linewetter

Hey man I have been hearing from @DerekD about you often whenever we chat and he mentioned we should get a conversation going 😃 I will PM you and get it started, I don’t feel like I do much different than everyone else so I feel like my success is primarily due to the amount of time on the water (several hours at a time when I can get it) but I’ll share what I know even if I think it’s stuff everyone else does

Had a change of plans tonight and was able to fish after an early dinner. I sent a text to my newfound night fishing buddy @Mike Sydney to see if he was heading out for the night and that he was. We met up together in Drummoyne and both tied on a Zman Slim Swimz in Greasy Prawn coincidentally. I like to think just a case of great minds think alike 😁 First few casts both of us had some nibbles and interest but no hookups. That...was the end of the action for a looooong while as we walked around casting. We were both super excited at first at the instant action on arrival but it just disappeared as soon as it came. I swapped from soft plastic to crankbait back to soft plastics while Mike switched between plastic shapes. Even so, we had no action. We walked to a different part of the bay where Mike told me the story of catching his biggest flatty at and started casting around. It wasn't long before Mike hooked onto the star of the night: The curse is broken for one of us!!! I started casting around hoping for a fish next. We finally found where the fish were hiding out because there was interest and tugs, but just weren't hooking up well. After a few dozen more casts, it was time to Mike to go. I walked him back to his car since I was going to leave too. On the way back to my car, I had a couple of casts too...which turned into me standing there next to the car determined to catch a fish. I could hear the fish now splashing, I could feel the fish HEADSHAKES on the other end of the rod, everything but actually hooking onto a fish. It was like the fish were taunting me and goading me into doing just one more casts and I kept falling for it. I kept casting and casting thinking "ok this'll be the last one then I really gotta go..." but then I'd feel the fish biting the tail of the paddletail and shaking it around and it'd entice me to cast again. After what was probably three dozen casts, I finally stopped and packed up my stuff. We are no longer the donut boyz, it is just me now, singular donut boy

Let's go!!! Congratulations man! I was happy for you when I read your text of the flatties but didn't know it was your first flatty on plastics! Man how good does that wriggler look too? One of many many more fish to come I am sure of it.

If you just want to catch anything at all, then wharves are pretty good for yakka at night. I see them all the time especially if you burley up. When I got bored I would tear the bread super small and toss it at my feet and literally see dozens suddenly show up.

Very good info! Especially about leaving the bail arm early on the Texas rig. That is something I hadn't thought about as a workaround to let the sinker sink first without it sliding straight to the hook. Going to try practicing rigging weedless (biggest weakpoint at this point) then trying out both the Texas rig and Carolina rig. The drop shot rig though I'm imagining using maybe off a wharf or somewhere that it can be put down vertically - that'll be my first place I was planning on testing that one out. It looks like the Carolina rig will be the go to for me for a better unweighted presentation but the Texas rig for more snag proofing. Thanks again for sharing 😁 Will also try the hook sizes you mentioned for the 2.5" plastics since I already have those in possession as well

I started night fishing recently with the hour change and it being dark much earlier now. I find it hit or miss so far. Even going to the same spots at the same times, sometimes I can catch a good amount of fish or get a lot of interest and then other nights it's just nothing at all. When it used to get darker later though, I did notice that the bite would die down for me as soon as it got dark compared to when there was still light out - this was a consistent observation as I would be fishing the same wharf, using the same bait (bread), casting in the same area day after day for weeks. When the sun was setting, I would still get good interest and decent sized fish, but when it turned dark, it went dead or the interest would be infrequent in comparison. But with lures, I feel like I have more times where I've had interest at night funnily enough in comparison to bait.

What a killer sunrise! Some nice fish caught as well. How do you plan to cook up the flathead and kingy?

