Jimbu

I've found if you do big rips, you'll hook more flatties and less by-catch because you might spook some more timid species. A single big rip is good enough, flatties will hit anything that moves. Generally it will grab it on the drop, you'll feel it as a bite, and it will sit on the bottom with the lure in it's mouth. The next big rip will set the hook. A big rip will probably result in less snags, as it's pulling the lure more vertical and it covers more ground before hitting the bottom again. This technique also allows you to cover more ground more quickly so you can work an entire area in no time; flathead are opportunistic feeders who will wait in one spot for something to ambush. Not sure about the line strength question; I'll let someone more experienced answer that!

Thanks, John... I always look forward to reading your reports as they are always a pleasure to read!

Thanks, Pete! We will have to have that fish together soon

Decided last minute to drop a line near where I live on the georges yesterday. I had no bait so was flicking some a zman grubz on 1/16th head with only one small bump and no takes. I had put a bait trap out nearby with a couple of berley pellets and some grainwaves as that's all that I had. 30 minutes later I checked on the trap and found a bunch of small 3-4cm transparent shrimp inside. I threw a couple on a size 10 hook with a small ball sinker and sure enough i was getting some bites. Caught a small bream, then on my last cast I hooked up to this nice blackfish. It went 33cm and made a good account of itself. Cheers, James

Apparently if you treat them right they taste pretty good - ie. Bleed, gut, scrub black lining from stomach and put on ice. Otherwise, they are disgusting!!

Swell forecasts are notoriously unreliable; the swells often arrive late or early, and particularly with acute angle swells such as typical winter South swells, some spots will receive the full brunt while others will miss it. This depends not only on the direction the spot is facing and the period length of the swell, but also upon the bathometry (sea floor geometry) between the swell source and each break. For example, a long range swell travelling through deep water that suddenly becomes shallow will be magnified significantly. For these reasons,I think the BOM would err on the side of caution with their warnings. All it takes is one rogue set to make a dangerous situation...

Looks like north bra to me

In my experiences, flatties will react to a big enthusiastic rip from 0 to 90 degrees. Then pause for 6-8s. You won't get as much bycatch with this method but if there are flathead around you'll likely get one. Typically you'll feel a light thud on the drop which is the flathead taking the lure in it's mouth and lying on the bottom. The next rip will set the hook. As others have said look for a sandy area with a drop off. If you're landbased, yarra bay generally produces the goods and has a nice long snagless stretch. Otherwise if you have a boat try drifting next to the runway in kyeemah.

Braved the 3 degrees and headed down to my usual landbased spot this morning at first light. I had a load of bread, hoping to catch some mullet to use as bait. I had a small hook beneath a round float with a chunk of bread tied onto the line just above my float for berley (seemed like a great idea!). Looks like most of the mullet have gone out to sea, although there were still a few jumping about, none wanted to taste my bread. After an hour and a half with no nibbles, I abandoned the float. 10am rolled by, I'd been out for 4 hours without even a nibble. I tried switching to plastics for a bit, but lost two to snags in a few minutes so went back to bread. Was just about to pack up and head home when the like twitched just the tiniest bit, I lifted up and there was weight. A nice blackfish. I decided to have a few more casts, and could see my line moving just the slightest, assuming more blackies. 5 minutes later I hooked up again, a solid bream which put up a decent fight on my 1-3kg rod. Then it went quiet again. It was nice to take home a nice meal after such an uneventful morning. Cheers, James

awesome stuff, sounds like a blast on light gear as well

Thanks for the wise and kind words, guys! T.C, I'll have to keep at it then... need to catch some more mullet first. I'm also a big fan of catch release, the satisfaction rivals that of keeping a good fish, I believe. There's a fair few fillets in the freezer at the moment, so if I manage another, it'll be swimming away. I'm hooked. I had another go ... no jewie, but a PB 35cm bream which took a lot of coaxing to finally get her on. I kept gently feeding her line as she gnawed through most of my generous mullet strip... eventually she swallowed the skin that was left, fatal mistake!

Thanks, Witha. Yep, mullet.

Andddddd gave it another shot and bagged a legal one this morning.

