adamski

Hey folks! Just got back to Australia last Friday after a 3-year hiatus, so I've been dusting off the light soft plastics gear (hello Z-man grubz, long time no see!) and just about remembering how to cast. On Tuesday and Friday I hit up Middle Harbour land-based an hour or so before high tide. Three casts in and I got a solid "thunk" on the line and felt that long-lost, pant-wetting excitement you get when a fish takes a decent run and the drag starts singing. After a bit of to and thro, I got a decent Trev to the bank, which promptly decided to spit the hook. Damn! Fortunately, in the next hour before the tide started running out I managed to pull in a few wee bream from around the oysters and, just as I was about to call it quits, got another solid take. This time the trev behaved and I managed to get it up onto the bank for a measure. On Friday I headed back to the same spot, but it was tougher going: a couple of little flatties and a bream were just about all that were willing to take the lures. Then today, my partner was off to meet some friends at Narrabeen so I hopped in the car with her and walked up for a flick around the estuary. I'd never been there before and there was nothing much doing apart from a little flatty to begin with, although there were heaps of bream visible from the bridge. Then I walked a bit further round closer to the ocean and had a cast into the fast run-out water. Two casts in and "ping", I felt a good take. The fish started running into the current so it was difficult to gauge the size, but as I got it to the bank I realised it was a decent whiting. In fact, it ended up being a PB for me by a country mile: just over 40 cm! A shout out to the guy fishing with his son nearby who took a photo. I didn't have a knife or an esky with me, so they took it home for a feed. After a few years of only catching little redfin perch in the UK, it's nice to be back and into a variety of fish. Cheers for reading!

Didn't know they still had 50 cm+ flatties at Rose Bay! That's a quality effort for first time on SPs, well done!

Pretty much this, You'll pick up way more flathead if you cover lots of water. Try fishing an estuary or tidal stretch of a river and take a bit of a walk. Count how long your lure takes to hit the bottom after each cast. If there are any areas where it takes a bit longer, give it a few extra casts. I don't think lure size matters too much in my experience tbh: a hungry 30 cm flattie will still smash a 5-inch lure, a 50 cm model will scoff something half that size and vice versa.

Cracking fish Stewie, top job!

Congrats on your first fish on an SP Wellzy! Sure it'll be the first of many, plastics are highly addictive!

No, I was just C&R, but thanks for reminding everyone.

Solid bag there, Ryder, great work!

Hiya folks, Figured after nearly losing the site, I'd make more of an effort to post some reports. I've been chasing bigger fish on heavier tackle and smaller stuff on the fly, but I thought I'd give the light gear a go today. It was a beautiful morning and I headed down to the Georges. Managed 5 fish in total: a bream, a luderick (foul-hooked, but a PB!), a whiting and a couple of flatties. Also got busted off by a monster tailor and a couple of follows by something bigger. It was an eventful little session, with everything taken on Powerbait crabbies with 1/16 and 1/20 jigheads. Happy Easter!

Nice haul! What did the damage?

That's an awesome fish, congratulations! Sounds like a pretty epic battle!

Genuinely sorry to hear this news guys, such an informative site and a great community that will be sorely missed. A huuuuuuuuge thanks to Stewie, Donna and all the mods/members who've made it all possible over the years: I've learned so much from you guys!

Good shape on that bream. Almost snapper-esque .

Well done mate, I'm sure it'll be the first of many.

Awesome! Congratulations!

Nice fish! Did you get hungry and take a bite out of the top one's tail before he ended up on the barbie?

Cheers Rick, the caves are in Kosciuszko national park, about 2 hours out from Jindabyne. It's a pretty amazing area, some really spectacular scenery. The caves are only $4 to get in for a self-guided tour, but more if you get a guided tour. I think the entry price also includes access to the thermal pool, which was pretty cool too, and the river runs directly behind it. A few pics:

Happy New Year folks, Just a quickie to say I got my first Aussie freshwater fish and first fish of 2017 on holiday: a little brownie while I was out visiting Yarrangobilly Caves. The fish took a lightly-weighted 2" Z-manz in copper penny out the back of a snag, just after the foam from the down-running stream. Still waiting on the fly rod to be sent over from Scotland, but once it comes I hope I'll be able to get after his mummy and daddy. Cheers,

Thanks for the advice, I'll have a search around Lithgow to see what pops up around there.

Hey folks, Just passed my driving test and I'm getting my trout gear sent over from the UK in the next few weeks. I want to start exploring further afield, so I was wondering if anyone could recommend the closest areas for fresh water fly fishing in/just outside of Sydney? (Also have space for a passenger if anyone fancied a day out) Just out of curio too, has anyone had luck on native freshwater species on the fly? Do you think bass, yellow belly or cod would take flies? Cheers, Adam

Hey mate, Saw you down there a few weeks back when you were fishing for bream. Great job on the king- that wharf is a pain in the backside to land them off, so that's excellent work!

Thanks so much for all the advice, robz. It's much appreciated. I'll try upping the tippet and I need to get some footwear/waders for wading the flats. I have a few Clousers, but no Crazy Charlies just yet. Yeah mate, that was me. Just the one flattie off the wharf, but quite a few along the flats over on the left. I went back yesterday morning too and had a shoal of kingfish nipping at the Z-manz, but no hook-up. They'll be easier to spot around there when this wind dies down. Really surprised at dolphins in Rushcutters, I had no idea they came all that way into the harbour. Cheers dude, they weren't monsters, but definitely in better size and numbers than I've seen them in the last 6 months or so around there.

What an absolute LUMP of a snapper! COTM nominee, surely?

Awesome fishing gents! You lucky so and so's! That last fish is an absolutely beaut, Stewie, looks like a cross between a kingy and a jack, what is it?

A new forum, a different name, but his kingy results still stay the same, there's nobody better at the kingfish game, it's Krispyyyyyyy!

Nice work! Never had a surgeon but I hear they're dirty fighters. Any good on the plate?