Went out fishing tonight since I could be out later without worrying about work tomorrow thanks to Anzac Day. The plan was to fish for a bit then potentially meet @Mike Sydney tonight for the first time and to target big tailor on topwater together. Very strong winds tonight at around 35km/h at the peak and pretty choppy water in the harbour. I hit a couple of the bays close to home with soft plastics but had no interest. Brought out ol reliable white bread and still no interest. I was having a hell of a time with tangles and ready to call it a night after a couple hours of no interest, literally sitting in my car about to hit send on a text to Mike that I was calling it and had my key in the ignition ready to turn...when I get a call from Mike that he was available earlier than expected and ready to fish. That call turned my night around and I was no longer feeling defeated! Went to our agreed upon meeting point and did some chatting while I spent the longest I ever took to tie on heavier leader in anticipation for the tailor. No joke it literally was taking me like 10 minutes to tie it on because I kept losing line between my fingers for some reason. I'm blaming the wind even though we were pretty sheltered 😄. With expectations of choppy water due to the wind, we both went for subsurface lures at first but the water on the Parramatta River was surprisingly calmer than we both expected considering the wind forecast. This lead us to put on some poppers and Mike let me borrow a Halco Roosta Popper I think it was - never used it before but damn it makes a nice splash. Mike had some really big splashes and we saw swirls at our feet and fish in the water but alas we both came out with no fish on the other end. But tonight the fish was a secondary thing for me - I really came out to meet Mike in person and really glad I got to meet him. Really nice guy and enjoyable to be around, and looking forward to more fishing sessions in the future 🙂. May have come away with no fish tonight, but did come away with a new night fishing buddy ☝️

I have yet to try any but from viewing the setup, it seems like the drop shot setup lets you suspend the lure & give it a longer drop better than the Carolina rig since the weight comes after the lure. I'm thinking in my head that with the Carolina rig, because the lure is behind the weight, it's going to not be as fluttery since the weight in front kind of dampens any hops you give it. But I'm going to give both a shot in terms of seeing how they compare when I can. I could be totally wrong and the Carolina ends up looking how I want it to.

Those are some awesome pictures in that report. I'll admit, I'm surprised by the quality of the photos - super clear all things considered from back then (though it's not that long ago really). Did Han and Juul ever make it down to Sydney and fish with you or did you guys end up keeping in contact? I've never seen a hook like that before like you've linked. Looks like may be a little hard to get in Aus or at least for a reasonable price...I'll see if I can get some stateside. From reviews, definitely seems like those stand out hooks work well for improving hook up rates on a drop shot setup.

Interesting, I will give that one a listen. I've recently started listening to that podcast more and more but haven't listened to that episode yet - see it just came out a month ago or so. Thanks for linking it!

I will give that a shot! I have a pack of the power minnows already, so just have to get the hook next time to try it out. I’ve picked up on a couple things so far from watching videos - black and blue seems like a very popular soft plastics color there but not so much here it seems

Oh yes, the three setups are all the rage in America. Very popular over there, jigheads are too but I see those three setups come up more on social media from America. Ever since getting more into fishing, I’ve become interested in seeing what’s popular in other countries too, fun to see the different ways we differ even though we’re all out to catch fish.

Haha Derek did mention you were the go to person to ask for Texas rigging so was keen to see your input as well. I remember reading you mentioned about being able to mix/match various weights easily and that's what sold it for me. I have a small stockpile of jigheads in the weights I use but can get pricey if losing them often so was interested in Texas rig to save some money and have a more flexible option. Think I will try out both rigs at this point in the future and see how I go. Carolina rig, you're right, wouldn't be using a heavy sinker anyway. Just have to make sure there are no sharp points on it from the pouring process and probably won't be too bad after all. What are your go to plastics & sizes and accompanying hook size when targeting the typical bread and butter fish like bream or flathead? I had a lot of trouble with rigging a grub on the EWG hook, so good to know maybe I wasn't the sole reason why it wasn't working out 😅

Agree with @frankS, I had the 'vid before and it hit me like a ton of bricks too. I thought it was going to be just like the flu for me too since I'm in my late 20s but never felt worse. Get lots of rest and stay hydrated bn! The fish'll be waiting for you on the other end of this all 😁 If you end up having throat issues, I found that swallowing honey actually helped me quite a bit, never really believed in it before but my partner insisted and I tried it.