james7 Posted September 15, 2007 Share Posted September 15, 2007 A few years ago I was staying down the south coast and the weather was shocking so I went for a drive over the border to have a look at Mallacoota having heard about the great fishing there. The rain had just stopped and I was wishing that I'd taken my fishing gear when this father and daughter arrived at the boat ramp. The young girl was struggling to hold this huge flattie. I was so impressed that I took a couple of snaps. I have no idea who she was but her dad was very proud! He spent about 15 minutes taking photos! Check out the light gear she was using. It must have been one heck of a fight! I wish I'd caught it! Cheers Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmoshe Posted September 15, 2007 Share Posted September 15, 2007 Ohhhwwweeee!! That's a nice lizard. I have seen some absolute monsters landed down there over the years. Back in the '60s, I saw a 17lb flattie taken off the main wharf by an old couple that used to visit every year and fish with handlines off that wharf and never did they fail to catch at least one monster flattie each day. His name around town was Flathead Charlie and his wife...long since dead I expect. Gotta get back there soon. Cheers, Pete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arpie Posted September 16, 2007 Share Posted September 16, 2007 Hey Pete - doesn't Flathead Fred come from down there??? I caught a nice flattie there when travelling to Melbourne a few years ago. Lovely spot. My brother Sails pigged out on prawns there when they were travelling Aussie. So much so their daughter said :"Not Prawns again" when served them up yet again! I look forward to getting down there again one day! Cheers Roberta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmoshe Posted September 16, 2007 Share Posted September 16, 2007 Hey Pete - doesn't Flathead Fred come from down there??? I caught a nice flattie there when travelling to Melbourne a few years ago. Lovely spot. My brother Sails pigged out on prawns there when they were travelling Aussie. So much so their daughter said :"Not Prawns again" when served them up yet again! I look forward to getting down there again one day! Cheers Roberta Don't know Flathead Fred Roberta. I haven't been down there in years as I was living overseas for many years. I was just a kid back when Flathead Charlie was about so he'd be long departed. My brother goes down there regularly and keeps in contact with the locals who are all very much into their senior years now. I have such fond memories of the place, hence my nic. Cheers, Pete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james7 Posted September 16, 2007 Author Share Posted September 16, 2007 Has anyone been down to Mallacoota recently? It was a miserable day (weatherwise) when I was last there in January 2004. I didn't get a chance to fish. Some of the "flathead stories" I've heard about Mallacoota are incredible. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted September 17, 2007 Share Posted September 17, 2007 Thats no Flatty, looks more like a croc penguin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james7 Posted September 17, 2007 Author Share Posted September 17, 2007 Any flathead experts out there? What length and weight do you reckon? My guess would be about 75-85cm. I have no idea what weight it would be. I've never caught one anyway near that size. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnno Posted September 17, 2007 Share Posted September 17, 2007 i would say around the 1m mark 3-4kg also Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gretsch Posted September 18, 2007 Share Posted September 18, 2007 My guess is 95cm and 6 kilos... Beautiful Lizard.. a shame she didn't go back to breed!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james7 Posted September 21, 2007 Author Share Posted September 21, 2007 My guess is 95cm and 6 kilos... Beautiful Lizard.. a shame she didn't go back to breed!! i would say around the 1m mark 3-4kg also How old would a flattie of that size be? Has there been much research on the growth rate of flathead? Also, is it just the females that grow to that size? Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basserman Posted September 22, 2007 Share Posted September 22, 2007 How old would a flattie of that size be? Has there been much research on the growth rate of flathead? Also, is it just the females that grow to that size? Cheers agree with the around 95cm and 6kg mark yeh there has been a fir bit of researsh into the humble flatties and one that size would be about 12 years old and yes all the big ones are the girls males only grow to about 70cm still a nice size but me personal size limit is 40cm-65cm nothing over nothing under Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SUBLiME Posted September 24, 2007 Share Posted September 24, 2007 That's huge.. I caught one around that size at Greenwich Wharph about 7 years ago when i was only 12.. haha boy was she a great fish yum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spanker Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 Hi Lads, Hehe if that Flathead were 1m long then that 11 year old girl would be about 6ft tall. 75cm if my estimate. When I was in primary schook a mate lived in one of those houses at the Pittwater road bridge over Narrabeen lakes. A few times I went for walks along the common back yard lawns to look at the nails in some of the old fences. It seems people used to use 3 nails in a triangle to nail flathead heads to fences. Anway some of the trianlges, some still with white wispy bits of cartilage attached, were enormous, far bigger than anything I have seen except the few crocs we have seen on the site of 1m+ old girls. Spanker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest shmick Posted October 14, 2007 Share Posted October 14, 2007 What a great fish that would have been to catch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
overpitched Posted December 1, 2007 Share Posted December 1, 2007 I'm just about to head to Mallacoota for 4 days fishing. i really hope to get amongst it. This flathead went a metere on the tape and was returned. The photo doesn't really do it justice. caught last year on the inside of Fraser island. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squizzytaylor Posted December 1, 2007 Share Posted December 1, 2007 Many years ago I rented a house on the water at Runaway Bay which was one of the original houses there and the original owner had traced all notable lizard catches from he and his kids on the garage wall (brick) the largest went 1.3 metres in length!! There was an old guy across the road whom I used to have a scotch with every month or so and he pulled out photos of fish that were over 15inches across the head!! I was also snorkelling in the southport seaway one day and spooked one well over a metre long. Geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirks Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 hey guys when up at forster I heard that a guy caught a 22pound flattie thats one huge bloody thing. steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh88 Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 hey guys when up at forster I heard that a guy caught a 22pound flattie thats one huge bloody thing. steve If thats true, then i think it is the new Australian Record. According to the current Australian Record is 9.44kg, whether or not that is valid i'm not sure. 22 pounds=9.98kg. Anyone else have any more info on this topic?? Josh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james7 Posted February 12, 2008 Author Share Posted February 12, 2008 I remember seeing a few monster lizards stuffed and mounted, hanging on the walls of a few tackle shops and pubs down the south coast. Has anyone else seen these? I think they were at Tathra, Merimbula and Pambula. Some of these flathead didn’t seem that long comparatively, but were very broad across the head and probably very heavy. If the Australian record is nearly 10kg, how long would this flattie be? Has any one seen or heard of a flathead over 1.4m? Or more importantly, got a photo? The Fisheries web site has a table showing “how to weigh your fish with a ruler”. It says that a dusky flathead about 1.10m would weigh approximately 10.6kg and a 1.4m “croc” would be about 23kg!!! Cheers Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jewgaffer Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 Pete the way those fisheries measurements are listed to estimate weight, it's a wonder dusky flathead don't qualify for a weightlifters clean and jerk prize Cheers jewgaffer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now