Flattieman Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 (edited) Hi Raiders, After quite a long holiday, I'm back and posting here. Seems like a lot has happened whilst I've been away (sorry about my absence from the Aquarium especially... I'll be sure to man that station regularly from now on). First and most obvious difference is that I missed a ripper of a kingy social. Even though I know zip about king fishing, I'm sure it would've been great fun to attend and catch up with some familiar faces (and meet new ones). Seems like the day was a resounding success (as usual) and full credit goes to all the organisers and attendees. Also, Fishraider has broken that 3000 members milestone. Congratulations to the Admin team and Moderators especially - you have made the site so attractive to so many fishos. To all new members, to the site. I'm sure you'll see me around a lot more than you have lately. I also noticed that CFD and Sammy have both been appointed as Moderators. Congrats to you gents - I'm sure you'll run a tight ship . So now for the report... As usual, The Entrance was where I concentrated most of my efforts throughout the holiday. The ever-reliable school holidays boat traffic was present, but a 4:30am wake-up helped solve this problem. Because of the significantly low ocean temperature, it was important to fish the run-out tide or otherwise find pockets of warmer water to fish (this was most important when targeting flatties). Despite this, it was still difficult to catch a decent feed. Nevertheless, we'd come home each day with a couple of bream to 34cm, whiting to 37cm, tailor to 36cm and flatties to 50cm. The bream seemed to be especially common - any theories on why, Raiders? They also cooked up very well, beer battered with chips... Our first estuary session was particularly good for bream, with six keepers hitting the deck (and one flipping off)... Whereas the last estuary session saw a good mixed bag come aboard... A couple of oddball catches that I encountered were blackfish - one on a huge live nipper and the other on... you guessed it... a 100mm Squidgy Wriggler!!! . Thanks for ordering them in, Tony! - Didn't know they caught blackfish! I have seen the odd plastic-caught blackfish in fishing mags, but to actually fluke one myself (and on such a large lure) indicates that the wily old luderick might be a bit more agressive than some may think... It really did whack the lure and had me thinking that I'd hooked a decent flattie... so you could imagine my surprise when I caught a glimpse of a blackfish in the water! Blue swimmer crabs were fairly scarce throughout the trip, probably due to the veritable minefield of traps waiting to snare a few crabs each. We managed to catch more crabs on baits than in traps. Also caught a few when prawning in the lake. Prawning wasn't too spectacular, but we caught about half to 3/4 of a kilo each night (somewhere around 75 prawns). It was great fun for my sister and mum, who are both die-hard prawners (which can sometimes get you worried when they're lunging out of the boat for a desperately fleeing prawn). It all made for good fun. A couple of beach fishing sessions produced the goods for us, with one 2-hour morning session producing four salmon (63, 64, 66 and 67cm respectively) and a couple of tailor (38 and 39cm)... Another beach session produced three good flatties (all 40-50cm) and a 65cm salmon (no doubt to complete the 63, 64, 65, 66, 67cm five-pack). I've also realised that there is life beyond Squidgies for flattie SPs... I was experimenting with Gulp baby shrimp and managed oodles of undersized flatties (and a few legal ones), as well as some good tailor. I used these mainly when I was fishing down on St Georges Basin whilst staying at a mate's holiday house. All-in-all, I enjoyed a nice break with a good variety of fish. Though the action wasn't the best I've experienced, a classic summer holiday with the family was just what I wanted. Although the numbers of fish weren't as high as last year (where a bag of fifteen flatties and five bream in a day was not unattainable), I had a ball on most fish, as I was using 4lb mono and a nibble-tip rod (I'd heard that they're great for setting the hooks in whiting). Long live summer! Here's a pic of the biggest bream: Flattieman. More pics to come... Edited January 23, 2007 by Flattieman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest IFishSick. Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 Great work Flattieman, an awsome mixed bag of fish you've got there! Keep up the great work!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
netic Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 Well done, very nice mixture of fish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmoshe Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 Welcome back mate..We missed you. vey nice bag of fish and I hope you had a great break with the family up there. Looking forward to your input as we really need your expertise, especially in the aquarium. Cheers, Pete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnno Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 Welcome back ( i didn,t know you where gone ) good stuff flattieman nice feed there for sure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wettingaline Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 Welcome back...now get back to work and answer our question about the trevyakka!! hahaha jokes Awsome reports...looks like you has great time.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 Oooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh so many different fish mate, sounds like u had a ball penguin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsswordfisherman Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 Thank goodness you are back Ryan Cheers mrsswordfisherman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markwi Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 Lovely mixed bag of fish Flatieman, Beer battered Bream sounds good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbark Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 nice work...and good to have you back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flattieman Posted January 23, 2007 Author Share Posted January 23, 2007 Thanks very much, Raiders. It feels good to be back! Welcome back...now get back to work and answer our question about the trevyakka! Yessir . Done - check that topic. Here's some more pics: Sunrise from the beach: Results of a night of prawning: A good omen for the next social at The Entrance? Flattieman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sammy0884 Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 top report flattieman! good to see you got onto some great fish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
