crystalliser

That's a cracker session there Grant! Congrats on the PB coollamon, HC is da bomb! Cheers Ronald

Nicely done! Very nice pictures! A rack raider and tierra? Thanks for sharing. Ronald

Hi mrsswordy, Is it possible to do a visor type? Thanks.

Nice catch! What a great effort on light gear. Go the sx! Cheers Ronald

Sixty-One! Well bloody done mate! Didn't know that corner produces eh! Top stuff from Grant, it's his backyard and you'll never go wrong. Congrats on your placcies pb. Randall, you caught some good fish mate. Too bad the breams didn't wanna come out and play Cheers Ronald

Sounds like a fun day on the water! Nothing beats the relaxation and companies of a few good mates and getting them onto fish! Well done Flattieman! Cheers Ronald

same thing happened to a mate. purefishing australia would not supply the manufacturers certificate as they insisted it cost a lot of money for them to acquire it.

Thanks for the compliments guys. The tides were pretty high these few days during late morning and our session pans out pretty much the same as Motty's, that is, it began a slow start for us but turns out much better towards the end. Definitely must take advantage of these high tides, we seem to do alright when the opportunity came. Hope these helps.

hi col, from the sounds of it, good on u that u're enjoying the fishing here in the big smoke. It's a nice sight and something new to see flatties eating the spoons u've been having so much success in tassie. Nice piccies too! Cheers Ron

wow, that's a huge snappa! well done. yumm... bbq snappa

G'day raiders. After reading Mottyman's report and my college mate nzwarriors feeling the itch, we headed out for a morning session down at HC bay. Reached there with little winds which was pretty good. Tied on a SX48 and got snagged on the 2nd cast! Didn't wanna lose this lure and so had to pull out an inflatable from the car to save it. Not much drama and in quick time I paddled out to retrieve it. I was surprised to find out that it actually got snagged onto a thick leader (roughly a 15-20lb line) which still has a bass minnow (watermelon? colour too faded) and jighead attached! Rechecked my new fluoro (Yamatoyo Famell) and all's good. Kept on with the sx for only a few missed strikes. Got tired of it and changed to camo sandy. Couple of casts later got a half-hearted pull from a 41cm flattie. Next few casts resulted in a few hits and misses until at one point the 3" worm came back minus 2" . Since I was field testing the 8lb leader, might as well field test another 1/0 gama jighead which had been sitting in the tackle box growing mushrooms. This time round, I did a slow roll, and out of the sudden, the rod buckled and the kix went ballistic. Good fish I said and it made the 2nd sprint of around 5secs which really gave my kix a good workout. Another short burst near the bank and up came a handsome looking 35cm bream. Ah.. It's been quite awhile since my last bream fix. Kept going at the same spot and got another big run on the slow roll. At first I thought it would be its partner or something but as it surface, turns out to be a 43cm flattie. Good flattie I say, always happy to hook up a flattie that can run hardout. Still persisting at the same spot, I got another nearby hook up of a 39cm flattie. It's good to know they are all of decent size at the bay. Without anymore touches at that firing spot, we moved down a little bit more. Did the same ol' and wrapped up the session with a 25cm bream. Seems like the 1/0 size is proving to be a good choice. nzwarrior got a flattie too and thanks to him for taking some pictures. We met Jewhunter there and it's always great to bump onto a raider. By then, the wind picked up and we left to get to our work. A truly satisfied quick 'camo-nised' morning session. Cheers Ronald

Good on ya David! That's a ripper session mate! I can't seem to do so well on the camos but u're on fire with them! That's a horse 36, well bloody done! Nice pics too.. Cheers Ronald PS. Did u just use up the whole packet for a session? recycle mate.. recycle..

Well done! It goes to show that the hard yards you've went through finally pays! Perserverance is sweet, isn't it? Cheers Ronald

that's golden! I can really imagine your dad's look when he says that phrase.. well done on the salmons and nothing beats the quality time of son and father spent. Cheers ron

Thanks for the kind words guys! It has been a long wait for 'her' to appear. I've always release my catches anyway but this one gives a special feeling. Cheers Ronald

