JEW MUST BE JOKING
FISH DRAGGED ME 50 METRES
A FISHERMAN has been taken for a wild ride trying to catch a “monster” jewfish in Gold Coast waters.
On Tuesday afternoon scuba diver turned fisherman Luke Purdie shared a few drinks with his new workmates to reminisce about his catch on the Coast. Earlier that day, the 18-year-old was spearfishing at Palm Beach Reef with his new work colleagues from the Adreno team, and the Coochiemudlo Island resident was made to work to catch a jewfish lurking beneath him.
“I went down to blow some bubble rings and saw a figure,” Mr Purdie said. “Turned out it was a monster jewie, so I speared it and it took me for a ride.
“I went for about 50 metres underwater before reining it in.”
The battle with the jewfish wasn’t over when he resurfaced.
“When I got to the top the fish gave me a good whack in the face,” Mr Purdie said. “It’s a big fish, so it was a fair whack.” Mr Purdie said the 25kg catch was worth the wild ride and copping some flak from his workmates, including Tyrone Canning, who had taken the “new young fella” and three other staff members out on his boat.
“He was just mucking around in the water, he wasn’t intending to catch anything when he went down,” Mr Canning said.
“That’s probably why he got it because fish can sense when they’re being hunted. “I’m not sure how many jewies he’s caught before but when Luke got it, I don’t think he was expecting it to be so strong. “It took him for a 50-metre hayride, and we saw him pop up at the end, then the jewie gave him a smack in the head.
“I’ve never seen a jewfish in that area before and it was the only thing we caught all day.”
Also known as mulloway, jewfish are often seen in Gold Coast waters but normally in the shallows of the Broadwater. Brett Clarke from Coomera Houseboat Holidays said the fish are good fighters. “With a rod and reel, it takes about five to ten minutes to get them in, they are hard fighting fish with a strong tail,” he said. “I don’t have experience with it, but to catch one spearfishing I can only imagine would be a tough task, it’s a decent fish to try and hang onto.”