adamski

Hey folks, It's been a long running in-joke with my students that all I ever do at the weekend is go fishing. One of them, a Japanese guy called Shotaro, has been asking me to take him out for ages and today we finally got a bit of time to go for a flick. We set a meeting time for about 7 ish and, in typical student fashion, he was late by an hour or so. (I told him I thought the Japanese were supposed to be punctual!) He'd never used SPs before, so I showed him how to rig up and the basic technique. Lo and behold, first few casts and he pulls out a little leather jacket, not a bad start. We moved round to another spot where we were fishing in the hope of a few flatties. "I want to catch this fish", he kept telling me. I managed to get a few, including a couple of keepers, but no matter how much he bashed that bottom, none seemed to be forthcoming for Sho. I'd given him my SP combo and I was using my old rod with a blade (the only thing I could get some casting distance with) and even managed to get a fish on that, but still nothing for Shotaro We moved onto the wharf near where we were fishing and I rigged up a lighter jighead so he could try for bream ("I want to catch this fish"). We saw a few good-sized specimen, as well as a few rat kings swimming around ("I want to catch this fish"), but no matter how much he tried, Shotaro couldn't seem to get into them. Eventually we gave up on the bream (okay, I got one) and walked back round to try for flatties again. 2 more fish for me and he was beginning to look a wee bit dejected. The sun was starting to go down and we'd been out for ages, I was begging to think I should've at least brought some bait when all of a sudden... Yup, he's on! It's not a huge fish and it ends up pretty much getting skull-dragged, but it's a flattie on a plastic for the young lad and he seemed pretty darn happy! We called it a day shortly after. With his parting comment being, "Next time I want to catch big fish." All in all, it was fun to get out with someone different and pass on a bit of knowledge for a change. We finished the day with 3 fish to take home, including a trev I picked up earlier in the day. Shotaro also learnt some new vocab like "Tighten the drag", "You'll want to put a bit of S-Factor on that, mate." and, perhaps most frequently, "Bloody leatherjackets!" Thanks for reading! Adam

That's a fantastic effort land-based on that tackle man, and all taken in under two hours?!!! Hat's off!!!!

Great job guys, absolutely nailed it!

Well done on getting out and giving it a bash man! Sorry the advice wasn't much help. The bream round there seem to be a finicky bunch: most of mine have come on the run-in tide earlier in the day. The flats to the left of the wharf are also a good shout for flatties. If you ever fancy another go around there, gimme a shout (I'm still looking for my first kingie too!)

Nice guts on that tailor! I reckon we'll all be reading Gianni's first jewie report soon, it's only a matter of time.

Thanks guys! It was a good day and the weather played ball in the morning. Hahaha! Yeah, I know what you mean- I think I got my exercise for the month in that one session You can see why they get so many fish though- they cover so much ground!

Hey folks, Yesterday I met Gianni (thefisherman6784) for a flick around Iron Cove. Hope he doesn't mind me starting this report, then maybe he can add a few pics and extra info. We started off early and met a few of his younger pals and their dad at the mouth of one of the canals, before moving round to fish the bay. At first it was quite slow going, then gradually as the sun came up and the tide moved in, the bite came on. First up, we all managed a few little flatties- mostly around legal or just under. Then Gianni and his pals, who'd moved on ahead, started targeting a school of salmon that had moved into the bay. I think they had some luck and maybe a pic or two will be forthcoming (slowcoach here was too late to the party!) Moving back round and retracing our steps, we stopped at the other side of another canal, where I was quickly onto a little bream, then another little flattie on the next cast. Gianni had a nice bream in his first couple of casts too. The boys then moved on ahead back round to our starting spot. I stayed back a bit for a few more flicks. A few casts in and I lift and feel some weight, big shakes, but not a huge amount of fight. I wondered what was up til I realised the thing was swimming towards me. I caught sight of a nice big head, got the net ready, then the fish turned and went on a run. Eventually after a bit of back and forth (mostly with me with my heart in my mouth at the state of my 6lb leader) I got her into the net. 67 cm on the mat and a new PB for me, my first decent flattie! Unfortunately, on a bad note, she ended up on her back in the net and scratched off a load of scales. Made me realise I really need to get an enviro net and some lip grips. On the plus side, after a bit of reviving, she seemed to swim away okay. After catching up with the boys and saying bye to Gianni's mates, we headed round towards Drummoyne. Gianni went on ahead to target bigger fish with his jewie gear and I had a flick. We caught heaps of flathead, literally one every second cast or so, I think he managed a trev too, then I hear a shout from further down. Gianni's onto something big! We both tried to call it- maybe a kingie or a jewie by the way it was fighting. Eventually at the surface we saw- a very nice sized salmon! Both of us then got busted off by a couple of bigger fish and continued to catch a load of little flatties before we called it a day mid afternoon. It was a fun, eventful day and,the flathead looked very healthy for west of the bridge All of my fish came on a Zman Grubz in motoroil colour. Thanks for reading, Adam

