Jack Lives Here By Arlen Bowtell
This is my first article and at the time of writing this, I’m only eight years old. Today I’m going to tell you a story about my mangrove jacks and me.
Mangrove jack are my favourite fish because they are red which is also my favourite colour and they are the perfect strength for me to reel in. They are also very good eating, which I love!
Me with my first ever mangrove jack of 38cms
My biggest mangrove jack I’ve caught is 48cm up in the Herbert River among five other mangrove jacks for the day. There were two boats. In my boat with me was my grand-dad who you probably know as Bill Bowtell, Jamie Giliberto and Kerry Giliberto. In the other boat was Claudia Giliberto, Andrew Bowtell, which is my dad, Quin Bowtell, my brother and my grandma Lorraine Bowtell. I’ve caught many mangrove jack with lures, mullet and live herring which dad gets in the cast net.
Me and Grandma, Lorraine, with my mangrove jack I caught in the Hinchinbrook Channel.
My second favourite fish is barramundi, but sadly I’ve never caught one. My third favourite is Spanish mackerel which we go out on the ocean for at Cordillia Rocks in Townsville. We troll baits to catch them and dad has caught some big ones, but we’ve had lucky days and unlucky days. Spanish mackerel are also very good eating!
Dad, Andrew, with a big 14.8kg Spanish we caught trolling.
Fishing is one of my favourite sports and I love getting out of the house and getting fresh air, especially when we go up the creeks in the Hinchinbrook channel and around Townsville chasing mangrove jack. Over the last couple of years since I got my new rod I’ve caught many mangrove jacks. They can be a pest sometimes running you into snags and busting your line, I guess they just don’t want to get caught today by me. You have to be careful holding them for a picture because they have sharp teeth and a bad attitude and they always try and bite you when you have to get the hook out, so dad says to keep your fingers away.
Me, with a 39cm grunter whilst chasing jacks. I had to let him go as he was too small.
I want to catch more mangrove jacks on lures but I need to practice casting more. Some days I even go outside and put a sinker or a lure on and just cast my line in the back yard to get better.
Fishing is important to me because when I was born and only a couple of months old we went fishing and I’ve always loved it ever since, especially when we go for jacks!
