Woobwoob

I ended up going for a Raider II Mexican Fire 2-4kg, about 7' I think at a good price from my friends at Windybanks. Nice rod so far, broke it in on a short session at Narrabeen Lake for 5 flatties, 2 bream and a tailor, plenty of power throughout the rod although none of the fish were large and troublesome and casting is a breeze. Very sensitive rod tip that makes it easy to anticipate a bite when the baitfish panics and you can feel it. mii11x: regarding mixing duties between plastics and bait, I only ever fish very light weights(00 or 0 size sinkers), tiny swivels and 8lb flourocarbon leader so I'm not casting much difference in weight and usually gently cast my live baits anyway, though I do have a heavier Uglystick that doesn't see much use due to being 1 piece and not fitting well in the car... as well as a Silstar Crystal powertip but it's only 6' hence the change. Macman: I will definiely be looking into a second spool, great tip on the 3000 size! Side note: It's been a while since I got into my fishing and fishing line has evolved massively. I miss my bright pink Braided Fireline which seems a bit dated nowadays, does anyone know of a good pink or maybe orange? braided line on the market? Just makes it easier in low light conditions to do all the necessary rigging, knots etc. Cheers to all of you for your advice and insights.

Cargo, thanks for the info, I hadn't looked at the Daiwa range yet as I often find them to be overpriced. I'll add them to my research efforts So what rod would you suggest Stevefish?

Yeh I figured you were talking plastics. Really need the rod to be a good all rounder though.

Hi all I've just bought the lovely Shimano Stradic c14 FA in the 2500 size and I'm looking for a balanced rod to use with it. It needs to be a solid all rounder, I like to fish the flats for flathead, bream, tailor etc with live poddies, while also fishing with soft plastics and occasionally night fishing with bait for big bream. In general I fish quite light, hardly any weight and 2.2kg line with 3.5kg leaders. I'm assuming a 7ft graphite 2-4kg range would be ideal? So far I've checked out both the Trion Pflueger and the Shimano Raider Mexican Fire II as possible options and while I've heard great things about the Pfleuger, when I tested the balance with my reel attached it seemed a bit tip heavy which is an issue when you're standing on the flats all day holding a rod. I'm also interested in knowing which of these two rods has more grunt to stop the occasional big flatty or salmon bycatch in the channels, from testing them it seemed to be the Shimano? So now I'm asking the people who own these rods about their own experiences with them and if they have any other suggestions for me to check out? Not looking to spend more than $150 on a rod so that rules out the Shimano T curve range. Thanks in advance for any feedback.

My bad, didn't know which forum to post in. Thanks for the info, I might give it a look then, this weather's just too tempting

Hi just wondering if anybody knows the state of Lake Narrabeen, is the water warm enough yet, not flooded etc are the flatties about? I usually fish the drop off across from the caravan park but haven't been there in awhile, anyone had any luck recently?

Long toms for sure, I've hooked heaps of the nasty things. They nick my live poddy mullet meant for flathead so I guess they like that bait

Looks like a black banded cat shark mate

I couldn't agree more with that mate. I fish the lake often, easy to spot in my grey akubra lol. I'll wade the lake for several hours catching solid flatties, bream, tailor, long toms and anything else that comes knocking and you see countless families catching tiny bream from the caravan park and the occasional small flathead and nothing goes back in the water, it's sickening. The same goes for when you walk past the rockwall overlooking the lake entrance, families with buckets of tiny fish, I just want to kick them in, the buckets that is.

Hey mate, sorry I'm working tomorrow and most of next week, I won't be out there till after Christmas. Keep in mind tomorrow morning is not a big low tide, meaning that the current won't be running as hard on the runout nor will the water depth be as low, which the flatties seem to like. Might still catch a few though, good luck. After Christmas I'll let you guys know when I'm going and show you a few things to help you.

Mate I fish the lake every few weeks for flatties with both SPs and bait. Fish the last few hours of the run out tide ideally at dawn or dusk, this is when they're most active. If you're going to use dead bait I'd suggest half pilchards not prawns or squid. Live poddies are the way to go in a lake though. Find a channel with adjacent weedbeds, structure and stand downstream from your target area. Cast back against the tide using just enough weight to slow the bait down in the water column. Then let the current slowly bring your bait back to you, winding in slowly to keep the line tight. Next time I head up there I'll send you a message and you can tag along if you like.

I've caught plenty of flathead at night while targeting bream. While their primary feeding times seem to be dawn and dusk, I think structure, food supply and tides are far more important for targeting flathead in areas of fairly shallow water.

Nice work mate, glad you had some success.

I was fishing just down a bit from the lake side of the Ocean St bridge and yes it is definitely open. Don't expect it to be as good as that, I've never enjoyed as much success there before, you should still catch a few though. And please put the big ones back, most of them will be big females laying eggs soon, keep the lake full of quality fish for years to come by letting them breed.

Mate I was there on the Monday late afternoon for the low tide right on sunset, landed 12 Flatties and 1 Bream. The 2 biggest flatties were both over 70cm with several around 50cm. I also had several big bustoffs on my 2kg line that felt significantly larger from the massive headshakes. A lot of the strikes came right after the bait hitting the water, they were in the mood. A bloke before me caught 3 around 50cm and another guy fishing the other side with soft plastics landed over 10 as well, his biggest going 62cm. We both agreed it was the best fishing at Narabeen Lake we'd ever had. Not sure if the guy was a raider but he was a great chap. We both released the majority of them so they'll still be there. I was using live poddies with a little weight due to the strong current, casting downstream at the weed bed edges and slowly winding in to keep the line tight while the current brought the bait to the flatties lying in ambush facing the current.

I second securing all your gear in the yak. If you're not a strong paddler but are still interested in kayaking to enjoy your fishing more, spend a bit extra and buy a Hobie kayak with the mirage drive system. That way, you'll be pedalling the kayak through the water and saving your arms a workout.

Wow, thanks for all the info guys, I was going to try fishing the dropoff opposite the caravan park, is that not fishing well either? It was flooded 2 weeks ago with no tidal movement which brought only 1 decent hit in 2 hours with live poddies. Is that photo taken where I'm talking about? I might just have to drive down there and see what it's like I guess.

Hey guys, does anyone know how Narrabeen lake's fishing at the moment? I went up a week or so ago only to find the lake flooded, which was a real shame after making the trip up there on a rare day off work. Planning to fish it this week and I don't want to be disappointed again so if anyone can help it would be appreciated. Cheers in advance.

http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/58227/Bluefish-Primefact-159-final.pdf Scroll down the page, photo near the bottom.

Sounds like a good day out mate, bad luck about the anchor though. That's the first time I've heard the words "cute" and "shark" in the same sentence..

Yes that's a bronze whaler mate. You can tell by the snout and quickly tapering body with a sharp dorsal fin.

Looks like a small Tea leaf trevally, softer rear fins than a GT.

Mate whereabouts in the Hawkesbury was the Wharf? I've had hits from sharks around Bobbin Head before, caught a Hammerhead as big as the tinnie not more than 30 meters from the marina years ago.