Little_Flatty

Some big life decisions coming up @intensehotdog? Or just holiday plans?

I fish in the rain a lot. A good raincoat, rain pants (big difference) and gumboots make a world of difference. With that clothing you could walk out in torrential rain as if it’s nothing. I tend to target lower reaches of estuaries when there has been a lot of rain over the past few days. I’ve found large amounts of rain seem to shut the fish down where I fish in the upper Parra.

Fantastic intro @SpeedyGiraffe49. Welcome to the community. I was younger than you when I first started out here and now I'm in my 40s! This is a very long-lived community as members are forthcoming with information and sharing experiences. Plenty of advice here on topwater and light lure fishing here, look at @Niall for topwater and @DerekD (resident fishing coach) for topwater and many other forms of fishing. You will also find plenty of friends for casting metals on the beach. Looking forward to hearing about your time on the water.

Thanks Bessell, The lighting was a bit funny as the fish was caught before sunrise and I had to use flash. But it could've been rather dark. Cheers Dave. Not quite the quality and quantity of your catches but good enough for me

I believe there are some bass to be found in those fishable upper reaches, but you’ll need to work for them. Plenty of bush bashing and you probably don’t want to be there at low light periods for safety reasons/insects etc. A big tailor > 50cm is a real thrill on light tackle.

So early this morning I was planning to catch up on some work, but I saw the weather forecast for massive rain and thought better of it and headed out for a fish. Catch-up work can wait until it’s dumping with 100mm of rain and the water has become chocolate milk! Got down to the water just before six and got casting. I still had my bargain bin savage gear popper tied on, so that was my lure for the day. Starting from the downstream end of the reserve, I worked my way all the way to across from the sailing club with not a hit, so kept working up the creek. Towards the bridge crossing over the flats, I felt a tickle on the line and I struck. A decent tussle ensued, and after a few runs, I landed a nice little bream. Had crushed the barbs on the hooks for this lure, amazing how much easier a release it was. Stayed for another twenty mins or so, then headed home a little earlier than usual. Happy enough with that, can go back to work now! Looking forward to some lure crafting and fly tying on the weekend if this rain does come.

Nice one @linewetter. How you have avoided tailor so far beggars belief! They are the bane of my existence, especially at that size! Yes, those return to office mandates are becoming increasingly common. Not sure where your office is, but if it’s near water, maybe you could take the chance to fish new waters! I used to work in north Sydney overlooking the harbour. My then boss (also a mad keen fisho) and I used to think it was torture when we could see fish busting up in the distance!

What a scene! Legal jewie on one line, above-slot flathead on the other. Each fish on their own would be a notable catch for most anglers, but just a day in the life of you, Dave! Well done.

At a meagre 60mm, I don't think it will have anything on your bonito Zoran! With the intense rain coming this weekend, I think there will be a few creations coming from my desk. Certainly is Rob! Not much size of late, but the fish still give a good account of themselves. I've been thinking brag mat/landing net/fish basket thoughts of late. A few products under consideration for purchase, some others potentially to make, all geared towards reducing fish handling whilst getting a measure at the same time. We'll see if any of these materialise.

Bad luck only on the fishing front thankfully. The rest is self-inflicted or a first world problem Didn't notice anything particularly silvery about the bream, maybe it was the lighting. Stunning weather on the weekend!

I think the agent orange reference refers to the harbour. They used to manufacture it on the shores of Homebush bay I believe.

Interesting 🤔. I'd only encountered warnings on Sydney Harbour fish, but it turns out that Botany Bay and the Lower Georges have advice from the DPI as well: Botany-Bay-fishing-and-dietary-advice.pdf (nsw.gov.au) Seems like the problem is PFAS from fire fighting foam. Running the numbers in my head, it seems that this advice is even more restrictive than the harbour guidelines. No advice on Octopus and squid. Interestingly, they also said that no guidelines were required for bream and whiting, amongst other things.

I follow @zmk1962's link. Based on that advice, bream have become a purely catch and release affair and if I want a feed, I focus on flathead. I'd go for trevs too but flathead for me are much easier to find. Given 95% of the fishing I do is in the Parra anyway, I don't get the opportunity to take home a feed of fish that often anyway. So what I take can't hurt too much.

I did end up keeping it, so yes, I guess it's even then!🤣 I hate losing lures! It was a lot of effort indeed! 😫 Thanks Neil, when I add it up it's actually quite a lot of fishing. I'm lucky to be close-ish to water, so my little bit of spare time here and there adds up to a lot.