G'day raiders. Today was a memorable luring session for me. Still went out even though the wind was quite strong. Made a quick sms to a mate of mine but he had some essays due so I head out alone. Had a late start as I wanted to catch just the mid-tide. As usual, started out with HBs first. Tied on pinkie but no takers. Soon, it was getting quite dark. Switched to sp'ing and gave the camo sandworm a go. Couple of casts later had a huge take and the line peeled for a short burst but no hookup. Damn, the worm was still intact that suggested it did not get the hook. By then, I reckon the worm was too 'used' and rigged up a new one. Next cast and I was on with a undersize bream. Released it and cast back to the same spot, and the bites came in thick. It's frustrating as I couldn't successfully convert the bites. So, I tied on a SX40 (syd guppy) and casted near a rock wall. Couple of cranks later got a 39cm flattie. Moved a feet up and casted in another angle at the wall. When I got my lure near where my head-torch was shining, I saw a big flattie (easily over 60) came out of nowhere (I loved flatties for doing these stunts ) and took the sx. Line was peeling (sorry, I think I loosen too much) and I tried to keep some pressure on my BlackHole rod but then my sx bounce out of the water and I lost it! (damn u ronald! for giving such a 'pussy' drag!) Oh well, kept my composure and re-checked my 6lb vanish leader. Nothing was wrong and kept going at the same spot. This time at another angle, I got a big 'bump' feeling on my rod. I didn't even strike and the weight was massive. Gosh, can I be so lucky to get that same flattie? But my blackhole was bending big time, and I felt this is a better fish than my previous pb of 59cm. The 1st couple of crank-in was alright, and the fish came in gently but I reckon once it saw the street lighting, it made a dash. And this dash is a DASH! The kix (drag properly tightened this time) sang the beautiful tune and kept going for almost 1/3 of my spool (1500 size) empty! I played it nice and slow to keep the leader at an angle to prevent cut-offs. The longest time was spent to tire out the fish, and also trying to lip grip by myself was no easy task. Luckily all goes well (the 6lb vanish held) and she decided to slid in for a successful grip. My personal best Dusky Flathead of 80cm caught on SX40. Finally, I've gotten a mama flattie. Some nice chaps came to say hi and helped me took the pic. They were surprised why I had wanted to release the mama. I kindly explained that the big ones are brooders and will lay many many eggs and soon they got the point why I released her. By then, I was quite shaken and tired after the battle and called it quits but rest assured I'll try to 'UP' my pb again! Cheers Ronald

There is one called Cronulla Houseboats and Boat Hires which is located at Tonkin St if u wanna fish in Port Hacking. They do hire out tinnies and yes, u need to get fishing licenses for everyone on board who's intending to fish. Cheers

G'day Bream Mad, Congrats on popping the ep cherry mate. Is that a Shimano Rack Raider rod you're using? Mind if I ask what line rating is that and how do u find the rod so far? Thanks! Cheers Ronald

What is with the recent trend of suicidal fishes nowadays?? Well done Bream Mad, choppers do really like a fast crazy retrieve and I find that they are particularly fond of silvery coloured placcie or hb with lotsa glitters. Cheers Ron

OUCH!!! That's one helluva way for a kamikaze trout. Shame about the thrown hook. Well done yet again col. Cheers Ronald

hey Mike, bloody well done on that granpa bream mate!! jeez man, it's been quite awhile since i've seen a grandaddy bream oh come on, we're not fish magnet, i'll trade 10flatties for a bream like that anytime! no worries with the help, anytime for a raider mate. cheers Ronald

Good session there bloodknot! At least the bream gave u a good run for the money. 4inch... hmm.. what happens to the other 2inch? Don't chuck it! When u cut the other 2inch, wipe dry the joints and use a superglue to join up your double 2inches (lighter burn doesn't seem to work for gulps). Then put it into an empty gulp bag and add some stimulate to moist it up for its next use. I know I'm cheapskate but hey, gulps don't come cheap man! ronald

Great job Mike on the pb tailor! The big ones definitely are fun on light gear. An LJ on sp is a bloody good achievement as well. Cheers ron

G'day raiders. Went to HC this mid arvo to do some luring for the run out. The wind was quite strong and so gave HB'ing a go instead. Attached a new SX48 and after couple of cranks later up came a not-so-good-fight 38cm flattie: Not bad for this expensive lure getting it's first fish after several outings. Then came a stupid principle that tells me to change lures after a hookup. Ok, then next up in line was 'goldie'. Walked down the stretch with goldie for quite sometime without a touch. Then on a particular cast that went quite far out, a few cranks it had a solid knock and I was on. Took a very short drag and that was it, started pulling in this plastic bag and guess what this plastic bag was...?? My HC-pb bream of 38cm: Maybe they don't like to run much in spring? Anyway, next lure to climb onboard was 'pinkie'. Moved further along the stretch till I got another 27cm bream on a far cast as well. This fish took in the size 12 treble full on, took some time to free the bugger. Had tried couple of other HBs but to no avail. Then came sp'ing time. Tied on a watermelon bm and on the 1st cast, got a hookup to my most memorable flattie fight. This 40+cm freak went ballistic, ran my drag for about 4-5secs and not doing only once but around 5-6 times! Definitely earned my respect, could recall my hands were shaking when releasing this bugger. After her release, I casted back into the same spot and it was taken on the drop. The spool went for a good run and that was it, another plastic bag equivalent came in as a 34cm bream: Caught another flattie on the same spot yet again and 3 consecutive casts yielded 3 fishes, how good is that. Managed a few more small breams and flatties before pulling the plug right after dark. All in all it was a good session, more importantly I encountered a 40+cm freak flattie! Cheers, Ronald

Good job fellas! Trevs on light gear is sure helluva fun! Cheers Ronald