Port Hacking/royal National Park/brighton

[JonnyD]

Some work mates and I went down to Warumbul on Tuesday to check out the action, armed with some ZOOM soft plastics aquired from fishfinder the night before. I couldnt locate the colours mentioned in luringbreams reports so got a red sparkled watermelon tiny flukes.

Upon arriving at Warumbul we were greated by beautiful scenary of an area that just screams fish !!

I tried some SP with no success, just a few nibbles. We kept gettin our baits (prawns, squid, pillies) snatched by little guys. Then we saw the pelagics bustin up bait schools, so I chucked me little silver lure on the rod and casted at them, no success until I moved around the cove and got in close. One grabbed it and promptly spat it....dammmnn. We continued for a while with no successs, just lost of small fish who have developed quite a talent at snatching bait.

We next moved off to Wattamolla, one of my mates got a small bream in the lagoon just for a bit of fun. It was hard to get out on the rocks because of high tide so we got out about 10 or 20 meters and fished from there, had a few bites...hooked something only for the fish to spit it.....AGAIN !!! By this stage my work mates had to bail and I was in serious danger of not getting a fish all day....something that hasnt havent for a very long time !!!

I decedid to try, ol' faithful the breakwall at Brighton Le Sands. I was chucking pillies and prawns only to get nibbled off about 5 second after hittin the water..damn small fish !!! I finally used up all my bait and faced the very real realisation that I was going home without landing one fish..... I decided as a novely to chuck on a ZOOM soft plastic as a bait on a typical whiting rig, long shanked hook, 3/0 hook swivel etc. I threaded the ZOOM onto the long shank and chucked it in and started to real in slowly, about 2 meters out...SLAM, after a small but rewarding fight I landed a 26 cm flattie.....wooohooo first on SP....allbeit in unconventional style.

After this success I tried again under the cooks river bridge except this time with a 1/16 bullet jig head and a 3/0 hook behind a swivel to give it some weight. First cast bamm, another 26 cm Flattie !!! Number 2 !!!

After facing a dry day I was extremely happy and more satsified than usual to come away with two flatties and even though they werent keepers, just cause I got em on soft plastics after trying for so long !!

The next day I went down to the little beach next to the old control tower and waded out to the sandbank (about 20 meters out, waist deep) about 2 hours before low tide. And Landed 6 Flatties on ZOOM soft plastics, ranging from 10cm to 40cm and dropped another 5 or so. I tell you those Flatties love those Zoom tiny fluke watermelon colour !!!! I was gettin them average every third cast. The 40cm was caught on my first cast !

Does anyone else use SPs with a swivel and sinker arangment ??? I need to because a 1/16 jighead doesnt give me enough weight to cast far enough and I dont want to go too heavy for the jighead because the hooks get too large.

[Flattieman]

to FR, Jonny. Looking forward to seeing more victorious reports. They come easy after the first...

Flattieman.

[The Iceman]

Good to see you got your first SP capture The rig you are using certainly does work Its called a Carolina rig The sinker bouncing on the bottom attracts the flatties they see the SP and bang your on Those zoom soft plastics work very well See Tony about the new pearl blue tiny flukes he has

[JonnyD]

Thanks for the reply guys !!

I am curous the sinker bouncing along the bottom would it deter other fish from biting ?

I am also just curious if I will ever catch anything else besides bloody flathead, hahaha. Maybe its the color, I was actually thinking in the water they look like baby flathead (the tiny flukes) are flathead cannabals ?? maybe they thinks its a small flathead and bang. Actually while jigging in the cooks river, something grabbed one and bang snapped the line in a second, I was only using 4lb braid but still I had the drag set reasonably loose but still snappd me off.

I also use the technique of, have two short jabs back and up and let it sink, real in a little, repeat....I wonder if this condusive for certain fish also ?

[Flattieman]

I am curous the sinker bouncing along the bottom would it deter other fish from biting ?

I am also just curious if I will ever catch anything else besides bloody flathead, hahaha. Maybe its the color, I was actually thinking in the water they look like baby flathead (the tiny flukes) are flathead cannabals ?? maybe they thinks its a small flathead and bang. Actually while jigging in the cooks river, something grabbed one and bang snapped the line in a second, I was only using 4lb braid but still I had the drag set reasonably loose but still snappd me off.

I also use the technique of, have two short jabs back and up and let it sink, real in a little, repeat....I wonder if this condusive for certain fish also ?

1. I don't think the sinker bouncing along the bottom would deter many fish. Maybe some of the bream specilists could confirm that too.

2. You will catch more fish than flatties on those lures - everything that eats a baitfish at some point will eat a baitfish imitation lure such as those zooms.

3. Yes- flatties are cannibals. Sometimes, a fisherman will be retrieving a little flattie and a moster will boof it.

4. What busted you off could've been several things... but I'd put my money on a jewie.

5. The technique that you described sounds like "whipping" for flatties... Bream and other species may respond to this, however, many anglers prefer a more subtle retrieve. It really depends o the conditions and resident fish, though, as to what they'll prefer at a particular point in time.

Hope this helps,

Flattieman.

PS. If you're interesed in SP technique, check out the Squidgy Secrets DVDs - start at Part 1 and work your way up from there.

Edited March 9, 2007 by Flattieman

[pmak]

Way to go Jonny D Good to hear a report from Warumbul where I fish sometimes. There are plenty of juvenile snapper there so lure and SP fishing may be the way to go. Plenty of squid there at the moment if you want to try squidding.

Other than the Squidgy secrets DVD, you should also check out the Berkeley Soft Plastics DVD - much more useful tips on Soft Plastic fishing compared to the Squidgy Secrets in my opinion. It covers retrieve styles, rigging and even suitable knots for joining braid to leader and backing.

[JonnyD]

thanks again guys

I was doing a bit of reading and from what I read Bream are a lot more tentative about taking SPs and to use smaller ones and have a less agressive retrieve pattern. I might try that out. I will have to check out those DVDs to pick up some pointers, its a lot better to watch than to read.

I was going to try squidding at Warumbul but I only had my 2.5 jig on me and I just think they are too damn heavy, especially if its not that deep, they sink to the bottom way too quick and you have to retrieve them too fast...may head back with a smaller jig next time. That and the fact is was blowing like crazy when we were there, not ideal for squidding from my experience.