mitchie18092

pufferfish are fine to handle, it's just their liver that carries that nasty toxin (though as mentioned they have so gnarly little chompers on them!) not sure whether its an old wives tale, but getting stung by a flattie i have heard you are meant to rub the wound on their belly? any science in this? should have mentioned in my report as well adam - considering you fish there as much as i do - i also copped a little blue bottle sting on the ankle!!! surprised to see them that far into the harbour. guess i was just having an unlucky day! ha

Ahh of course, simple if you think about it! My whole leg didnt go numb, it was just from the calf down on my left side but my body felt like it was vibrating for a good hour or so after, think it was just a bit of shock on my behalf though. Never really thought they would zap you that bad to be honest. And cheers Adam - was certainly getting desperate for a productive session! Flattie wasn't a bad one, didnt measure it up but would have been 40-45cm and surprisingly fat. Funny thing is it actually put up a decent little fight, maybe they go harder when lure fished as opposed to just swallowing my ganged pillie?

Finally a bit of success! With some much improved conditions compared to the day before, i managed to fit in a good hour and a half or so after work. Got down there around 6pm, for the last bit of the run out. Waded out approx 200m along the drop off near the moorings on the left, first cast and i'm onto a little flattie. Just a tiddler so i send him home. For the next half an hour i got harassed by what im assuming were jackets or tailors - shredding my plastics to bits. Upsized to a 100mm Wriggler in bloodworm. Back to same spot and first cast i feel a good hit and im on - a nice 30cmish trevor which made a good account of itself on my 3lb line. Put him back to live another day and very next cast im on again! This time up comes a nice flatty - keeper this time. I'm a bit uncoordinated when it come to dispatching fish waist deep and putting him in my back pack so had to walk all the way into shore to sort him out. Saw a gentleman i had squid fished with a couple months prior and we walked back out to the same spot together. Bite slowed down a touch with the slack tide, and though we were both getting a few hits we were a bit more interested in having a little chat. We both pulled up another little tiddler flattie before it got a bit dark/cold so we decided to head in. Keep in mind we are a good 100-150m out from shore - literally 3 steps on the way back my knees buckle and i feel this overwhelming shock run through my body, let out a mighty old yelp and see the culprit swim a couple feet away. Bloody numb ray! Had rubber soled shoes on as well - which leaves me to this question - if i had waders on would it still have shocked me? Might need to invest in a pair. Reel got dunked, bag and myself all went it. Luckily phone and everything didn't get wet. Safe to say it was a fairly paranoid walk back into shore. Anyway - eventful little afternoon - gave the flattie to my girlfriends mum in exchange for a cup of hot water, honey and ginger to calm me down a bit. (Lives in an apartment block on the water there). Sorry no photos - had other things on my mind!

Got down there and was copping about a 50km nw'ster straight in the face, gave it about half an hour but was nearly getting blown off my feet and the wind was whipping water off the surface so wanted to get my reel out of there asap. Going to have another try this arvo, hopefully it will have calmed down a bit. P.S. on the reel sitch, ive been using a little 2500 stradic FJ w/ 3lb power pro - cruisey little reel, super comfortable to use. Definitely keen for a flick on the weekend, let me know when your keen!

nice one - gonna head down after work today for a quick flick if the weather holds out. what sp's did the damage?

time to get myself down there I think... great little write up - thanks for sharing! next time you think of heading down there drop me a pm if you like - literally just around the corner - can show me how it's done!

around tennis court wharf on scotland island holds a lot of squid, kings around all the moorings there too.

Nice one mate! Just starting to get into them myself, what sort of retrieve were you using - if you don't mind me asking!

nice work mate! i live in DB must get down there and have a crack myself soon! always felt like the beach to the right of the wharf could hold some decent flatties, same up around to the right of redleaf pool

Yeah there is a distinct colour change from sand to silt/weed with bit of a drop off just before the moorings on the far left. that's where i was working along. saw tons of stingrays and a little numb ray too - had shoes on though. hopefully catch you down there soon! will be going most weeknights i think with non-daylight savings straight after work so if you see me come say hi for sure.

thanks bud, yeah the place was right out on the far left point (crazy house) and just looked super fishy. wasn't quite prepared for it otherwise would have brought my live baiting rod with me. had another little go this afternoon at rose bay again. little pinkie on a new vibe and a tailor on a bloodworm wriggler. getting the hang of things! another lovely gentleman was their fly fishing and gave me a little home made fly of his. if you're reading this Joe i really appreciate it! til next time...

That Archer fish sounds like something else! Top report.

Ha - just the one rod and reel + a new spool of FC leader - hurts all the same though! Thanks for the encouraging words, luck's gotta swing our way sooner rather than later you'd hope.

