paul.kenny Posted September 19, 2010 Share Posted September 19, 2010 Hi Raiders, After some tough weekends fishing the Georges River I decided to capitalise on the good weather this weekend to chase the larger flatties in Botany Bay. Sunday dawned with very slight winds and myself and the old man (visiting from Central QLD) raced out to Woolooware Bay for the run out tide to work the drop offs with SPs and soft blades. The old man had never used SPs before and was keen to learn. The conditions on Woolooware Bay were near perfect and on my third cast with the MF40 I hooked our first fish. The flattie hit the lure with a soft tap, followed by a great head shake and a powerful run. After a brief but fun fight I pulled up a solid 48cm Flattie....a great start to the morning. We continued to work the same drop off, which consisted of a sandbank covered by 1m of water dropping off into a weed bank in about 2m of water. About 10 minutes later I had another soft tap (Squidgy wriggler this time) and a short run from the sandbank. I then thought I had lost the fish as the line went slack, however the fish was still connected as it had swum directly at me. As it was spooked by the boat it ran strongly back towards the sandbank. This fish was an improvement to the first model at 50cm. My old man, who was fishing with SPs for the first time (he was using a 80mm squidgy fish) got a good strike by another flattie. Unfortunately it threw the hook just as it got boat side . The sandbanks then became quiet as the wind completely dropped off, so we decided to try the deeper water in Woolooware. This paid off with the old man hooking this nice 49cm flattie....his first fish via a SP . For the last half hour of the run out tide and with a slight southerly blowing we decided to work the drop offs again. Again I was rewarded with a nice fish that hit the MF40 hard, followed by a powerful headshaking run with the tide. His run was short lived and I boated another upgrade...this time a healthy 51cm flattie. I was lucky to keep this fish hooked as he had snapped the rear treble off the MF40, fortunately the front treble stayed connected. I replaced the damaged MF40 with a new one and five minutes later on the same sandbank I felt another small tap followed by a dead weight on the line...I thought I had missed the strike and had collected weed. Much to my surprise the reel started to sing as a large fish took off, testing my bream gear to the limit. I knew I had a large fish, as it peeled line and I chased the fish with my electric as it ran for deeper water. At one stage it took a sudden change of direction and took me under the boat, thereby forcing me to pass the rod between the bow-mount electric and the bow of the boat to ensure the braid did not touch the keel or the electric. After a tough five minute fight it surfaced briefly allowing us to identify it as a large Croc (flattie). I was concerned that my 6lb leader would not last much longer as it took another long deep run, however she was spent and we were finally able to boat her. Heart thumping I carefully placed her on the brag matt.....oh yeah a new PB of 81cm. After a couple of quick photos she was released to continue breeding (as were all of the other flatties). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray R Posted September 19, 2010 Share Posted September 19, 2010 Mate what a great read, top flatties for you and your newbie plastic flicker, top pics and a top session. Congrats on your new PB.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james7 Posted September 19, 2010 Share Posted September 19, 2010 Well done on the pbs Basscatcher! Cracker session with some ripper flatties! I'm not sure if it's against the rules, but I think it's unfair to have a name like "Basscatcher" and you catch big flatties!?! Also, I think your old man shouldn't be allowed to catch a 49cm flattie for his first go using sps! Great fish, great release, great read, great report. Cheers Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassboy888 Posted September 19, 2010 Share Posted September 19, 2010 the HSC is going to be the death of me.... wish i was out there but noooo have to study. nice flatty, and thanks for the call Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasty1 Posted September 19, 2010 Share Posted September 19, 2010 I agree was a great read and that pb monster was a beuty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Day's Fishin Posted September 19, 2010 Share Posted September 19, 2010 Nice catch of lizards:thumbup: Top marks for releasing the girl. Regards Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenno64 Posted September 19, 2010 Share Posted September 19, 2010 What a great day for you guys...you certainly found the big flatties and that 81cm model is outstanding!!! I went for an hour troll this arvo and only got one 40cm flatty and a couple of near legal reddies. Were you guys fishing the eastern drop offs near the leases? