Hawkesburry Sat. 22nd Sept.

[Mrwooley]

G'day all,

Went up the river for a fish on Saturdaywith my son. On the water a bit late, arround 0630. Tried off F&S for a while with no luck. The fishing's been a bit slow of late. Only a few bites, but nothing serious. About 1030 the southerly hit along with a few good downpours. That saw a few boaters call it a day.

Decided to head back towards ATB and fish the various sand flats in the bays, on the way. While fishing the flats, my son, who was up front ( bowrider ) let out a yell. " Oh, my goodness!" ( not the exactly the words he used, but the same meaning!? ). He said that a large flathead had followed his bait all the way to the boat. He thought it was about 60cm+. I told him that he was seeing things and to cut back on those " V " drinks.

At his persistance, I went up the bow and witnessed him "entice" this flathead three more times. I could not believe what I was seeing. I wished I'd had a camera with me, as it would have been agreat shot, and proved that I was'nt going mad. I think he underestimated it's size, it was 80cm+ and very dark. One of the largest I've ever seen. It got to the point of me nearly straightening my gaff and jumping in after it. I did seriously concider it but sanity kicked in. We tried every bait and lure we had, with no luck. He gave up and so did we.

A great day and a bit of fun, and something to tell his kids one day.

Regards,

Barry.

[james7]

Great report Barry. Seeing a big flathead "in the wild" is something special.

I had a similar experience a few years ago while drifting along the Pambula River. I saw a big flattie (est 60-70cm) facing into the current over a patch of sand surrounded by weed. It was magic! She stayed there about 20 seconds before casually swimming off. Their camouflage is amazing because as soon as it went back over the weed it just melted in with the background and became invisible.

I'll never forget it.

Cheers

Peter

[JayKay]

Hey Barry,

its good when they come up like that. ive seen it a few time, not that big though, but at first sight you think its an eel.

JayKay

[gretsch]

Great story.. wish you had have hooked him!!