So i recently bought a little 1-3kg outfit, loaded with some 3lb powerpro with the intention of moving into lure fishing in the warmer months (especially now i can fit in a flick after work with the sun up!) Not all went to plan, first time out i spent a few hours flicking a little 35mm vibe along rose bay from the ferry wharf all the way up to point piper. Did manage a little leather jacket but wasn't exactly what i was targeting.. A few days after i went to a mates place who lives on the water (Parsley Bay area) to have another go, but this time brought some bait as well. Was a mid afternoon high tide and looked promising. After a half hour or so of flicking a z-man grub around i decided it was time to burley up some bread and get some bait in the water. Not long after i brought up a nice little pinkie snapper which just so happened to have a 70cm+ kingie following it. By the time i unhooked him and threw out an unweighted pillie cube he had vanished. Oh well. Starting seeing some bust ups within casting distance so hurled out another pillie cube which got hammered as soon as it touched the water, my other mate (an inexperienced one at that) had a line out to the left of me, and by the time i got him to start bringing his line back in i got wrapped around his and PING! bummer. Salmon i think, good one too. Quietened down a touch so thought i would throw out a cube and roll a smoke, Big mistake. Put my rod down in a fairly precarious position, and grabbed my pouch only for me to catch out of the corner of my eye another sambo come and hammer it off the surface, in go's my brand new t-curve rod, pflueger 2000xs reel and a whole spool of braid with it. To make matters worse as i went to reach for it i also knocked in a whole new spool of 6lb FC Rock which sunk to the depths not be seen again. Shattered. Down but not defeated, i ordered another little setup online which arrived yesterday. A stradic 1000 and nano XT 1-4kg stick. Got home from work around 5, set it up with some more power pro and off i went up to rose bay sand flats for the last of the incoming tide. No bait this time, just my little collection of lures - mainly sticking with the Grubz. After a half hour playing around trying to refine my technique a bit i finally got a hit! No hook up, but promising none the less. I had some serious sized mullet jumping around me which proved a bit of a distraction as i knew they wouldn't have a bar of my SP. Kept casting and finally hooked up! felt some good weight and then line went slack, wasnt quite sure what happened so reeled in and realised he had swam straight at me but mustn't have set the hook properly and as soon as i felt the weight again he was off. Sun was nearly down by now and i was getting slightly disheartened so as i was about to pack up i reeled in a cast quickly and had a tailor come and chomp it. Cut straight through my 6lb leader, tied another one on and same thing so called it a day. Certainly promising, starting to get the hang of it. I think around the rose bay area i'm better off fishing the run out on the sand flats but i will keep trying til i figure out what works... will surely get one soon. Sorry for the essay - tight lines!

Great little sesh by the sounds of it mate. those 40cm+ model trevors go like all buggery! - some nice angling getting it up for sure.

Yeah as a few others have said - i think its best chucking em straight into a ziplock bag, keeping the ink and a bit of extra salt water in the bag then into the freezer. should stay pretty much pristine for a good few weeks!

yeah past few outings have heated up 10 fold. went a good month or two without bringing home any keepers and now am unlucky not get 2-3 good fish to take home. some nice fish there by the way!

Nah you're right bud, complete rarity. Get a fair few blackies but rarely see a drummer.

Went for a quick flick down at bottle and glass to make the most of a nice day. Got down there around 3:30 or so and the tide was well on its way out. Burleyed up with some bread and straight away could see a fair shadow or two down close to the bottom. Was using peeled prawns and salted pillies as bait unweighted, first few casts got hammered by little pickers (small trevs and sweep). After about 5-6 casts I finally got a prawn down close to the bottom, saw my line tighten up and struck as hard as I could. This thing went like a freight train - bare in mind I'm using 6lb fire line to 6lb FC leader - tussled with it for a good 4-5 minutes and at that stage had no idea what it was. Kept pulling in close to the rocks and ducking in underneath a ledge, had to risk free spooling twice just in order to get the thing out. Anyway 10 mins go's by and I finally have this thing on the surface - a cracking drummer! Have caught some smaller models here before but didnt expect one this large to be lurking around. Got him up and he went 42cm and a big round belly! PB for me, was stoked especially on the gear. Checked my leader and it was frayed right up and down, one more dive into the rocks and it would have been a done deal I think. That was the highlight for what was only an hour long session, couple just legal trevs and rock cod looking things to finish. Will post a pic when I can figure it out on my phone

that was me down there with you mate, nice bag of fish you ended up with there! Got my couple marinating ready for dinner tonight. Sure I'll see you round the traps some time soon again.

^ have always been a touch unsure over the legality of pulling them out from there, so tend to only take what you need and if there are any spare then send them home looking forward to some warmer water coming in to throw some surface lures across the flats there - should be a hoot!

There are tons at rose bay mate. Go to the middle storm water drain, follow it out to the water about 50/60 meters or so, and just ruffle your feet around in the shallow water, they will come up aplenty. Once i find them i tend to work my way right - up towards dumaresque. I had a go with them without much luck unfortunately, maybe wrong time/setup - but they are certainly there.

pretty little things aren't they!

nice one. what side of rose bay? sand flats to the east?

Doesn't sound like your doing a lot wrong. I've run a similar set up with ganged pillie on the bottom, and a surf popper on top (super cheap - work well for some reason) for some pretty full on sessions. but this was way down south in Venus Bay (Victoria) Just try to concentrate on the early morning and evenings and i'm sure you will find some success.