mrmoshe

Went for an arvo session with a good mate of mine to my favourite flattie spot. One of us did very well...ahem! Nice start with four just legal lizards in quick succession for me and nothing worth writing about for my mate. The I got on to 2 very nice flatties one after another and they both had some weight to them. First one went 55cm and the next was 65cm. Both went very hard on light gear. All released and all on poddies. The lake water is still pretty turbid after all the fresh but the lizards are there in numbers. Cheers, Pete.

Oh dear!!! Check THIS out

You can cross off Narra Lake at the moment. It's strong coffee coloured and floating weed everywhere. I hit the lake this morning wading the flats and weed beds and wondered why I had the entire lake to myself. Only fish were one bream and one tailor, then a whopper stinking Long Tom which went like a cut cat until I got him close, then he went for my wedding tackle again Those buggers sure are aggressive when hooked. All fish on live poddies again. I ran out of time as I wanted to try a bushy popper with rattles, so that's for another day. Just too much fresh in there at the moment and will probably fire back up again after a few tide flushes. Cheers, Pete.

G'day Byron, You only need to click the private user button the first time you log on to the site by the looks of it.(it must put a cookie on your machine I presume) As I posted earlier, not all areas are in high resolution and may appear blurry. The high res areas are very clear and you can zoom in very close, even on water areas where it's hi res. Take a look at the "help" button as it explains quite a lot about what's new etc. and there's also a forum if you need it to get more help. While it's not perfect, it's a better site in my opinion as their aerial pix are updated regularly and it also has a function to see changes from older pix to the latest pix and you can see the difference. It also seems very slow to load on occasions..maybe they have a crappy server. Hope this helps in some way. Cheers, Pete.

I went down to the same spot at the same time this morning and could hardly lose a poddy. One undersize flatty was all. And yep..the barometer was down to 1007 Had a lot to do with it I'm positive. As to the fishing getup..I look like the monster from the black lagoon..and smell worse

No mate,fresh prawns and whitebait. Couldn't rustle up any poddies earlier on. Found heaps when the sun came up.

Went for a beach fish this morning for a big donut. Nothing on the high tide at all at Nth Narra. Decided to hit the back of the lake to chase some flatties on poddies again. Found a nest of 'em and managed to land 5 of 'em in 20 mins and busted off twice by a couple of crocs. Here's the biggest this morning at 60cm She was almost jet black from living in the weedbeds. All fish returned today. Cheers, Pete.

G'day mate. Have a look at THIS thread. I fixed my line twist problem altogether using my Alvey. Google them and you can find them. Cheers, Pete

It may be a good idea to let the distributors of Gulp (Pure Fishing Aust.) of bags that have leaks (we've all had it happen) , know of the problem. Pure Fishing Australia Pty Ltd * PO Box 5199 Chittaway Bay, NSW 2261 * Phone 61-2- 4351 7740 * Facsimile 61-2- 4351 7741 * info@purefishing.com.au Let them know of the problem and maybe they'll fix it if enough people complain. Cheers, Pete.

Try method Bergo.

Try and trap some poddy mullet and use them as livies. Mr Flattie's favourite tucker. Use a rig of, mainline to a small swivel, then your leader with the smallest ball sinker you have in your tackle bag, running to a #5 wide gap hook. Pin the livie carefully thru the back just behind the dorsal fin, making sure you don't go too far near the spine or it'll kill 'em. Toss him out whereever you see weedbeds with sandy patches nearby, or dropoffs and cast into where the meet. Keep in contact with your bait and you'll notice him getting real agitated on your line.. that's usually a predator (Mr Flatty) about to snaffle him. Wait for the "thump" on the line as they usually just inhale it whole without swimming away. Gently lift your rod and feel if there is any weight on the line..if so..strike to ensure the hook is embedded well..usually in the corner of the mouth with wide gaps. And hopefully you're on!! You'll also find the bigger bream will attack live mullet as well and not so many small stuff. One thing to beware of though is Long Toms are about atm and they also love poddies. Just take care when unhooking them as they will have a go at you if they get a chance. One earlier this week latched onto my nether regions as I was bringing him in to release. Luckily I was wearing waders so the wedding tackle is still in one piece. Nasty bastards..seriously! and big suckers, some over a metre. with teeth like crocodiles. Try the above and I'll just about guarantee you'll score a flatty. (sorry..no refunds) Cheers, Pete.

Wait for the welded top to break away from the barrel like mine has..or the second one where the handle failed! Not to mention the crappy washers they use.

Thanks for the input guys. Looks like I'll purchase the Alvey then. Cheers, Pete.

I'm sure most Raiders have got a nipper pump at home. I've got three which have all packed it in, even bastardising them to make one good one. It's time to buy a new one and I would like everyone's opinion on which pump is the best. There are quite a few on the market with brands like: Berkley Wilson Alvey Force ten (crap) and more that I can't remember. I know there's one that has a rubber grommet where the bushing is on the top, but can't find the brand. Anyone have a favourite?? Cheers, Pete.

