Steve07 Posted June 24, 2008 Posted June 24, 2008 (edited) Hey raiders Just got home & cleaned up from a quick flick with plastics this arvo from the shore in Botany Bay.Not having the chance to wet a line in the last 2 weeks,i picked up my daughter from school,grabbed a light flick stick, a few various soft plastics & by 4pm was making my first cast with one my favourite's,a 3inch pink coloured squidgie wriggler. On about the 6th cast,as the plastic had just touched the bottom & i was about to give the rod a good rip,i got that solid hit & weight on the end that you usually get from a flathead.After a short but pretty lively fight a small 41cm flathead was slid up onto the rocks.About 5 cast later with the plastic again landing in roughly the same spot,i let the lure hit the bottom,gave it a good couple of short rips & the rod locked up again,with this fish taking a bit of line off the little penn captiva. This fish went that bit harder & gave me a good little fight before i soon had another flathead of 44cm at my feet. The next hit that came about 10min later was a totally different story,again it was on the same 3inch pink squidgie wriggler but the hit was sudden,hard & the rod locked up tight,with the 6lb crystal fireline peeling fast from the little penn. The fish felt really solid,took some pretty decent runs & i new this fish was different,i was thinking big bream,maybe a nice trevally or even a tailor,possibly but very hopeful of maybe a school jew. The fish was stubborn & could feel it trying to get to any cover it could,it actually at one stage had me reefed up on something & i couldnt budge it.I decided to open up the bail & let out a bit of line,i waited for about 1 minute,then started to wind up the slack & as i felt the weight back on i decided to go for broke & get stuck into it,the line was either gunna break or it will pull out.It worked, the fish was free & the fight was back on again,by now i was giving it more stick & winding the line a bit faster to get this fish coming towards my feet.As the fish finally slid into view i got my first glimpse of a big solid sand whiting,i couldnt believe the fight it gave me,it was unbelievable.During the fight i was running over rocks like they werent there,as i had no net to scoop it up,i picked a flat spot on the rocks & calmly slid the big whiting out of the water,the fish was mine. With all the screaming,yelling & jumping around i was doing, my daughters must have thought dad's gone mad or ive lost it,i was just stoked.Ive caught plenty of great fish & many different species in heaps of places,but with this whiting laying at my feet the adrenlin was pumping hard,my hands were shaking & knees trembling from the excitement,i had just caught my first whiting on a lure & a good one too,measuring 41cm to the tip of the tail. By 5pm the light was fading fast & with 3 fish caught in the hour i called it a day & went home pretty satisfied. My 7year old daughter took a few photo's for the first time with the digital camera,here are a couple of them. Cheers Steve Edited June 24, 2008 by nexus
Andy Loops Posted June 24, 2008 Posted June 24, 2008 Nice work - that Whiting is a horse!! Yummy!@@! Andy
shefford Posted June 24, 2008 Posted June 24, 2008 Nice report and lovely sized whiting. Funny how the pelican gradually turned up after he sensed a fish
Ray R Posted June 24, 2008 Posted June 24, 2008 Nothing like a quick flick in the arvo, nice fish and good pics from your daughter as well..
slinkymalinky Posted June 24, 2008 Posted June 24, 2008 (edited) Hey Steve, Top whiting mate and on a plastic!! Did your daughters catch any fish? Little Slinky (6yo) has insisted on going fishing this weekend... its always a blast watching kids catch fish. You should submit it to the Raider records section. Cheers, Slinky Edited June 24, 2008 by slinkymalinky
pmak Posted June 25, 2008 Posted June 25, 2008 Great catch for a first whiting on SP - real plastic too! Are stud sand whiting common in winter? I always thought they were more of a summer fish ...
Dreamtime Posted June 25, 2008 Posted June 25, 2008 What a way to spend an hour! Great story, great pics. Good to see you get the kids involved
Steve07 Posted June 25, 2008 Author Posted June 25, 2008 Steve, how do you find the Captiva reel? Hi Lasty Mate i love these reels,for the price around $75 you cant get better value for money on a spin reel of this quality.Has got about 9 ball bearings,instant anti reverse,wobble free retrieve,a very smooth drag system & i have the both the 4000 & 5000 sizes,they don't weigh too much either. They have never let me down on any fish,i actually took the 4000 captiva with me to cape york last october in weipa,i used it to spin up longtail bluefin tuna(about 12 of them up to 15kg),spotted & spanish mackerel (about 25 of them all up,to about 10kg),also golden trevally,queenfish & even a few barra,all on the same spool of 10lb braid,it never let me down once & i didnt even give it a service for the 1 year before i went catching heaps of bream,flathead,trevally & a few rat kings in botany bay with it. Trust me buddy,if you are after a good little spin reel that wont cost the earth get yourself a penn captiva 4000 size.I own stradics,daiwa exceler's,baitrunners & penn spinfisher's,but i use the captiva most of all especially for soft plastics & metal lure casting with 10lb braid & 15lb mono leader. I reckon i might get the 2000 size soon & get some 6lb braid on that for smaller plastics & ultra light metals or bait fishing the estuary for bream & stuff. Cheers mate Steve
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