The one time I've hooked a king on light gear, I was grinning like an idiot the rest of the day. I didn't need to land the damn fish, I only needed to hear the singing drag before the leader popped.

This morning I got out on the water at 6am on the Lane Cove River to fish some topwater lures over the mud flats from the walkway in front of Hunters Hill High School. It was a dead low tide, but I had a bit of a busy weekend, so I needed a bit of time to unwind. Threw a number of different topwaters over the flats in the darkness, for little success. Then on the far end of the flats nearest the Figtree Bridge, I finally had a decent splash at my Savage Gear popper. Next cast, I hooked up and the fish went for a run, then came off. Bad luck, I've been having a bit of it lately. Anyhow I had run out of time and went home to feed the kids breakfast. We were child free for the day so my wife and I went out for a bushwalk in the Lane Cove National park. For the first time ever in Sydney, we had an encounter with a wild swamp wallaby! It was kind enough to pose for a photo. After a nice lunch, I was able to fit in another session at Tarban Creek. As it often is in the afternoons, it was rather windy and not very fishing friendly. But a few casts in, I got a big hit on the Savage Gear popper and up came a nice little bream, which was promptly released after this happy snap: That outfit by the way is my trusty 7' 8" Crucis, coupled with my early 2000s Shimano Twinpower 1000, the exact same reel that is in my profile pic. A few years ago, I respooled it with 3lb FINS and it had been sitting on my desk waiting for an outing. Still a good little reel that still works well, but starting to feel a bit rough, showing its age. It's seen a lot of use, having been with me since my early days on Fishraider. Anyhow, I change to the FTT popper and work my way right up to the head of the creek with only a few hits to show for it. Time for a change of plans. Change over the Halco Roosta Popper that @Mike Sydney kindly gifted me. Got two savage hits near the mangroves at the start of the flats, then nothing for a while. Then a disaster happened. On one of my casts, the Roosta Popper goes flying, but my braid does not follow. It had snapped. I was extremely sad to lose a lure that was a precious gift, only on its second outing! But watching the wind, I noticed it was blowing upstream very slowly. I thought for a moment that maybe if I re-rigged with another lure, I might be able to snare it and get it back. First up was my foam FTT popper, but it was soon apparent that would not work. So I decided to tie on a Wonder Wobbler. On a few attempts, I managed to brush the loose leader (still attached to my Halco) with my line and turn the lure around, but it didn't snag any of the hooks. Then after about 20 mins of trying, I finally snagged the lure, wound it in and then swung it up onto the bank. Catch of the day! Put the lure back in my tacklebox, safe from snags and casting snafus, ready for its next outing. Kept casting with the wonder wobbler, in hope of snaring a flathead. Two more casts in, I got snagged. Bye bye wobbler 😢 After a few more half hearted casts with a bent minnow, I went home. A lot of work for one fish, but it was good exercise and satisfying all the same. My Lenten fishing gear purchase abstinence has ended and I will soon be picking up a few replacement lures, along with a whole lot of parts to make some of my own. Watch this space..it is guaranteed that no works of art will emerge from this activity but there are some fun experiments in the works!

Sorry to hear that @Derny Driver. Yes, vinyl stickers shrink, but also fish that have been on ice. Best to allow an additional cm or two.

Thanks Bessell Cheers Zoran, it has happened, only that it ended with my jaw dropping to the ground and a shredded leader... Thanks Rob, yes that was a close shave! Cheers Bob, yep I'd probably be nursing a sore thumb given I was using a baitcaster! Cheers Chris, It will happen again some day. Hopefully I will be lucky when it happens!

Epic report Dave and great story. You did great as a guide, not just putting your mates on fish but also giving them a great adventure exploring your area as well. Love it!

Looks pretty successful to me Josh. Well done.

A big improvement on green toads! Good feed! Good luck with the impending arrival!

That’s not a bad result. Good you got out there.

That’s fantastic Neil! Great to see that your daughter and grandson alike are keen on their fishing and got onto their first cod with you there to share the experience.

Species wise I think it’s a case of each to their own. Some cultures like eating carp, wrasse and eel species whilst others don’t. Bag limits are a whole new topic and requires continued education and enforcement.

Those pesky toads! Shame you didn’t come across any quality fish. Can you identify them on the sounder in any way or do they look the same as a bait ball?