If you're not fussed about eating the fish, there are plenty of spots west of the Sydney Harbour Bridge where you can easily get flatties on plastics. I'd be really happy to help out if you'd like a hand trying to get one. Sen d me a PM.

Great fishing guys! Well done for persisting and getting the jewie Pete.

Thanks guys. Haha, yeah Gianni I remember the salmon well- it was going mental. I think yours would have been a fair bit bigger than that one too. Proves you do get them in that canal.

Cheers Steve!

Hey Raiders, I had an hour or two free this arvo for a quick flick whilst the girlfriend was out. I was tossing up where to go to maximise the amount of productive fishing time and decided to choose Iron Cove. Started off at the canal entrance. First few casts of ye olde Zman Grubz and nothing, then on the tenth cast or so I get a good take and feel some reasonable weight. The fish came to the surface and I caught sight of greeny-blue and silver thought it was maybe a decent sized tailor. Then all of a sudden this thing jumps out of the water! It's a salmon! The thing starts going mental leaping all over the place and going on a decent run, so I'm practically in the water holding the rod out as far as I can to stop the 3 lb braid getting shredded on the oysters! Eventually it settles down and I manage to get it in the net. 48 cm on the brag mat, a quick snap and it's released. I've never gone out to target salmon before, but I might need to start having an occasional spin for them- they're a lot of fun. Thanks for reading! Adam

I often worry about the same thing. I used to wade the flats at Rose Bay until I heard about people on this forum getting hit by sting and numb rays. I was wondering if having a set of waders might offer some sort of protection against them?

Seen that one before! It sometimes hangs around the sand flats by the ferry wharf too.

PM on its way!

My current set up is an Itchy Twitchy with a Shimano Stradic FJ 2500. It's reasonably well-balanced and handles bream and smaller flatties with no issues, I think I paid about $350, though that was last year and the prices have come down since then. For reels, it might be worth looking at the Ci4, which is a bit lighter. As nbdshroom said though, it's a struggle to bully bigger fish out of structure with that sort of outfit.

Nice idea for a thread! As a kid video games were always a novelty for us- something we only got to play round my cousins' house til my aunt persuaded my mum to buy my brother and I a Mega Drive. Favourite games have always been Fifa, Final Fantasy, then later the Left4Dead series on the Xbox 360.

Epic dude! Great write up too. Congratulations on your first!

Nice work dude! Well done on bagging a new species and congrats to your mate on the jewie!

Cheers folks! Any advice on quality trebles to replace the broken ones on the Fat Dog?

Flatties are always a welcome feed. Sorry you didn't manage anything bigger, but well done on getting out- sounds like tricky conditions.

But... But... where are his legs in the second picture?!!!!

Thanks man, think it's either a snoop or a dirty dog- I'd need to have a closer look to be sure.

Cheers dude! Yet to get a bream over the low 30s west of the bridge, guess we'll see if tomorrow holds any luck.

Well done bud, seems like that lure's paid for itself already!