Hodgey Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 GDay all, I have spent the last couple of weeks throwing my Viking lures amongst all manner of structure, and have been fortunate enough to get onto some reasonable fish. The buoyancy of these lures assists when fishing the heavily timbered areas along the estuary. With a light rod and fine braid, you can feel the lures bouncing around the structure, and, generally speaking, if you stop your retrieve for a couple of seconds, they will float off most 'things' they are likely to snag on. Bream to 38cm, tailor to 50cm and a truckload of EP's have all managed to scoff these top little lures. This EP was 39cm While I was throwing these little hardbodies, Dene was using Gulp 2" Shrimp in banana colour. They weren't as successful as the hardbodies, but they did trigger today's session. Last weekend, Dene was twitching his little shrimp in about 3' of water, and we watched a good flattie of 50+cm swim in behind it. Dene let the lure settle on the bottom, and we watched as the fish lazily swam over and inhaled the little plastic, less than a rod length from the boat. All that was required of Dene was a quick flick of the rod tip, and the fish was hooked and landed. This morning, we headed for the same general area, with the intention of renewing our acquaintance with winter flatties. I was using a Gulp 2" shrimp in lime tiger, on a 1/16 jighead and #1 hook. Mainline was 4lb Crystal, and the leader was 8lb seagur flurocarbon. Dene was using similar line and lure weight, but was again using the banana coloured shrimp. 30 mins on the water, and the little lime tiger accounts for a flatty at 46cm... nice start. Having scaled my plastic down so small, the retrieve rate was also slowed, with the lure spending a lot of time resting on the bottom. Water clarity was amazing, so big casts were again the order of the day. In typical winter fashion, the flathead were very timid in their attack on the lure. However, unlike the docile flathead of last winter... these fish had real attitudes once hooked, and provided a lot of entertainment! We spent a lot of time playing in the shallows surrounding the oyster leases, and the depth rarely ventured over the 3' mark. We saw a lot of fish taking off out of the sand, and quite a few well-defined 'lies'. Unfortunately, the fish were very specific in their colour preference today, and all fish fell to my Lime Tiger. Fish ranged in size from 45cm to 54cm, and will provide a good feed for the family We spent the last 40 mins on the water cruising different depths in search of baitfish and other signs that the fish were on the move. We had a brief cast in some deeper water, so I tied on a 1/8th jighead with #1 hook. I only managed 1 .... ummmmm.... 'fish' whilst doing this, and it was worthy of a Ray R Award. The smallest flattie I have caught to date Hope you all had a great weekend! Cheers Hodgey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray R Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 G'day Hodgey, mate you and Dene certainly had a great little session, nice array of fish, as for the 'Ray R' award , well you have the crown now Hodgey with that little fella.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monch Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 Nice fish hodgey ! That 'monster' of a flattie MUST be a record! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brickman Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 great read and pic's as always ian you are certanly the flatty master on this site to claim the ray r award all fish must be measured with a vernia or micrometer or on a brag mat made from a rolly paper cherrs gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hodgey Posted August 1, 2009 Author Share Posted August 1, 2009 to claim the ray r award all fish must be measured with a vernia or micrometer or on a brag mat made from a rolly paper cherrs gary GOLD, Gary! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie machine Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 Great report as always - thanks for all the detail about tackle and technique. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arpie Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 hmmmm the old lime tiger does it again!! Well done Hodgey!! Love the EPs too! Can't wait to catch my first one! Nice lizards too! I think your 'little flattie' was hunting way outside its own weight! Another great day on the water! Cheerio Roberta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robeebee Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 top report mate monster flattie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenno64 Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 Nice feed Hodgey! Have you ever thought about rigging those shrimp back to front to imitate an escaping prawn? That's how I rigged it last time I used one....not too many results though!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jewgaffer Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 Well done Hodgey ... Dene it's you turn to hold the lead next time mate ....... these lime tigers shrimp work consistently by the look of all those fish... Cheers jewgaffer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adkel53 Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 Nice lizards Hodgey. Thanks for sharing the details of your lures/jig weights/fishing depths with other raiders, as you always do. Must try the shallower areas with lighter jigs and smaller lures in my home waters. The lizards we caught last weekend were all taken on 80mm Squidgy fish or 5" Berkley jerk shads in 2.5 - 3.5 metres of water. On the other hand, it may be a case of "different horses for different courses". After our success last weekend I think I know how I would be starting next time!! Cheers Kel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james7 Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 Fantastic report Hodgey! Very informative! Great photos too! How small was that flattie?!? Brilliant catch! The other flatties are a nice size. And of course, they are bigger than the ones I got yesterday! Do you always have to outfish me? Cheers Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slinkymalinky Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 Hope that little Flattie didn't burn out the drag in your reel Great session Hodgey and after having to sit at my desk during a week of the best weather reports I've had since moving, I'm insanely jealous. Lots of delicious, sweet fillets in that lot. Cheers, Slinky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishguts Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 Nice fillets hodgey..and size wise looks like a family portrait ..cheers..stevo!.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squid hunter Posted August 3, 2009 Share Posted August 3, 2009 nice flatties hodgey regards Squid Hunter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnv Posted August 4, 2009 Share Posted August 4, 2009 nice flatties there & great report there hodgey well done cheers john Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brendong Posted August 4, 2009 Share Posted August 4, 2009 I think you are lookin at Croc of the month there mate....well done... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jewhunter Posted August 4, 2009 Share Posted August 4, 2009 Great report Skip. That's good fishing in the cold water. Nice e.p's & a good feed of flatties as well. Love your monster croc. I have never seen one of that size! Cheers, Grant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flattiehunter991 Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 Dude some nice fish there, but OMG that Flattie is tiny! I cannot understand how you caught that haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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