Seagoon Posted March 15, 2008 Share Posted March 15, 2008 Well, i had a fantastic day on the water today. My first ever hookup and bust off by a king, and a thumper trev (that i though must have been a king). The king did a lap of the anchor rope soon after taking the bait, and then it was a very interesting tug of war, until the braid gave out. Well, it was fun while it lasted! In the back of my mind, i was hoping that a kingie would come up with the anchor when i moved on... but it wasn't to be. The trev went like a steam train, it was just unreal. Im not sure how long it took to get him in, but it was probably between 5 and 10 minutes. It just went and went and went, and then it went one last time, really psycho, and then gave up the ghost pretty much. Aside from that, i got a sgt baker, and a the most interesting flathead i have ever caught. It was definitely a flathead, but i looked like a really primitave species, and was really red, like the colour of a rock cod or sgt baker. It has the flathead spikes, but its shape was wider for its length, and the colour... Anyone else got one of these? In case you are interested, was fishing a one hook live bait rig with no lead, and yakka. BTW, the pink grub sabikis do work best at Balmoral. I was pulling one up straight away every drop, unlike the fellas in the other boats a the time. Oh yeah!! Oh, and i had such a great day, that i almost forgot to say that my battery packed it in and i had to get a jump start by the wonderful voulenteer coasties (if which im now an associate member). Spent about an hour swearing and cursing like Gordon Ramsey, I until finally rang them. Oh, i forgot to say that the trev was 54cm and about 5 pounds-ish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackfish Posted March 15, 2008 Share Posted March 15, 2008 MMMMMMM your Trev could be a HighFin Amberjack. Great fish never-less and a good size for that fish here................... better than a ordinary old Trev if you ask me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josh_fisho Posted March 15, 2008 Share Posted March 15, 2008 good effort!! though that trev looks alot like a sampson fish- a juvelile one! cheers, josh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted March 15, 2008 Share Posted March 15, 2008 Looks like a Samson to me, 2nd cousin to the good old King. penguin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankp Posted March 15, 2008 Share Posted March 15, 2008 Nice report paint stripper. Well done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh88 Posted March 15, 2008 Share Posted March 15, 2008 Nice work mate. Definitely not a trev, not sure whether its an amberjack or a samson though, try a fin count. As for the flathead, its sounds like it was probably a tiger flathead. they are a bit redder in appearance and slightly different shaped to normal duskies. Josh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seagoon Posted March 15, 2008 Author Share Posted March 15, 2008 Hahaha thanks guys! Yes, the golden colour did make me wonder i admitt. Great! A new species :-) yes, that description of the tiger flathead sounds right - different colour and shape. Whats the size limit for them? I guess i could look it up ;-) Im hooked now, ive got my routine down pretty much perhaps next season i might take it up a notch and try with fresh squid as bait. But yakkas will do me for the time being. The interesting thing was the way the livie behaved when the fish got close. It did get very jittery as i have read people say in this site. I just gave the rod a little lift and then bang! I lost a few livies too, for the first time, and a couple of times the jittery livie syndrome was present. I trolled a livie past south head (so i thought) when i stopped to check, there was no livie. So i trolled a hook for about 2km!!! hahaha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh88 Posted March 15, 2008 Share Posted March 15, 2008 The tiger flathead has a legal size of 33cm and a bag limit of 20. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mottyman Posted March 15, 2008 Share Posted March 15, 2008 Jon mate.... you're on fire!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well done a great day. Good to see you getting out and having a good go. Where did you get your yakka's (Balmoral I presume) and did you give the sabiki rigs a go??? Cheers mate. Dave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cflife Posted March 15, 2008 Share Posted March 15, 2008 Well done. thats a sampson allright , they go pretty hard to , i allways think i got a rat king on when i hook a sampson , been getting a few around the markers latley. Good work better luck on the king next time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ouliis Posted March 15, 2008 Share Posted March 15, 2008 NICE FISH HOPE YOU HAVE BETTER LUCK ON THE KINGY NEXT TIME Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seagoon Posted March 15, 2008 Author Share Posted March 15, 2008 Chris, you are correct, its not a tiger. It is this: http://fishraider.com.au/Invision/index.ph...st&p=167124 Googled "strange flathead" and this FR post came up! The one i caught was taken (and returned) off middle head in the harbour today. Mine was a touch more red, but that could just be the photo... Motty - yeah thanks man, had the sabikis with the pink grubs - the yakkas went crazy this morning...! Just finished having the fish. Two sashimi sessions!!! yum, very very good. Very smooth... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh88 Posted March 15, 2008 Share Posted March 15, 2008 (edited) if it was a tiger it should have looked like this (see the tiger-like stripes that run the length of the fish) to me your description does not sound close enough to this species... dont suppose you have any more info or a pic??? could have been a gurnard or a goat fish of some sort as they are pretty red in colour CFD That still looks a bit more of a dusky. I was under the influence that tiger flathead looked more like this: http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fisheries/recrea.../tiger-flathead , with the slightly more buldging eyes and slighty rounder body shape. Edited March 15, 2008 by Josh88 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishermangreg Posted March 15, 2008 Share Posted March 15, 2008 g'day paintstripper, I think it might be a fringe-eye flathead http://www.amonline.net.au/fishes/fishfact...h/cnematoph.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seagoon Posted March 15, 2008 Author Share Posted March 15, 2008 Hey Greg, It was certianly in that mould, but im sure it was that one that was in the FR aquarium. The res spots on the underbelly gave it away. I remember seeing them thinking, what??!! My thoughts were almost the same as the fella that did that post - at first i though it was a rock cod, then when i was getting the hook out, i had this sudden realisation that it looked like a flatty, from about 1 million years ago! Very hard lines around the head, not rounded at all. And spiny and generally not as good looking at you garden variety lizard. So it was a day of firsts. First Samson fish, first weird-arse flathead, first stg baker, and first kingie hookup! :-) Oh gee i love fishing!!! g'day paintstripper, I think it might be a fringe-eye flathead http://www.amonline.net.au/fishes/fishfact...h/cnematoph.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gretsch Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 That is the rare "Shallow Bodied Large Finned" Trevor! Good eating I hear! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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