A trophy mulloway caught in a Perth river

Mulloway Fishing Guide: Best Lures, Bait & How to Catch Mulloway

Every Perth angler has a mulloway story. The one that screamed off at the Narrows Bridge and vanished into the dark. The "bream" that turned out to be a 70 cm mulloway on 4 lb leader. The night you heard them croaking under the jetty and couldn't buy a bite.

Mulloway, also called jewfish, jewies, silver ghosts or croakers, are one of the most prized fish you can catch from the shore in Australia. They grow huge, fight hard, and can be maddeningly hard to catch consistently. Landing a big one from the bank is a lifetime highlight for most anglers. The good news is that Perth is one of the best places in the country to catch one, and with the right approach they're more catchable than their reputation suggests.

This guide covers how to fish for mulloway and how to catch jewfish (they're the same fish): where and when to find them, the best bait and rigs, the best lures, the right gear for the river, beach and rocks, and whether mulloway are good eating.

A mulloway caught from a Swan River jetty in Perth

Understanding Mulloway

Mulloway (Argyrosomus japonicus) are big predatory fish found from Exmouth in WA right around the southern half of Australia to southern Queensland. They live in estuaries, rivers, surf beaches, rocky headlands and offshore reefs. On the east coast they're usually called jewfish or jew. It's the same fish.

Names and sizes

  • Soapies: small mulloway, up to about 80 cm. Common in estuaries.
  • Schoolies: mid-sized fish that often travel in schools.
  • Silver ghosts: the big ones, which are usually solitary or in small groups. They can grow to well over a metre long.

Life cycle

Juvenile mulloway grow up in estuaries, then move out to sea as they get bigger. They're slow-growing, taking around six years to reach breeding size at about 70–80 cm, and they can live for more than 30 years. That's why so many anglers choose to release smaller mulloway: a 50 cm fish hasn't bred yet and won't for years.

Behaviour

Mulloway are mostly night-feeding ambush predators. They use structure like bridge pylons, reef edges, deep holes and jetty pilings to ambush bait washing past in the current. They feed close to the bottom most of the time, but will come right up into shallow water and even hit surface lures at night.

They make a grunting, croaking sound with their swim bladder, which is where the name "croaker" comes from. On a quiet night in the river, you can sometimes hear them.

A trophy mulloway caught in a Perth river

Where to Catch Mulloway in Perth

The Swan and Canning Rivers

The Swan River is one of the most accessible mulloway fisheries in Australia, with metre-plus fish caught within sight of the CBD. Look for structure, current and a change in depth, especially rock edges dropping into deep water.

  • Narrows Bridge: the best-known mulloway spot in Perth. Deep water, strong tidal flow and bridge pylons. Fish at night on the tide.
  • The Causeway: deep water and structure, fished much like the Narrows.
  • Canning Bridge and Mount Henry Bridge: big mulloway are caught here. The pylons create structure and current breaks.
  • Mosman Bay and Blackwall Reach: deep holes and rocky edges.
  • Point Walter: the deep water along the edges of the sand spit.
  • The Fremantle bridges and East Fremantle: structure, current and deep water.
  • The Canning River: Kent Street Weir, Riverton, Shelley Bridge and Salter Point.
  • The upper Swan: big fish push a long way upstream, as far as Bassendean.

Metro beaches and breakwalls

  • North and South Moles: year-round, especially at night.
  • Ocean Reef and other boat harbours: at night under the lights.
  • Surf beaches south of Rockingham: Secret Harbour, Golden Bay, Madora and Singleton, where deep gutters come in close.
  • Metro beaches after a storm: Cottesloe, City Beach, Floreat, Trigg and Mullaloo.
  • North of Two Rocks: 4WD beaches with far less fishing pressure.

Further afield

  • Mandurah and the Peel region: the Mandurah and Dawesville Cuts, the Murray River and the estuary.
  • Preston Beach: a well-known surf mulloway beach.
  • Kalbarri: the Murchison River mouth after floods is legendary mulloway water, when dirty flood water meets clean sea water.
  • The south-west: the Blackwood River at Augusta and the Leschenault Estuary.