namesay Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 Still haven't caught a flathead! Thanks for all the advice. THe last time I tried out your flattie tactics all we got were kings...no kidding! Can't escape the bastards. CHeers Kelvin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sammy0884 Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 Still haven't caught a flathead! Thanks for all the advice. THe last time I tried out your flattie tactics all we got were kings...no kidding! Can't escape the bastards. CHeers Kelvin Hi Kelvin, Chris and i have a few ever reliable spots in the harbour for you, you're more than welcome to jump in my rig if you would like a few Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flattieman Posted January 23, 2007 Author Share Posted January 23, 2007 Still haven't caught a flathead! Thanks for all the advice. THe last time I tried out your flattie tactics all we got were kings...no kidding! Can't escape the bastards. CHeers Kelvin Kelvin, what can I say? I'd suggest slowing down the retrieve including plenty of contact with the bottom. I fish pretty shallow water too - from 1 to 5m deep. If you keep catching kings, you have a dark gift! Flattieman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sammy0884 Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 Kelvin, what can I say? I'd suggest slowing down the retrieve including plenty of contact with the bottom. I fish pretty shallow water too - from 1 to 5m deep. If you keep catching kings, you have a dark gift! Flattieman. The key is to be ripping the plastic off the bottom, that where the flatties hit it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flattieman Posted January 23, 2007 Author Share Posted January 23, 2007 The key is to be ripping the plastic off the bottom, that where the flatties hit it True. Intermittent contact with the bottom is merely part of the process. Puffs of dust do seem to trigger a predatory response from flatties, which initiates a rip of the plastic, allowing the flattie to ambush the lure on the drop. Flattieman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr liaison Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 welcome back flattieman, top report mate and fish to boot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dazzassj6 Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 congradz flattieman! welcome back and wat a nice feed. very nice well worth ur holiday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mondo Rock Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 You did a hell of a lot better than me over the hols Flattieman - looks like you got in heaps of fishing and quite a few fish. Great report, and let's get together soon for a beach bash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luringbream Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 Well done mate!! Looks like you got into a heap of fisH!! Last time i was up there (we go at the start of every year but this one ), all i could muster was a heap of blackies and flathead! Were the blackies thick around the bridge of a morning? Were you solely fishing plastics for all species or did you get them on a mixture of placcies and baits? The crabs are weird at the moment, even in botany we arn't getting many :S Who knows? DAN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveD Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 Now thats what I call a holiday. If I got so many fish each time I went on a holiday I'd b stoked. Excellent work, nice variety and better still, good to see your happy with your catches, cause I know I would be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SUFFO Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 Still haven't caught a flathead! Thanks for all the advice. THe last time I tried out your flattie tactics all we got were kings...no kidding! Can't escape the bastards. CHeers Kelvin I wish I had that problem!Yet to get a kingie. CHEERS SUFFO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest DV8 Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 Flattieman thanks for a great report. Catching a "blackie" on an SP is quite a surprise. Do you ever fish the Wyong River, or do any other raiders??It looks fishy especially for Bass and EP's but I am not sure where to launch. Regards Davo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flattieman Posted January 24, 2007 Author Share Posted January 24, 2007 (edited) Thanks very much, guys. Although the water temperature put a damper on the estuary fishing, we still managed a feed every day. It was all good fun. Great report, and let's get together soon for a beach bash. Good idea, mate. I'll send you a PM. Last time i was up there (we go at the start of every year but this one ), all i could muster was a heap of blackies and flathead! Were the blackies thick around the bridge of a morning? Were you solely fishing plastics for all species or did you get them on a mixture of placcies and baits? Hi mate. Normally, the flatties are absolutely firing at this time of year. Last year, we managed a bag of fifteen flatties and five bream to 40cm in one day, so in that respect, the fishing wasn't great. As for the blackfish, they were definitely thick around the bridge (and all throughout the lake, I'd say!). For me to catch two on plastic and nipper, they must've been slamming down the weed. I did see a couple of boats and waders at the Bridge consistently hauling them in, with some good fish landed too. SHAME I DIDN'T TAKE MY BLACKFISH GEAR! I even managed to accidentally berley up a school of blackfish, with some absolute thumpers in it, but they wouldn't touch any bait I threw at them. It's annoying in crystal-clear water! I wasn't solely fishing plastics... I used nippers, worms, prawns and poddy mullet throughout the trip (and pillies of course for the beach fish). Flattieman. Do you ever fish the Wyong River, or do any other raiders??It looks fishy especially for Bass and EP's but I am not sure where to launch. Mate, I've only ever fished it once (just for an exploration) and didn't catch much. I do agree that it looks great for bass and EPs (which I wasn't targeting at that time). Jethro would be able to tell you where to launch, as he's a local. I'm pretty shore there's two ramps - near the mouth of the river on the North and South banks. Flattieman. Edited January 24, 2007 by Flattieman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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