Was at home watching the rain come down most of the day...then it stopped at 3:30pm. I didn't need too much prompting to grab my gear and head down to the lake to see if the rain had affected the fishing..It didn't Gathered some poddies in short order and hopped into the waders and out I went. First cast and the poddie hadn't even hit the bottom when WHAM! Flattie #1 swallows the livie whole and took off on a nice run. Landed him and rebaited and same thing again..It was like they were waiting with their mouths open. Second one in the net..then a third and a fourth..all about the same size..must have been a flattie family outing! One nice bream after that and then it all went quiet. Kept the flatties for a mate who wanted a feed and Mr. Breambo went back. Nice hot bite while it lasted. Tide was outgoing and LOTS of water in the lake with these big tides. Barometer was 1016 (so much for my 1020 theory) Love those last minute sessions. Cheers, Pete

I think I see the problem Roberta. It looks like it's just the capital cities that are in hi res. and everywhere else is lo res.(most probably from satellite images) If you zoom out to a wide shot of the east coast..you see Sydney had a "grey" overlay over it..I think this is the hi res. stuff and all around that is lo res. It can take an eternity to load the hi res. ones sometimes but worth the effort in the long run. Cheers, Pete.

Another ripper effort Roberta. I've gotta give those pencil poppers you showed me a run in the lake soon. I reckon those whiting will go crazy over them. Cheers and Happy New Year. Pete.

ENE at 7 knots at 7am, so not at all windy Nathan..just enough to ripple the surface. Yes Byron...that weather site you hooked me up to is perfect for Narra. Happy New Year to you too and all Raiders. . Cheers, Pete.

Take a look at this site called NearMap which is similar to Google Earth but better resolution and updated regularly. Being aerial photographs, rather than satellite pics..it's just way better resolution. You can see dropoffs and weedbeds really well and also has a terrain button that shows the bottom in Sydney fishing areas really well. Worth bookmarking for sure. Just click on the Private user button to begin with. Enjoy. Cheers, Pete.

Well..I'm convinced!! The barometer is the ONLY thing I will rely on from now on. Hit the lake this morning at half six and the bar. was 1020. The last 2 sessions this week have both been fishless and the bar. was well under the 1020 mark. Anyway..with the barometer @ 1020 (fish-a-plenty) I met a mate of mine for a session using live poddies again..One problem though..no bloody poddies anywhere on the flats for the last week...bugger! Mike luckily had his nipper pump in the car, so we collected enough in short order and launched them unweighted into the weedbeds and sandy patches..SMASH! CRASH! SPLASH! .they went ballistic! For me, 2 just legal bream off the bat, then 2 flatties which inhaled the nipper and hook. Mike hooked a pinkie and 2 bream. Then on to the flats to see if the whiting wanted to play and they didn't disappoint either. Five in a row..mostly small ones with the occasional goodun. Ran out of nippers pretty quick, so back to pumping for a few more...more whiting and lots of bream on the flats and gave it away at 0930 , still biting their heads off. Drizzly rain was constant, but no dramas. Score in the end.. Me: 2 flatties 7 bream 6 whiting Mike: 1 pinkie 5 bream 3 whiting. All fish released..hence no pics as we were out wading and my camera aint waterproof. What a cracker way to end the year!! Happy New Year to all Raiders.

Lots of rain on the Northern Beaches too. I think the rain has put off the fish too. I just had two sessions for bugger all fish..just a few small bream and zero flatties. I went yesterday morning at 7am to Narra Lake and was joined by Vu (VietGod on Fishraider) for very few takes. The lack of poddies had a lot to do with it as they were few & far between and even then..too small for livies. The sand flats were devoid of fish which is unusual too. This arvo, after the rain had eased..I went down again and same result..no poddies and no fish apart from 2 just under legal bream. Went home with a wet bum and no fish. Oh well..at least I tried.

It was great to finally meet face to face Roberta. Yes, the old poddies are just the "ants pants" as far as flatties go at the moment. After you left, I stayed another half hour and managed another nice lizard about 45cm (released) and then the wind picked up and shut everything down. So, glad I was able to teach you something new (now there's a first) and thanks for the demo of the pencils..have to give those a shot on the whiting I reckon. Looks like this wind is going to continue all week, so may have to put my feet up until it settles down. Hope you can get the poddie method to work up your way. Cheers, Pete.

G'day Golem. I pin them just behind the dorsal. Make sure you don't put the hook too far near the spine or it'll die. Sometimes I pin 'em by the tail if they are larger livies and trim one side of the tail as this makes them really swim hard to escape predators. I went again this morning for another 6 flatties in quick succession, biggest 50cm...all on poddies. Met a couple of Raiders too and gave them my catch & poddies as I had to leave. Good to meet you fellas. Cheers, Pete.

I'm using Mustad size 6 wide gapes at present and every fish today was hooked in the corner of the mouth. They work a treat on the flatties. Cheers, Pete.

The Narra Lagoon flatties are on the chew alright with live poddies.. I went down this morning at 6:30. Dead low tide but still a lot of water in the lake due to the bigger tides at present. I managed 5 nice lizards..biggest 46cm..smallest 40cm. in 2 1/2 hours. The Long Toms were the biggest pest today..8 all up including one almost a metre that decided he'd slice open my finger as I was releasing him..ungrateful bastard! Blood everywhere. Seems like dead low is the go at present as every outing lately at mid or high results in donuts. Cheers, Pete.