mulloway anglers plan trips around the moon for a reason.

Run-off and dirty water. A few days after a freshwater run-off into an estuary, when the water has gone brown but not muddy, can be the best mulloway fishing of the year. The fish move up to feed on dislodged baitfish.

Season. Mulloway are around year-round in most places but a lot of the best fishing happens in the warm half, October to April. Some of the biggest fish are caught in late autumn when the water cools and the fish school up to spawn.

The basic setup, what to buy

Mulloway gear is heavier than what you would use for bream or whiting. The fish are big, the water is often dirty, and you need to land them through structure or shore break.

Estuary setup

Rod

A 7 to 7.5-foot medium-heavy spin rod rated 6 to 10kg or 12 to 20lb. The same rod will handle a 1.2 metre jew and a 1 metre flathead.

Reel

A 4000 or 5000-size spinning reel with a strong drag. Daiwa Saltist, Shimano Stradic SW, Penn Slammer.

Line

Braid in 20 to 30 lb. You need the strength for shore-break landings and you need the no-stretch for bite detection in deep water.

Leader

Fluorocarbon leader in 40 to 60 lb. Mulloway are not too leader-shy but they live in structure that will cut you off, so go heavy. Tie about 2 metres of leader to your braid.

Beach setup

For surf fishing, step up to a 12 to 13-foot beach rod, a 6500 to 8000-size reel, 30 to 50 lb braid, and 60 to 80 lb leader. You need the casting distance to reach the back gutter (the deeper trough between sandbars) and the length to fight a fish through the shore break.

The bait and lure list

Mulloway are predators. They want a baitfish, and the more it looks alive the better.

Best baits, in order

  • Live yellowtail, slimy mackerel, or mullet. A live fish lip-hooked on a 6/0 to 8/0 circle hook is the gold standard. Catch the live bait yourself on a small jig in the same water you plan to jew-fish.
  • Live squid. Especially for the bigger fish. Live squid is a mulloway calling card.
  • Fresh dead baits. A fresh slab of mullet, tailor fillet, or a whole pilchard. Fresh is non-negotiable. Frozen bait from a servo will catch fish but live is the killer.
  • Beach worms and pipis. Yes, even big jew will pick up a worm bait fished off the beach. Lower percentage but it happens.

Best lures

  • 7-inch paddle-tail soft plastic. A rubbery lure with a thumping tail. The ZMan SwimmerZ and Berkley Hollowbelly Swimbait in white or pearl are killers.
  • Vibe lures. A flat-sided metal-and-plastic lure that vibrates on the lift. Excellent in deep estuary holes.
  • Stickbaits and large hardbody minnows. Worked through wash zones at dawn.

Four techniques that catch mulloway

1. The live bait drift

In a deep estuary hole at the top of the tide, drop a live yellowtail or mullet down on a circle hook and a small running ball sinker. Let the bait swim naturally. Hold the rod. Do not strike when the bite comes. Let the rod load up. Then start winding. The circle hook will do its job.

2. The plastic on a deep drift

Same hole, no bait. A 7-inch white paddle-tail on a 1/2 to 1 oz jighead. Cast up-current, let it sink, hop it back through the hole with slow lifts. The bite is a heavy thump. Strike hard, then keep winding. Mulloway will let go if you give them slack.

3. Beach fishing the back gutter

Walk a long beach at dusk with a torch. Look for a deep wide gutter close to a headland. Cast a fresh slab bait on a paternoster rig (two hooks on droppers with a star sinker at the bottom) into the gutter. Put the rod in a sand spike. Open the bait runner (a feature on some spinning reels that lets a fish run with the bait freely). When the rod buckles, lift it and engage the reel. Most beach mulloway are caught between dusk and 2am.

4. The breakwall ambush

At the mouth of a big river, jewies hold against the rocks of the breakwall during the run-out tide. Walk the wall, cast soft plastics tight to the rocks, work them slowly back. This is mobile fishing. You might walk a kilometre of wall for one bite. The bite is a railroad smash.

Rigging, the knots you need

Tie your braid to your fluorocarbon leader using an FG knot. For mulloway gear, the FG is non-negotiable because it is the strongest braid-to-leader knot and it passes through the guides without catching on the cast. 30 minutes of practice on the couch and it is yours.

Tie your leader to a circle hook using a snell knot. The snell wraps around the shank and pulls the hook true. Critical for mulloway because circle hooks need to pull straight to set in the corner of the mouth.

Tie your leader to a jighead using a loop knot. The loop lets the lure swing freely and look natural.

Rules, size and bag limits, and looking after the fishery

Mulloway are a slow-growing fish. A 1 metre fish is around 10 to 15 years old. A 1.5 metre fish is closer to 25 years old. Size and bag limits exist to protect breeding stock.

  • NSW. Minimum 70cm, bag limit 2 with only 1 over 70cm.
  • QLD. Minimum 75cm, bag limit 2.
  • Victoria. Minimum 60cm, bag limit 2.
  • SA. Minimum 75cm, bag limit 2.
  • WA. Minimum 50cm (varies by zone), bag limit varies.

Limits change. Always check before you fish.

Releasing a big jew. A metre-plus mulloway is a 15-year-old breeding fish. If you have already kept a fish for the table, take a quick photo of the big one and let it swim. Keep it in the water as much as possible. Support it horizontally, never lift a big jew vertically by the jaw. Their internal organs are damaged when they hang under their own weight. Use a rubberised landing net if you can. Hold the fish gently in the current until it kicks free.

Now go fishing

Mulloway are the fish that teach you patience. They are not always there. They are not always biting. You will sit on a beach in the rain at 11pm with a sand spike and a thermos and nothing on the rod tip, and you will start to wonder why you bother. Then the rod will buckle over and you will know exactly why.

Start small. Fish a deep estuary hole on a moving tide at dawn with a live bait or a 7-inch plastic. You do not have to chase the metre fish on your first trip. A 70cm schoolie on light gear in an estuary is a great catch. Once you have caught one, the bigger fish stops feeling impossible.

We built Harson because we wanted fishing to feel less like a wall to climb and more like a thing you can just start doing. If this guide helped, the rest of our species guides cover Flathead, Bream, Bass, Murray Cod, Whiting, Snapper, and more. Same format, same accessibility-first approach.

Rodney Baker, Harson Outdoors

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