jenno64 Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 (edited) I hadn't been out for a serious fish for a few weeks after doing lots of mini-trips with my 6yo over the hols but yesterday I caught some nice sized poddies and I was keen to hit the Georges this morning. Found out there was a huge bream tourney on so I canned fishing under Captain Cook Bridge and surrounds. Instead I launched further up the river just before the high this morning. First couple of hours was very slow and only picked up one small flatty in the channel. As the run out gathered a bit of pace, I found another couple of small flatties in a new stretch I haven't fished. Next drift with two livies out, my T-Curve/Stradic set up gets slammed and line is peeling off up current. I quickly got the other lines in and started on the fish which took off on a couple of sizzling runs and sent some serious headshakes up the rod. It's behaviour had me thinking decent jew and after another run towards shore, I pedalled outof the way of moorings in case it went hard. After about 5 minutes I had leader coming up and was expecting a golden flank but no....a cracking flathead surfaces! I could see the wide gap hook in the bottom jaw, which allowed me to take my time and slip her into the silicon landing net. My first thought was that I had upped my PB of 97cm and maybe cracked the metre but prescription sunnies can be a bit generous! I started thinking about taking some quick snaps and looking for a release plan. Only 100m away was a perfect sandy beach in front of a house so I headed over. As it happens, my camera was low on power so I had to use my phone to get a few snaps and put a tape on her as I had left the brag mat behind. A very fat 84cm!! I gently slipped her into the water on sand but she didn't want to move much so I spent a few minutes swimming her until she became nice and restless.....slithering away into the depths. I would love to have weighed her as she was the fattest flathead I have ever caught by far....extremely healthy condition and fully roed up. Ended up taking 4 fish around 40cm home for a feed and I feel my mojo coming back after a what seems like way too many drinks between decent fish. Chatted to a couple of extravagent bream boats on the way back and felt pretty good about the fish my little Hobie helps me get onto:) Edited January 30, 2011 by jenno64 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JET01 Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 so how long was it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamerz84 Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 thats a beauty mate good on u for letting her go aswell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james7 Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 What a ripper! Any flattie over 80cm is huge! Congratulations on the catch and release! Brilliant! Cheers Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hodgey Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 Great fish Rob. The water temp is rising quickly with the better weather and the fish are responding accordingly. There will be some terrific fish caught over the next 8 weeks! Great photos as always mate Cheers Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hooklineandsinker Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 great looking fish cheers mick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray R Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 good onya Rob, nice fish mate and love the shot of her on the bottom.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rafinx Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 I gotta give it to you guys on the kayaks, well done and tops report. Cheers cg. one day soon ill be buying a kayak for Sara and I, ive seen alot of reports on them and I feel its easier to clean if your just going to hit the rivers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benb Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 Great flatty and good to see her swim for another day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fran1mat Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Well done mate. Cracker of a flattie there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
issue Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Great job on releasing a big roed up croc...love it,good on ya. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dusky_Chaser Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Love your work Rob.....Great report and 100 times better that you let her go to do her thing. Love the fat ones more than the long ones Regarding her weight. heres my findings. 82cm condition very good 4kg 82cm condition very good 4.1kg 83cm condition poor 3.5kg 84cm condition ok 4kg 87cm condition very good 5kg 88cm condition ok 4.8kg and a few in between .....cant say Ive seen an 80 something in what I would call excellent contion. An 84 in Excellent condition I dont think would hit 5kg but I believe it would be on or very close to 10lb in the old scale. Call her 10lb........got a nice ring to it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gretsch Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Thats a craking flatty.. love the photo of her in the water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FISHARK Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Nice croc Rob well done on the yak !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenno64 Posted February 1, 2011 Author Share Posted February 1, 2011 (edited) Love your work Rob.....Great report and 100 times better that you let her go to do her thing. Love the fat ones more than the long ones Regarding her weight. heres my findings. 82cm condition very good 4kg 82cm condition very good 4.1kg 83cm condition poor 3.5kg 84cm condition ok 4kg 87cm condition very good 5kg 88cm condition ok 4.8kg and a few in between .....cant say Ive seen an 80 something in what I would call excellent contion. An 84 in Excellent condition I dont think would hit 5kg but I believe it would be on or very close to 10lb in the old scale. Call her 10lb........got a nice ring to it Dusky, I love your formulas! Mate this one was very thick and broad and went like the clappers compared to some big fish I have caught in the last year or 2 including 2 in the 80s and 2 in the 90s. One I caught last year was 97cm and must have dumped her eggs as she was pretty lean. I did take one 5 years ago at 96cm (never again) and it weighed 6.5kgs so I reckon every cm over 80cm would increase the weight exponentially as they get broader before they get longer! As I said in the post, when I saw this one's head I thought I had cracked the metre!!! Here are a couple more shots! Edited February 1, 2011 by jenno64 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flattyman Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 Nice fish man Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dusky_Chaser Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 That sure is a beauty. I am amazed sometimes at how much these vary in weight. Be assured all those fish I mentioned were released too.....Biggest I've kept was 74 about 6 years ago. I always try to get a weight by weighing them fully supported in the net.....sometimes I forget and release them too quickly in all the excitement. I know what you mean about the fight. This one was my heaviest, I wasnt ready for the photo but it really shows off the tail which was just unbelievable.....I too thought I may have done it...(cracked the meter) or got really close when she first came up but she only measured 92.5. But weighed in at 6.8KG...I thought I may have jagged a ray at first, no joke. Other 90's Have been 95 at 6.6kg....92 at 6.6kg.....92 at 5.8kg....94 at 5.2kg.....my mate has got a 95 at 6.4kg and the skinniest of all 93 at 5.0kg. I think its amazing that 2 fish at 92.5 and 93 can weigh 1.8kg difference and it was the shorter that was heavier. Keep em coming Rob.....Love it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenno64 Posted February 2, 2011 Author Share Posted February 2, 2011 Now I see where you research comes in! That is a cracking photo of a very fat fish there too. It's head looks like the lid of an esky. Keep me informed of new findings! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DANDRE Posted February 4, 2011 Share Posted February 4, 2011 nice work mate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunc333 Posted February 4, 2011 Share Posted February 4, 2011 nice lizard,congrats on the release. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now