charlie51

Hi Putty Beach is not bad either other end from Kilcare in the national park, I believe Brisbane Waters is a protected area for gathering nippers etc in the intertidal zone (might be worthwhile checking) there is a small creek runs into the bay near pretty beach that usaully has poddy mullet. Have a good weekend it's a great place, lived at Pretty Beach for a few years. Charlie

Forgot to mention on the ocean side there is Kilcare Beach good for tailor samon etc

Yeah when I catch them I let them go as unharmed as possible, though we did take one home once and chucked it on the BBQ tasted like scrambled egg, needless to say the cats got well fed for a couple of weeks. Charlie

Hi the YoZuri pink flourocarbon may be a good option, I was at a talk on soft plastics a couple of months ago put on by Berkely and a local tackle shop and questions about flourocarbon being invisible underwater were asked and we were told that while its pretty invisible it also acts like a fibre optic line and can reflect light under water, the Berkely rep said that they were bringing out a new flourocarbon line tinted with colour to get rid of that problem. Maybe Yo zuri has already sorted it out? The Micro fuse got a big rap said it was way above the rated breaking strain eg 4lb would break at about 15lb. Cheers Charlie

Hi mate Sorry for the delay, Hardy's Bay itself is not much chop but around the bay at Wagstaff Point there is a good whalf on the channel then further around is half tide rocks good land based spot. Also in between Hardy's Bay and Wagstaff is Pretty Beach which has a small whalf which fishes well for squid at night under the lights. Hope this helps Charlie

Hi Owen I will be camping there form next Sunday for a week so if your around say hello, I will have a 3.95 Brooker Trekker with an 18 HP Tohatsu 4 stroke on the back I have converted it to a side consul so should be easy to spot. It's being towed by a green hail damaged Subaru forester. I will be camping close to the boat ramp. Charlie

Thanks Ray and Owendoble Much appreciated, took the Kids there last October Hols and intend to make it a regular event, Love the place so layed back and great for the kids. Charlie

Hi All Going down to Patonga to camp with the kids for the first week of the school holidays usaully pick up a few flattiies in Patonga creek just wondering if anyone can tell me where Dark Corner is? As I noticed it mentioned in a couple of the posts. Thanks in advance Charlie

Hi All I live up this way and the Entrance looks great at the moment, was out in the north channels last weekend just for a couple of hours after some fatties caught quite a few this time last year on Gulp in rainbow minow. Could not get a touch from a flattie I was using the new gulp alive pumkinseed minnow (fathers day present) and hooked onto a 44cm blackfish which was well hooked and not an accident. Was getting a lot of grabs on the lures beforehand which were holding for a second or two then letting go, as there was no damage to the plastic I think the grabs were also blackfish. The water clarity was unbeleivable I saw a school of bream cruise past under the boat then a medium sized ray along the bottom. I was in a 4 mte tinnie with a electric bowmount which made it very easy to cruise around the channel and weed beds. The water clarity was back to the second lot of channel markers on the western side of the bridge then it got a bit murky. Great place very few boats out last weekend. Cheers Charlie

Glad to hear it's only minor works taking a few weeks, booked in to camp there in October and was there last year same time with the family, and your right a great Flattie spot, young feller caught a 1 meter Flathead took some snaps and let it go. But picked up quite a few in the edible legal range for the BBQ. Love patonga just a short run to flint and steel and Juno point for the odd jewie.

Hi I was a bit skeptical about soft plastics, up until about 3 months ago, went out for a session at the Entrance and managed 18 flathead, 4 tailor and a bream all on a gulp bass minnows. thought it might have been a bit of a fluke but the very next outing at Patonga creek scored about 15 flathead on the same gulp minnow. Others were using bait and catching not much. So I am keen to try the Gulp Squid on some Kingy's over the next few months. Also tried the gulp shrimp in Lake Mac for a just legal squire. So they deffinately work and work well. Charlie

Hi I have been fishing for 45 years the first 43 I used my right hand to wind, I would cast with my right dominant hand then change the rod to my left hand so I could wind with my right. Then I read an article about fishing for bream or such like, and the need to pick up on the lure as soon as it hits the water, so I changed. I still cast with my dominant right hand and but now wind with my left hand, so I don't have to change hands after the cast, took me a whole week to adapt to the change. Works for me much smoother casting and retrieving. Would not go back to the old way that I learnt as a kid.

Hi Over the last four weeks had two sessions on the flatties one at The Entrance the other at Patonga Creek, caught about 30 flathead on gulp minow 3" in rainbow colour, and about 8 on the 2" shrimp natural colour. So it's berkeley Gulp for me.

One very important thing to remember when you first put the braid on the spool, it needs to be put on under considerable pressure, I use a stick (peice of dowling) through the spool and put one foot on either side and place it on the carpet, then wind it onto the reel throught the rod and make sure there is a reasonable bend in the rod. I can adjust the pressure using my feet on either side of the spool. Hope this makes sense, I know some people put the spool in a cordless drill, which is then placed in a vice, and wind the line on against the brake on the drill. Using this method I have had little trouble, at least I have not had to cut off any line. Cheers

Well done mate good fish, great getting your first fish on a lure and a bass as well, good stuff. Yeah the reel sizes can get confusing at times Okuma 30 = Diawa = 2500 = Shimano = 2000. but it looks like a 2500 or 2000 to me, a 4000 in diawa or shimano would be overkill. Cheers