Around Australia

The Coorong in South Australia is famous for its surf mulloway, and the jewfish of the NSW rivers, breakwalls and beaches (like Stockton Bight) are a national obsession. The same principles work everywhere: structure, current, darkness and fresh bait.

Angler holding a big river mulloway caught in Perth

When to Catch Mulloway

Time of day

Dusk to dawn is prime time. The hour either side of sunset and sunrise is often best, but serious mulloway anglers fish well into the night. Daytime mulloway are caught occasionally in deep holes, but night fishing is where the consistency is.

Tide and moon

  • The tide change is often when the bite happens, especially when it lines up with dusk, dawn or the middle of the night.
  • The rising tide is generally the most productive in the river and on the beach.
  • Darker nights around the new moon are usually best. A bright full moon on a flat, calm night is often the toughest combination.

Season

  • Swan River: fish are present year-round. Big mulloway move into the river in spring (around September and October) and spawn over early summer. Summer is generally the peak for numbers.
  • Beaches: summer nights are prime, and winter storms push fish into the gutters.

Weather

Rough weather and rain are your friends. Storms stir up the water, disorientate baitfish and push them into the shallows. After heavy rain, dirty fresh water flushes bait down the rivers, and mulloway feed along the edge where the dirty water meets clean water, and along the rock walls. If the forecast looks rough, that's often your cue to go.

Best Bait for Mulloway

Bait is the traditional way to catch mulloway, and still the most productive, especially from the beach. The golden rule is fresh bait wins. Mulloway will often ignore frozen or stale bait that other fish would happily eat.

  • Live bait: the best bait of all. Live herring, mullet, yellowtail scad (yakkas), tailor or whiting.
  • Fresh tailor fillet: probably the best dead bait for mulloway. A thick slab on a pair of snelled hooks is hard to beat.
  • Fresh mullet fillet: equally good. Cut it thick so it stays on through casting and current.
  • Squid: whole squid or squid heads, fresh if possible. Catch your own with our squid fishing guide.
  • Pilchards (mulies): readily available and have caught plenty of mulloway.
  • Beach worms: a surprisingly good surf mulloway bait, especially when big baits aren't working.
  • Crabs: mulloway eat crabs, and they're worth trying in the estuary.

The best tip of all: catch your bait the afternoon before, or on the day. A fresh herring or tailor fillet will out-fish frozen bait almost every time.

Angler holding a mulloway caught from the beach at night

Mulloway Rigs

Mulloway pick up a bait gently, mouth it, and move off slowly. If they feel resistance, they drop it. So the key to every mulloway rig is letting the fish take the bait without feeling the weight.

Running sinker rig

The standard mulloway rig from the beach and in the river. Thread a sinker onto your main line, add a swivel, then a 1–2 m leader and your hooks. The sinker slides, so a mulloway can swim off with the bait without feeling it. Use the lightest sinker that holds the bottom. On the beach, a Vexed Lumo Grapnel grips the sand in current.

Paternoster and pulley rigs

In heavy surf and around rocks, a paternoster or pulley rig holds the bait in place and snags less. Pre-tied options include the Vexed Premium Ultimate Mulloway Paternoster, the Vexed Mulloway Surf Rig and the Vexed Double Snell Surf Pulley Rig.

Slide baiting

To reach deep outer gutters from the beach, cast a heavy grapnel sinker out first, then slide a live bait or big fish bait down the main line to it on a clip. It lets you fish big baits a long way out without casting them.

Hooks and leader

  • Circle hooks (6/0 to 10/0) are excellent for mulloway, especially with the rod in a holder. The fish mouths the bait and moves off, and the hook finds the corner of its jaw. Try Owner SSW Circle or BKK Monster Circle hooks.
  • Snelled hooks (two hooks tied in tandem) give good coverage on big fish baits.
  • No wire needed. Mulloway don't have cutting teeth. A 40–60 lb mono or fluorocarbon leader is plenty. Oceans Legacy Duelist Shock Leader is ideal.

Browse our hooks and rigs.