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul.kenny Posted September 19, 2010 Author Share Posted September 19, 2010 What a great day for you guys...you certainly found the big flatties and that 81cm model is outstanding!!! I went for an hour troll this arvo and only got one 40cm flatty and a couple of near legal reddies. Were you guys fishing the eastern drop offs near the leases? Rob - yes we were fishing the eastern drop offs of WB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul.kenny Posted September 19, 2010 Author Share Posted September 19, 2010 Nice catch of lizards:thumbup: Top marks for releasing the girl. Regards Jeff Jeff - thanks,we mainly practice catch & release and always release the bigger lizards to ensure we have breeding stocks for the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IVZ350 Posted September 19, 2010 Share Posted September 19, 2010 awesome croc mate think there all waking back up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brendong Posted September 19, 2010 Share Posted September 19, 2010 Mate awesome sesh!!! Those Crocs looks awesome and there must have been a few around...we managed 3 x 41 cm models today drifting Towra, with heaps of little guys in the mix too...Was considering doing WB but didn't quite get there Doh!!!...perhaps I should have....Congrats on the PB 81cm, what a beauty....is there any better feeling than grabing a few happy snaps and watching a big girl swim off to the depths.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jewhunter Posted September 19, 2010 Share Posted September 19, 2010 Great report & great result mate! Congrats to both you & your dad on the p.b flatties. That 81cm fish is a cracker! Well done. Cheers, Grant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Hatte Posted September 19, 2010 Share Posted September 19, 2010 Way to go guys, top catch of flathead!!!! 81cm model is a cracker fish, she looks nice and fat too. Mick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdfish Posted September 20, 2010 Share Posted September 20, 2010 Geat reprot and well done, what a day. A few years ago, spun the same drop off with SP, 4"shad and got slammed just at the drop off in about 1 to 1.5mts of water. It only took a few casts, a couple of flicks bouncing the shad across the bottom, and the scent from the Gulp shad must have then woken the old fella up and he decided to have a snack, as he hit the SP pretty hard. Landed a nice 45cm flattie and had a great time. Look forward to gettin back out there soon. Cheers WD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie machine Posted September 20, 2010 Share Posted September 20, 2010 Great fish. Glad to see the flatties are coming on the chew. And good work on releasing the big girl. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiger Cam Posted September 20, 2010 Share Posted September 20, 2010 Cracker croc on 6lb well done Cheers, Cam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breambucket Posted September 20, 2010 Share Posted September 20, 2010 Finally woolooware bays is coming back on! Fantastic flattie mate what a cracker! I hope its only the start of things to come for you this season Not long untill the surface action starts to come on too Cheers Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hodgey Posted September 20, 2010 Share Posted September 20, 2010 Cracker croc on 6lb well done Cheers, Cam Agreed, Cam. A terrific fish on light leader Congrats Basscatcher and kudos to you for releasing her Cheers Hodgey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul.kenny Posted September 21, 2010 Author Share Posted September 21, 2010 Finally woolooware bays is coming back on! Fantastic flattie mate what a cracker! I hope its only the start of things to come for you this season Not long untill the surface action starts to come on too Cheers Pete I was tempted to try the surface lures as there were small tailor chopping small bait fish on the surface, however the flattie action was too good to change tactics......I reckon mid-October should see the start of the surface action. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmak Posted September 23, 2010 Share Posted September 23, 2010 Congrats on the PB man. Sounds like a hot session with those MF40s again. Looks like you've kicked off the spring session at WB big time! Glad to see your dad get into the action too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JET01 Posted September 24, 2010 Share Posted September 24, 2010 Just curious to know what you think the 81cm one weighed? I've never seen a fish that big in the wild.... As soon as the electric motor is finished i'm hoping to change that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul.kenny Posted September 24, 2010 Author Share Posted September 24, 2010 Just curious to know what you think the 81cm one weighed? I've never seen a fish that big in the wild.... As soon as the electric motor is finished i'm hoping to change that. Hi JET01 - I didn't weigh the fish, only measured it's length. As depicted in the photos it was quiet fat and certainly fought hard on my bream gear. I was surprised she didn't bite me off, however she did straighten two of the hooks on the rear treble and I was lucky to net her. All the best once your electric motor is finished. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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