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What a bummer ! It's interesting that the hot water worked better than anything else. It sounds like a good reason to always have a Thermos of hot water on board. Although... I presume some cold would have to be mixed in in an emergency. Other wise a person could have burns as well as poison and pain. Hope you are fully recovered and thanks for sharing.

Great fish. I should head down there soon.

Woww!!! Long and fat!! Great work.

Well done. Great feed. Good to see the flatties are on the chew.

I used to work with a bloke who says he reeled in somebody else's lost fishing rod and there was still a huge bream on the end of the line. I once caught a "lost rod" but it looked like it had been down there for about 10 years. I have also had a rod go over the side near Bluefish Point. Pretty sure it was a Salmon. I saw the rod bending and a Salmon jump then nothing!! Very frustrating. Thanks again for the comments and feedback/sympathy etc. Reeltired

The day and especially the night of the full moon are notoriously bad for all fishing in my experience. Not sure if it's the shadows that result from us moving around with the moon behind us or what. Ditto on berley and small hooks. The burley needs to be constant if possible. eg a frozen lump of breadcrumbs, tuna oil and prawn heads dangled in the water creating a steady light stream of tiny particles. It depend of course on currents and/or wave motion. However a handful of wet bread tossed in a few seconds before your line works well too. The yakkas get into a frenzy and don't notice that the bit of "free food" with the hook in it is any different to the rest. reeltired

Thanks guys Sorry about the spelling. It should be somersaulted not SUMMERsaulted. Yeah I think I should get an award too! "Idiot of the year" ? reeltired ps I was really tired today actually. Maybe I should change my name to "reelrecovered" or "rodandreelrecovered". No more dad jokes I promise.

Where is a video camera when you need one? I was fishing in Middle Harbour yesterday with Andy when I had the most ridiculous experience. I'm tempted to post a photo of my grazed stomach as proof but don't want to make you all sick in the stomach. Andy's rod fell in the water by accident and was sinking slowly. Andy just looks and says "oh no" ! I think "I can reach it, I've done this before". Do the maths: The sides of the boat are about 1/2 a metre above the water, the rod is already half a metre down, I am 1.8 metres tall. Oh yeah and there is a rod holder sticking up about 15cms in the air on the side of the boat where my chest is about to slam into. Andy saw the whole thing but I'm still not sure quite what happened. Apparently I somersaulted into the water. I retrieved the rod! I was only wet from the waist down except for the arm that lunged into the depths. My hair, sunnies and hat were intact and dry! The phone in my shirt pocket had a slight smear of water on it but is fine. My chest is bruised and grazed but I still can't stop chuckling when I think about it. Flathead fillets for dinner tonight!!! Yum!! Reeltired

The smile says it all !

Just to clarify something: I stumbled and sat on the rod and broke it. All my fault. Yes the girl was "stoked". It was the first fish she had ever caught. I can't put a picture of her on here due to child protection laws. Reeltired.

Took a 4 year old and a 6 year old plus their dad for some Middle Harbour "bread and butter" fishing on Monday 8/7/13. Lessons learned: DO let the 6 year old girls catch the biggest fish and be pleased for her. She caught the bigger of the 2 in the photo. DO have a nibble tip rod rigged for leatheries just in case they suddenly show up. DON'T leave your favourite graphite spin rod on the seat while you are helping a kid land a fish. The penalty will quite likely be this: Overall a fun day. A good feed and an excuse to buy a more up to date rod. Reeltired

Wow!! I've seen them that big at Lord Howe Island but never around Sydney. What a monster. Did you eat it as sashimi as well or are the bonnies better? reeltired

Thanks for the feedback and encouragement. Reeltired

Nice mixed bag there! Do you reckon the flounder tastes better than the flathead? I caught some flathead and flounder on Saturday and ate them side by side. Since flathead now costs something like $40 a kilo in the shops now I was kind of surprised that my wife and I both preferred the flounder. Reeltired

Serious flathead there!! glad you let her go to make more flathead for us all. Reeltired

Fished the Harbour again on Saturday afternoon for some "bread and butter" fish. Took home 4 nice flathead and a flounder for the table. Yum! Is it just my wife and I or are flounder usually more tasty than flathead? Gave a just legal trevally to my mate who is into sashimi. Apparently trevs are great raw. My mate took home my trevally a nice flathead and just legal tailor. We released a few small flathead, undersized tailor and a heap of red bream. The biggest of the flathead was either extremely hungry or extremely dumb. We were in about 8 metres of water and it chased my squidgy up to the side of the boat. After about 3 or 4 goes at munching on the rubber and not getting hooked I let it run with it for about 20 to 30 seconds and then set the hook. I've never seen this behaviour before. I thought flathead just lay on the bottom and ambushed anything that came to within 1/2 a metre of it's face. Reeltired

Nice flattie there. Heading to North Harbour and Balmoral tomorrow. You have given me some extra encouragement. Reeltired

Although I haven't been up there for a few years, I too have been disturbed by the nets at the Entrance. The net I saw seemed to be spread nearly all the way across the actual entrance. I once caught 3 kilos of prawns in about an hour on a night when the net was there. Plus some bottle squid and crabs. I shudder to think how much would have gone into that net. More than half of the crabs I saw were females full of eggs too. What does that do for crab numbers?

Looks like you really had some fun!! It's amazing how accurate those squid are! Reeltired

Great report and photos! Hope you continue to have successful and enjoyable LBG trips. I too miss them. I have a dodgey back and am a bit too old now as well. i never had the success that you appear to have had already. Well done! Reeltired

Thanks for the empathy regarding the boat ramp. Flattie was lost due to being lightly hooked. The usual flattie on bait fight. He came up easily until he got near the boat. After seeing the boat he started thrashing which dislodged the hook. Reeltired

Went out in the Harbour Yesterday for a "soft plastics" session. Glad I took some pilchards just in case. The water is still a bit dirty. o except for a few nibbles but a nice feed of flounder, flatties and bream on the "stinky" pilchard baits. Lost a nice flattie right next tothe boat. Mann I hate that!! I'd rather not see it and just think "that felt OK" but when you get a glimpse then lose it GGRRRR!! Looking forward to clean water. ps never seen so many boats and trailers at Tunks park. Arrived just at daybreak and still had to park car and trailer half way up the hill. Reeltired

great work! That's 1 more Kingy than I have caught. I'm always in the right place at the wrong time or the wrong place at the right time. Maybe this year. Bummer about the sea sickness. There are things you can do to prevent it though. I find "travacalm" work well and only make me a little bit drowsy. Small price to pay really! Anything is better than seasickness, especially if the fish are on. Looking forward to more reports. Reeltired

Mate! You are making me hungry! Great result and feed Reeltired

G'day. Nice boat! What size and brand of engine do you have? I have a 455 Top Ender too. It's now 10 years old. Great versatile rig! I have a 4 stroke yamaha 60 and a 55lb min kota on the front. Unfortunately I don't get out much these days. Have you heard the saying about the 2 best days in a blokes life? The first is when he buys a boat and the second is when he sells it. Right now I'm closer to the second stage. i do enjoy it and it's the ideal rig for me but other comittments always seem to get in the way and finances are very tight. Hope you enjoy every minute in your boat and stay right away from that second stage. Reeltired2