Thanks! Just an update: had another try this morning before the wind picked up... Was mostly quiet with no bites on my light unweighted bread setup. My heavier setup - Once again I had my drag set super light so there was almost no resistance. Had a few light taps on my line which I assumed to be picker fish... Then Bzzzz as a fish picked up the thick mullet strip and ran... Almost as quick as it did, it must have felt the vibrations of the drag, as it let go. A short pause then the same thing happened again ... And again. I flicked the bail arm open and waited... Sure enough, line began to peel off rapidly and didn't stop. I counted past 5 seconds, flicked the bail arm closed and applied some pressure on the reel. I'm on! Felt like a similar sized fish to the other day. I hurried to tighten my drag up to slow it down, in a bit of a panic. After a short fight, the fish seemed to be staying deep, then my line went tight like it was snagged up and ... pop. Braid snapped above my swivel. I'm thinking he wrapped me around something on the bottom! I re-rigged as quick as possible, but there was nothing to report after that. Disappointing not to land it but a bit of excitement and some more experience and lessons learned.

Cool boat and enjoyed the report. Thanks for posting

Thank for the kind words, guys! Witha - caught it with a 10ft 6-12kg rod with 12lb braid and 20lb flouro leader. I'm wondering how my 7ft 1-3kg setup would have handled the same fish...

Hi Guys, This is my virgin report on here, soooo here goes... Lately I've been fishing a spot a few minutes drive from my house on the Georges River. It's a short walk along a bush track down to a shady area of mangroves. I've been mainly fishing unweigted bread on small hooks with mixed results, catching bream, blackfish and mullet, some plate sized and some juveniles. The other morning, I caught some decent sized mullet and heard a guy on a kayak let out a scream of delight. I overheard a convo he had with a guy on a boat, and he had bagged a decent jewie. Given this glimmer of hope, I decided to bring an extra rod this morning and give it a crack with freshly caught strips of mullet. I arrived at the spot at a bit before 7am and began to set up on my low rock platform amidst the mangroves, with the tide running out at a rapid rate. I placed a frozen mullet caught a few days back in a bucket of water to defrost and cast my light rod with unweighted bread a few metres from my feet. I could see regular silver flashes, indicating the mullet were about in large numbers, however I wasn't able to hook onto one. All I managed were a couple of undersized bream. After 15 minutes, I decided it was time to throw some mullet out on my 10ft rock combo. I took a healthy strip about 3cm x 8cm and hooked it once through the top with a 1/0 circle hook. There was a ~1cm diameter ball sinker running free to my hook and I lobbed the bait as far as I could, let it sink down, set the drag ultra light and placed the rod in the rod holder of my $20 fishing stool. Back to my light combo and the throwback bream and blackfish. I glanced at my other rod occasionally, noticing small nibbles, but nothing substantial. 15 minutes later, the rod tipped and almost came flying out of its holder and the reel began to scream. I grabbed it and began to add pressure to the spool with the palm of my hand, and fish hooked, I began to tighten the drag up while the fish screamed off. My excitement grew, as I tried to guess at what it could be. There we no tell-tale flathead headshakes. Soon it began to slow, and after a few more short runs and some heavy steering away from nearby rocks, I had an exhausted jewfish at my feet and into the net. She measured 65cm, so after a few quick snaps on the phone, I took off my shoes and socks, slipped barefoot around the mangroves dodging oysters, and lowered her gently into the shallows where she glided off to find the rest of her school. My first jew! Friends and family said I should have kept it, but after seeing such a beautiful fish swim away like that, I know I did the right thing.

I used to think the same ... You'd be surprised how many fish are at your feet. I thought the fish were scarce at my spots, yet when I used this method they came in one after the other. The bream with take the bait quickly with no weight, instead of their typical nibble/mouthing when they feel the tiniest bit of weight. You have to replace the bread regularly because it comes off easily, but you're often pulling a fish off the line at the same time If there is structure at your feet, simply drop the line straight down. I was fishing a mangrovey secluded spot on the Georges on the weekend where previously i had only ever picked up undersize bream or nothing at all... The current was midway through the run-in, so quite strong. I threw the bait maybe 5m out and let it sink and drift out with the current, feeding it plenty of line. I hooked up legal bream on almost every cast.

Fish somewhere with structure. I've seen plenty of bream around pylons in the harbour. I've used the following technique with consistent success in the Georges river recently. Use unweighted white bread on a number 2 hook and let it slowly sink down. You want to squeeze it on densely leaving it either fluffy at the point or just with the point of the hook showing. Not too much, just enough to cover the hook. Mix some of your bread with water until it is mush and throw small handfuls of that in, letting your bait sink amongst it. Leave a good amount of slack in the line, you will know when the fish runs with the bait as the line will move or tighten up suddenly... Lift and you're on. You will catch plenty of bream if they are about.