Let them run

This is where most mulloway are lost. Fish with a light drag or a Baitrunner reel (like the Shimano Baitrunner), so the fish can take line without feeling resistance. When the line starts peeling off steadily, engage the drag and wind until you're tight. With circle hooks, don't strike, just wind and lift. Mulloway usually make two powerful runs. Let the first one go, and don't try to stop it with a locked drag.

Off the rocks, a mulloway often picks up the bait and swims towards you, so the bite shows as the line going slack rather than a pull. Wind fast until you're tight, then set the hook.

Best Lures for Mulloway

Lure fishing for mulloway has taken off, especially in the Swan River. It's active and exciting, and very effective once you learn it.

Angler holding a river mulloway caught at night on a soft plastic swimbait

Soft plastics

Big soft plastics (5–7") fished slowly near the bottom are the most consistent mulloway lures. Cast out, let the plastic sink to the bottom, then hop it back with slow, deliberate lifts of the rod. Most bites come as it falls.

Rig them on a TT HeadlockZ HD jig head from 1/2 oz to 1 oz, heavy enough to get down in the current. For swimbaits, TT Enforcer Swimbait Jigheads give a natural swimming action, and the BKK Titan Dive Swimbait Hook is great for rigging weedless around heavy structure. Browse all soft plastics.

Soft vibes

Soft vibes hopped along the bottom around bridge pylons and deep rock edges are one of the most productive mulloway lures in the river. Hop them off the bottom and let them fall back on a semi-slack line. The bite usually comes on the drop. Try the Samaki Vibelicious 100 and 125, or the Jackall Transam 96.

Swimbaits

Around structure at night, a slow, steady swimbait looks just like a baitfish drifting past a mulloway's ambush point. Try the Jackall Chibitarel Dead Rise or Bite Science BioBait Jointed Swimbait. See our swimbaits.

Angler holding a mulloway caught on a hardbody lure in the Swan River

Hardbody minnows

Slim minnows worked slowly around structure, along rock walls and through the surf imitate the mullet and baitfish mulloway feed on. The Duo Tide Minnow Slim 120 and 140 are proven mulloway lures. Off the rocks and breakwalls, the Oceans Legacy Tidalus 160 is ideal for imitating a mullet.

Mulloway in the light

At night, lights on bridges, jetties and marinas attract baitfish and prawns, and mulloway sit in the shadow line at the edge of the light, waiting for bait to drift past. Work swimbaits, minnows and plastics slowly along that light-and-shadow edge, with the current. It's one of the most exciting ways to catch a mulloway.

The accidental mulloway

Plenty of Swan River mulloway are hooked by anglers chasing bream on 2–3" plastics and 4 lb leader. Sometimes you land them. Often you don't. It's always worth having a heavier rod rigged nearby, even on a casual bream session.

The Right Gear for Mulloway

River and estuary (lures)

A 7'–8'6" medium to medium-heavy spinning rod gives you the feel to work lures and detect bites, with the backbone to turn a big fish away from pylons.

Reel: a 3000–5000 size spinning reel with a smooth drag, like the Shimano Stradic, Sustain, Twin Power or Stella in 4000XG or C5000XG. Line: PE1.5–2 braid with a 30–40 lb fluorocarbon leader like Oceans Legacy Duelist FC or Duelist Fluorocarbon Leader. If you prefer baitcasting, see our baitcasting setup guide.

Young angler on the sand holding a mulloway caught surf fishing, with waves behind

Beach and surf

You need a long rod to cast big baits past the breakers and handle a big fish in the wash.

Reel: a 6000–10000 size reel, like the Shimano Saragosa SW, Stradic SW or Baitrunner LC Long Cast. Line: PE2–3 braid or 20–30 lb mono, with a 50–60 lb shock leader. See our beach fishing guide for more.

Rocks and breakwalls

Rock fishing for mulloway calls for heavy gear: the length to keep line off the rocks, and the power to stop a big fish reaching the reef.

Use 40–50 lb braid, and a reel like the Shimano Twin Power SW or Stradic SW.

Safety: rock fishing is the most dangerous kind of fishing in Australia. Wear a life jacket and good footwear, fish with a mate, tell someone where you're going, and never turn your back on the ocean. No fish is worth your life.

