Little_Flatty

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?

Nice Bonnie there mate, good reward for the workout.

Glad you are able to get out again Ron. Well rewarded with a fantastic meal of fish for Good Friday. Well done.

Thanks @linewetter, that was a pretty fat fish for its size. I'd agree with the high potential to get snagged. You need to pick your places to use them, but that doesn't seem to stop people using blades and vibes (which suffer from the same predicament). There are some very reasonably priced sinking stickbaits out there, the Shimmer Stik is one of them. I suspect they may be quite easy to make. Search and you shall find 😎 Cheers Neil. Hooking one is common, but landing one is not! 🤣

Probably would've ended in tears 🤣 But a small price to pay for such a thrill!😎

This morning I took the chance to fish with @Mike Sydney at Iron Cove. We were hoping to see a few bigger tailor that he gets into during the colder months. Mike was on the water by 5:45, catching me off guard as I was still mucking around at home. Quickly got my stuff together and dashed out the door. By the time I got there at about 6.15 he had already caught so many choppers that he was bored of it and watched me get one on a bent minnow. Mike had recently got himself a bumper haul of lures and hearing of my recent lure losses, kindly gifted me a little Halco Roosta Popper. I've been wanting to try one of these for a while, thanks mate! Anyhow, we cast on, trying a variety of bibbed lures, crankas and plastics. Mike hooks onto a flatty on a Jewie plastic, but unfortunately dropped it. By that time I had given up on top water and had tied on a Austackle Shimmer Stik (a sinking stickbait). I think sinking stickbaits are a very underutilised style of lure. Working this over the bottom, I felt a tap, but missed it. Next cast, felt a similar tap and hit it hard. Up came a flatty: As I was dealing with the photographing and release of this fish, we see some other anglers fishing for kings. One of them yells out that they are on and we hear a singing drag. Mike runs over to first have a cast, and then help with the landing of the fish. I didn't see it, but Mike said it could have been 1m and the guy was understandably ecstatic. First king ever too, what a lucky catch! After that Mike needed to get home to his family. I had a little bit of time left on my leave pass, so I fished further around the bay with a bent minnow. Had a few visual follows from big bream, but no hookups. Towards the end of my session, a school of big kings swims by and one of them splashes at my lure, scaring the daylights out of me. I didn't hook up and I was somewhat thankful for that; I'd had enough of losing lures over the past month and on ultralight BFS gear, I wouldn't have stood a chance!🤣 Packed up and went home. Might need to sit out a couple of mornings before I head out again, can't wait for the next session. Thanks for reading.

Bread catches everything. Never ceases to amaze me what it can do! That’s a great whiting there. Great you got your partner fishing too. Your life will be a lot easier if she acquires a taste for it!

Now I know where to go if I need parts for a bike restoration project! Though I don't really have time for such pursuits these days! My bike is overdue for its annual bike wash🤣

But if she outfishes you on Blue Eyes, then it will work out right? 🤣

I have nothing on this front - my Sinatra knowledge leaves much to be desired - but if Maria out fishes you on your next trip out together, you can also put on some Elton John: "Baby's got blue eyes"

Got out again this morning to Tarban Ck, got two more. Again not large, but at least there was one legal in there: This little guy savagely hit the lure on the drop, catching me by surprise: Unfortunately a botched de-hooking turned one of the trebles into a double. Wasn't much force at all. Will need to replace the hook at some point. I really haven't caught any fish of size on topwater, other than a 35cm model earlier last month. It's funny how I've gone from catching 90% flathead to 90% bream. Just goes to show how you need to be targeted with your methods to score certain species.

Fantastic feed Zoran. So what music do Blue Eyes respond best to? The Blues? Or even Old Blue Eyes himself?🤣

Nice effort @linewetter. Love a good bread session. Any bream over 30cm is a nice fish and once you go above 40cm, you're dealing with something quite special. Yep there are just too many people doing the wrong thing, especially on wharves. A bit of positive PR to counter the negative experiences will go a long way to helping our cause. Well done.

I'm no artist and I have ZERO interest in painting!🤣I was thinking of just clear-coating the wood, but I don't think I have any clear coat so it will either be UV epoxy, diluted 24 hr epoxy or whatever paint I have lying around the house. I'm not much of a colours guy with my lures. If a certain colour is on sale, then that's what I'll buy. I'm sure painting will be fun if you had the talent though! I'm more interested in the shape/form of the lure, how it moves and how it sits in the water.

It's a Daiwa Fish Measure R. I like it. Nice and compact and easy to use. I have multiple fishing bags (fly, 3 x Lure and Bait). They all have their own brag mat and scissors. If I won the lotto, I'd kit up every bag with the Daiwa, but alas that hasn't happened yet (and a lotto winning probably won't go far when you have kids🤣). Not exceedingly expensive, I'd just rather waste money on other things No don't stop buying lures! 🤣 I'm only making them because I can't buy them at the moment and I'm attracted to the challenge of catching fish with something made at home! All that said, it's been really fun and I'm seriously thinking about fishing almost exclusively home made lures for topwater season. It seems that basic poppers and stickbaits are quite easy and cheap to make. During the upcoming long weekend, my first experiment will be to cut a piece of wooden dowelling (no carving), install weight and eyelets, seal (i.e. very basic paint job), attach hardware and see if I can catch a fish on it!

