Guest madsmc Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 Headed over to Stockton for an early SP session this morning. Ended up with about 15 fish all up, all flathead except for one bream and an octopus. Used a variety of plastics, including the 2 inch gulp grubs in both red and white, 3 inch bass minnow in black shad colours, and the sand perch coloured 3 inch mullet. Best flathead for the day. 44cm. Smallest flathead for the day. The rest of todays flatties ranged from this size up to the bigger one above, with one exception. A feisty little bream which absolutely smashed the 3 inch mullet. Was a better than average session this morning, only because of the number of fish landed. However there was one fish which surprised me to the point of disbelief. I had just stopped at a new spot along the foreshore and began casting. After a couple of jigs I felt a few taps through the line and set the hook on what felt like a small flathead. No surprises there, started a steady retrieve so I could dehook the little fella and get on with it. The only problem was that once the fish had come close to the rocks it stopped dead and I couldn't retrieve any more line. Great, this little bugger has wrapped himself around a snag or something. Eventually the fish "de snags" itself and I start getting some line back, but there is a rather large weight on the line. This is where I start to get a bit curious as to what the hell is going on, when up from behind a submerged rock floats this huge flathead! I'm thinking to myself "Holy sh#%, this is the flathead I've been after for ages". So there I am rod in one hand, net in the other, right on the waters edge. The big girl is coming closer to the net, she gives a massive headshake, the line goes limp. She turns slowly and swims away, while a much, much smaller flathead ends up in the landing net. What the??? I'm guessing that the little flathead smacked my lure and during the retrieve the big girl rose up and tried to inhale the smaller fish. The little flathead was missing a bit of bark, but seemed to swim off alright. I had a few casts around the same area to see if I could tempt the big girl again but all I managed was a dirty Occy. Still plenty of bait around, and the choppers didn't seem to be so prolific today (unlike last week!!), so I might have to do a few more early morning trips to see if I can finally land that big flathead. And finally, a couple of scenery shots from last week. Stockton Bridge and riverside. Sunrise at Nobbys. Shane Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mottyman Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 (edited) Hi mate, nice report and fantastic pics. That shoreline with the oyster covered rocks looks the goods!! I had a big flathead do that at Lake Macquarie one day but inhaled a decent sized whiting. The whiting was a mess however and died. Nice fish as well, that bream looks like he's nackered after fighting with that plastic. Cheers, Edited March 15, 2006 by mottyman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lightweight Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 Hi Shane Good to see the lizards are around in some healthier numbers, i have really been suprised this year with the lack of Flathead i have caught compared to previous years... Maybe it is just me... Good pics and seems to be a good session for you. Was the water still a bit turbid or has it cleaned up in the last week? And bad luck on the mother of all lizards... maybe she was trying to protect her youngin... Maybe a few big livies trolled around that area can pick up the bigger fish, or some of the 5 inch flickbaits. LW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crystalliser Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 Nice fish as well, that bream looks like he's nackered after fighting with that plastic. Cheers, Well done Shane! A pity you lost that mama. But that's just part of all the thrills while luring isn't it?? Very nice scenery.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jewnut Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 thats a top session Shane It seems big flatties eat their smaller ones quite often as this also happened to me a few years back on the Gold Coast. I was bringing a nice fish to the boat when the wight suddenly trippled mid way up. We ended up netting an 86 cm croc with a very sad looking 42cm flattie poking out from the big girls gob. Big girl released but we put the little bugger out of his misery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest fishrunner Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 Nice little session there Shane Pity the big girl didn't play the game Have been informed that stocko is fishing well at the moment cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mottyman Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 It seems big flatties eat their smaller ones quite often Maybe these are the go... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest madsmc Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 Thanks guys. It's about time I got into a few fish during my holiday break. what were your estimates on the big girl that got away? I'd say high eighties maybe low nineties. Definately one of the biggest I've seen in the flesh, and would have well and truly blown my current PB away. Nice fish as well, that bream looks like he's nackered after fighting with that plastic. I was really surprised how hard it hit a plastic of that size as well. It fought pretty well too for such a small fish. Early in the morning I was using the 2 inch grubs on the rising tide hoping to lure a few bream, but all I could get was flathead. Moved up to 3 inch later in the day to try for flathead and I get a bream. Fishing can be a strange game at times that's for sure. Good to see the lizards are around in some healthier numbers, i have really been suprised this year with the lack of Flathead i have caught compared to previous years... Maybe it is just me... Was the water still a bit turbid or has it cleaned up in the last week? Maybe a few big livies trolled around that area can pick up the bigger fish, or some of the 5 inch flickbaits. Some of my sessions have been a bit hit and miss as well Woz. I got a few mid sized fish last week but they were few and far between, with lots of choppers in the mix. One thing I have noticed is that almost all of the flathead I've hooked have been close in to the shoreline, probably shadowing the bait schools and watching for a stray chopper or two. Quite a few of the small flatties I got today spewed up baitfish while they were doing their headshakes prior to landing. Another thing I think made a difference today was that it was overcast, whereas last week was sunnier weather. The water is fairly clear, but not the cleanest I've seen. Hopefully we'll get some decent rain soon to dirty it up a bit. There was a good flush last March, so I'm hoping history will repeat. I've got a few of the 4 inch minnows and some bigger squidgy fish so I think I'll give them a go during some late afternoon sessions next week. Shane Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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