MainframeJames

I can confirm flathead activity. They didn't touch live poddies at all. But they liked SPs and really liked vibes/cranks. Lots of takes but I paid the snag tax pretty heavily. With a little more practice I think it would be quite possible to bag out on flatties there. Plenty of Taylor, perfect size for jewie bait, if such things were legal. The water there is called Mullet Creek, and with good reason. There were dozens if not hundreds of mullet swimming around in schools of all sizes, from see through all the way up to 30cm+. They put on quite a show jumping for us, sometimes only 2-3 meters away. A local turned up and he reckons the spot is dynamite for jewies, hairtail, and eels at night during a high tide. He's been fishing it for 5 years now so there might be something to it. Pic is the one I took home, measured at 49cm but his head was as big as my hand. He started head shakes before I could even see him. I knew I had a decent flattie on so I’d kept him low in the water. Did pretty good damage to my 12 lb leader. He’s getting fried up as soon as this is posted.

Way to stir the pot mate Good luck in Kiama, be sure to let us know how you go.

Those look great dude. Once you're happy with them, you can start tying them to solid rings and have them ready to swap out if they get damaged. You just put the solid ring onto a split ring exactly like a treble. Can't wait to hear/see your results.

This. I’ll also PM you a link to a page I found helpful.

They stay on great, tougher than real worms. They work well with bait keeper style hooks, you can rig them on a small snelled rig, or even use them on jigs/jig hooks if they have an inline eye. As long as it sits pretty in the water its fine. Other tricks like using bait elastic or bait stoppers work too. The one caveat is that they're quite narrow in the body compared to most SPs, so you're limited to thinner gauge hooks to keep the SP from splitting too easily. If you ever use a sabiki or take kids out fishing for little bream etc, then a very small piece, max size about the same as a maggot, just dangling on the hook can be great. You can pull up fish after fish and it almost never comes off. As for how they compare to real beach worms, I've never seen anything outfish real, live bait, but the Gulps are probably 2nd best from my limited experience. I don't have the time or skill to catch beach worms and Gulps don't go off between weekends, so they work for me.

Fair call.

I get packets of the longer gulp sandworms and cut them to size. Same idea. They don't have the wriggle but they are really smelly! I would have thought earthworms would die too quickly in the salt water, the only reason I haven't tried them myself yet! I have tons of big fat ones in the garden... Might take some to Wondabyne with me on the weekend.

Is Gordo short for Gordon or Spanish for fat?

Done yesterday.

The nice thing about the Atomics is they're cheaper than any others I've seen. Of course, if you're willing to tie them yourself you can definitely do better.

+1 on wondering about surf or quiet.

Thanks very much for that. I recognise it now that I see the pictures. For Prawns what do you put in for bait?

I've fished the rail bridge once from a boat and once from the shore. Saw loads of fish but they weren't biting. Same for the other blokes around those days. You've given me hope to try it again.

Honestly the crabs will find it even if it's not that smelly, but it does help! If you're in the right spot they'll even strip livies off a hook. I'm not as sure about the habits of blues but the muddies where I live drift along with the current and tide. I find them most abundant in spots where there's tidal flow but it's a bit slower than the main flow. It's like they pull into the little slack areas like pit stops. There's one spot I can sit on the bank and net them by hand somewhat regularly because they park themselves in easy reach as they drift by.

Hey Neil, sounds like a great day out. This is the first I've heard of what sounds like a stationary shrimp net. Sounds like something worth a try. If it's not too much trouble, would you mind sending me a link to the one you use?

If they seem to be float shy, have you tried those clear bubble floats? I know they're not invisible but certainly they're less visible. Just a thought I had when you mentioned the smaller floats seem to work better.

Yep, taking the train. During the day there's about 1 train per hour. It's the only train station in NSW inaccessible by car.

+1 on assist hooks. Extra split ring would have a similar effect. Scent also a great suggestion as they may hold on just a tad longer. I know it doesn't exactly solve the problem, but if you're interesting lots of bream and just not hooking up try throwing an SP into the middle of them. Sometimes the different texture/mouth feel is enough to get them to really commit. Also bear in mind that by-catch can include bigger Tailor and Flathead. 2lb is very light and not very forgiving if there's any wear on the line. Even with a good leader your chances of busting off are higher.

Hi Raiders, My father-in-law has it "on good authority" that flathead are abundant around Wondabyne, particularly between an hour each side of high tide. He's asked me to go fishing with him there on the weekend. He's 67 and not a fisho, so not 100% sure why he suddenly has the itch, but I said yes. So now I'd like to ask for advice. Has anyone fished Wondabyne? Particularly land based? What was your experience? For bait I'm taking the usual suspects of SPs, and I'm going to try to collect some poddies beforehand. Any other suggestions are welcome. As a backup plan I'm planning on taking some bread, I've seen lots of mullet there from the train. Thanks in advance everyone!

#5 is a Blue Tuskfish. Might have other names. One of the best eating fish you can catch up there. Absolutely delicious.

Sounds like a fun little mystery to solve! I'm interested in knowing the spot if you're willing to PM me.

I'm not an expert but I have seen transducers give readings similar to what you're saying if they're getting a lot of wash/bubbles around them when moving. Gives crazy depth readings and messes with temperature because it's contacting air sometimes instead of just water.

Take a bamboo garden stake, add a BBQ skewer, wind on some thread and a bit of a safety pin. Apply super glue liberally. Coat with clear nail polish and air dry a few times.

How deep is the water there near the pens where you were catching the flathead?

Interesting. If you open the housing for the other one is the design different?