Doesn't seem like you're doing much wrong with your tackle selection or timing. You don't describe where you are fishing. One thing that I have found is that it's easier to fish shallower water (e.g. <= 2m deep) with lightly weighted plastics than deeper water. I just find that line management etc is easier. Your mate just needs to start preparing his own bait!🤣

They certainly are tough fish. I guess you have to be if you are one of the tastiest fish in the ocean! I haven't had as many problems with wind knots as I am having now.

I heard you right Pete, I just pulled out 5cm after each cast rather than 20. That’s substantial tension! One other thing I’ve thought of is stop the lure before it hits the water. That should also fix the line in the air issue. Cheers @faker, glad you are getting in your rock fishing exploits. That ship has sailed for me (too much travel time amongst other things), so I’ll have to be happy with reading your reports! Estuary fishing can wait for when it’s too rough or when you’re too busy to rock fish. The corollary of being busy and stressed is that you need your fishing more than ever, but you lack the time! Definitely making time for it, even fifteen minutes helps, especially if you catch something. That’s just about the most important fishing advice you can give anybody! You can’t catch fish on your couch. Was a lowish tide this morning, if it was me even a few years ago, I wouldn’t have bothered! Thanks Steve, noted. I had to change out the tip with my rod recently. Perhaps this has had some bearing on my experiences.

Thanks Bob, Nothing to write home about but I would’ve eaten the rest of it had it come from the lower harbour! I have the ‘easy feed’ theory with regard to the bent minnow too. It mimics a wounded fish or prawn perfectly so should look like an easy feed to a predator. Life sure does get in the way and you sure can come back! As you know I had a long hiatus from fishing in the late noughties/early 2010s pursuing other interests. Unfortunately they would’ve been my best fishing years, as I had a steady income, excellent fitness and few commitments outside of work. My single life regret, not fishing and travelling more when I could’ve! That’s why I encourage the young ones to get out as much as they can! Thanks Bessell! Thanks Pete, I was thinking about your little trick but I’d forgotten it was 20cm worth of braid! I’ll give it a go, but while I wait for a service, the BFS outfit may get a chance to nail a few fish. Hope all is ok. It really sucks not to be able to get out.

Morning all, My fishing life has been quite ordinary of late. Apart from not having much action on the few sessions I have been out for, I've been frantically busy with work, life and stuff (even more so than usual). It's only going to get worse in April But you all know me, I'll always find time for a spot of fishing, even if it's half an hour here and fifteen mins there 😎 I haven't been fly fishing because the early morning darkness has made it too unsafe to wade at my usual fishing time, so most of my sessions have been fishing topwater lures. I've been having a terrible time with wind knots with my PE0.6 J-braid expedition because that stuff is so lightweight that it stays in the air for ages after a cast. I've needed to hold the braid until I make contact with the lure after a cast. Not enjoying it to be honest, although it casts a country mile! On top of that, my reel has developed a squeak which is starting to drive me nuts, so a service may be in order in the next few weeks. A couple of things have happened fishing-wise of note. On the weekend I dropped my first flathead hooked legitimately on topwater, with an OSP Bent Minnow. It was really quite a splash in shallow water, but unfortunately the free treble snagged on a mangrove root and gave the fish enough leverage to get off. The next was this morning, when I got my biggest (perhaps almost-legal) whiting on topwater at Tarban Ck. Nothing to write home about...but check out it's tail! Something's had a good chomp at it! Apart from that, the FTT Popper has been claiming a few more scaly critters. I've lost two of the three I made and haven't had the chance to make any more. In any case my tackle purchase embargo will end on Sunday anyway, so I might take the chance to replace my lost slippery dog, and also buy some wooden dowel + assist hooks to make some poppers/stickbaits. This lure making thing has caught on more than I expected. I'm also going to get some shanks to tie the SK Skipping Prawn fly that I've had my eye on these few months. Bring on the end of daylight saving! Keep those lines wet! Mike

Something different from you @Yowie...landbased and weekend fishing! Still, some good fish caught and it looks like a good time was had by all. I didn't know you had a kayak.

Pretty scary stuff. I won’t ever look a leaves and sticks the same way again!

That’s a great story and a great catch! Did you get a photo with the other boat/angler? No need to post but things like this certainly don’t happen every day and I would’ve thought you’d both want a picture to tell the tale!

Hi @Pinoyflattygang, to the community. Start here: While you are here, also introduce yourself here: My two cents worth, with a kayak it would be hard to go wrong on Narrabeen Lake! Survey the flats/weed beds/dropoffs/holes and you will find fish. Last I was out on the lake on a paddle board (not fishing), I spooked so many fish I could barely paddle, with my casting arm twitching so much🤣

Thanks @DerekD, Go to Submit your record fish photo - DECKEE Community, post a thread detailing: 1) This report 2) Photo on measure mat (note you can use Other Media > Insert Existing Attachment Then @mrsswordfisherman can make a call. I read it as 47cm as well. Regardless that's a thumper fish.