Patonga 1st/2nd May

[Byron]

G'day all,

Apologies for the late report.

Spent Sunday and Monday up at the parent's beach house at Patonga with a friend from Singapore this last weekend. Was not able to dedicate all my time to piscatorial pursuits but did manage two sessions, one on Sunday afternoon and again on Monday morning.

Sunday arvo was simply magic on the water, but despite the conditions, I chose to keep close to the Patonga shoreline in the hope of a few flathead for dinner. The tide was running out of Patonga creek and it was simply a case of running back and forth along the drop off under leccy power and jigging Squidgie fish in gold and pink. The flathead were nothing special size wise, but prolific and kept us both amused over the few hours we spent fishing. At one point I swapped to a bass minnow on 6lb leader, only to have the best flatty of the day jump on. Unfortunately, I forgot the net (again) and managed to pop a healthy 60cm + flathead off at the boat.

As for keepers, we each got a lovely plate sized flounder which became destined for dinner as a tastier option than the flathead.

Also had a great little battle with a 37cm bream on a bass minnow. I noticed a prominent rock sitting submerged on the shoreline and creating quite an eddy. Flicked in tight and first twitch resulted in a solid hook-up. Line peeled under reasonable drag and I was comprehensively bricked in no time flat. Not willing to concede defeat, I motored up to the rock and tried to dislodge the bream from all angles to no avail. As a last resort, and still able to feel the occasional kick from the fish, I backed off and free-spooled to release any tension on the line. After a few minutes wait, the line started to move out from the rock and I cranked up the slack to find myself still connected to the fish. A quick battle saw me working hard on the little bastard and I managed to pole the fella into the boat without further issue. I was thrilled to say the least!!

Monday dawned with a little more wind, but took the chance to head over to Pittwater and see if any pelagics were out to play. Unfortunately, apart from the occasional boil from frigates, we were unable to find any surface action. Consequently we decided to fish the boats and see if we could get a few more flathead for Eileen, whilst I searched for a bream. Needless to say both plans were successful, with Eileen landing the best flathead of the trip, and me managing a couple of nice fat bream, though nothing as good as the previous day's fish.

Gotta say it was a real pleasure to fish Pittwater mid-week. Hope to manage a few more sessions over the coming weeks.

Cheers

Byron

[DaveW]

Top stuff Byron - hope you save some of that luck for Sussex

[Narralakes]

Great report and great fish. The Pittwater is a different place during the week, not many out there at all, weekends are just crazy at times.

[Byron]

Cheers guys,

You are right Pedro, they are a brilliant fish when solid like this. It was really fat!!

As for Sussex Dave, I will hopefully be relying upon our collective skills rather than my dumb luck........but I am pretty sure I have a small stash of luck up my sleeve should the need arise

Narra, Pittwater mid-week really is the business. Gotta love that Serenity!!

[Guest MarkD]

Nice work Byron, looking forward to our trip !