A big mulloway caught under a Perth bridge at night

Fighting, Landing and Handling

  • The fight: let the first run go against a smooth drag. When it stops, start working the fish back. The second run is shorter.
  • Landing: from a jetty or the river bank, use a big landing net like the Berkley Large Snapper Net or Extra Large Barra Net. From the beach, wait for a wave to wash the fish up and guide it onto the sand. From high jetties and rocks, a gaff may be needed for fish you're keeping.
  • Handling: always support a mulloway's body. Don't hold a big fish up vertically by the jaw, because its weight can injure it. Wet your hands, support the belly, and keep it out of the water as little as possible.

Releasing mulloway

  • Use circle hooks, which almost always hook in the jaw.
  • Keep the fight short, and keep the fish in the water as much as you can.
  • Hold the fish upright in the water, facing into the current, until it kicks away.
  • Many anglers choose to release mulloway under about 70 cm, which haven't bred yet, so they can grow into the trophy fish of the future.
A mulloway caught from a boat at sunset in WA

Are Mulloway (Jewfish) Good Eating?

Yes. Mulloway are good eating, with firm, white, mild-flavoured flesh. Bigger fish are generally the best eating. Small mulloway are softer and blander, which is how they got the nickname "soapies". Look after your catch: bleed the fish straight away, then put it on ice or in an ice slurry. Mulloway is great pan-fried, baked, grilled or in fish and chips, and the thick fillets hold together well on the barbecue.

Your First Mulloway Session

  1. Pick a spot you know: the Narrows Bridge, the Moles, or a familiar surf beach with a deep gutter.
  2. Get fresh bait. Catch herring or tailor the afternoon before. It's the single biggest factor in your success.
  3. Time it right: be set up before dark, with a tide change during the evening.
  4. Aim for a darker moon, and don't be put off by rough weather.
  5. Commit to the session. Plan to fish for at least three or four hours. Bring warm clothes, a headlamp and a chair.
  6. Use a light drag or Baitrunner, and put the rod in a holder.
  7. Bring a mate, for safety and so someone sees the fish.

Mulloway FAQ

How do you catch mulloway?

Fish at night around structure, current and deep water, like bridge pylons, river holes, beach gutters and breakwalls, around the tide change. Use fresh or live bait on a running sinker rig with a light drag, or big soft plastics and vibes hopped slowly along the bottom.

How do you catch jewfish?

Jewfish and mulloway are the same fish, so the same methods work: fresh bait or big soft plastics and vibes, fished at night around structure and current on the tide change.

What is the best bait for mulloway?

Live bait like herring, mullet, yellowtail scad or tailor is best. For dead bait, fresh tailor or mullet fillets, whole squid and fresh pilchards all work. Fresh bait always beats frozen.

What are the best lures for mulloway?

Big soft plastics like the Irukandji Megaprawn and Sicario, soft vibes like the Samaki Vibelicious and Jackall Transam, and slim minnows like the Duo Tide Minnow Slim.

Are mulloway good eating?

Yes. Mulloway have firm, white, mild-flavoured flesh. Bigger fish are generally better eating than small "soapies". Bleed and ice them straight away.

When is the best time to catch mulloway in Perth?

At night, especially around the tide change and on darker moons. In the Swan, fish are caught year-round, with big fish moving into the river in spring and summer the peak for numbers. Rough weather and rain often fire them up.

Do you need a wire trace for mulloway?

No. Mulloway don't have cutting teeth. A 40–60 lb mono or fluorocarbon leader is enough.

Get Set Up for Mulloway

Mulloway fishing doesn't need a huge investment in specialist gear. It needs the right setup, fresh bait, patience and a willingness to fish after dark. Come and see us at Level 1/154 Stirling Highway, Nedlands, and we'll match you with the right gear, whether you're chasing mulloway in the Swan on lures, soaking baits on the beach or heading for the rocks. Call us on (08) 9389 1337.

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— Josh Racovelli
Tagged: how to catch mulloway jewfish land-based fishing mulloway mulloway bait mulloway lures night fishing Perth fishing surf fishing Swan River
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