Croc encounter in Sydney!

[lukedfluke]

Hey guys, been a while since my last post, been fishing quite often and have had some memorable captures but i've just been lazy to post. Until....

Yes it's true, I did in fact come across a big croc in Sydney Harbour. It all started when.....

On a lovely saturday morning, i wake up after camping on my backyard (different story ), next to the water on the harbour. Not a breath of wind, not a cloud in the sky, i couldn't think of a better way to recover from a shite previous night, then to take the 2-4kg trion to the wharf. Armed with my favourite, trusty old zx30 blade. Let me tell you, that blade had seen better days, it's had two hook upgrades, caught me countless fish and i've only ever owned of them, which i still have!

Anyway, that's beside the point. I wasn't really expecting to catch anything substantial, i was actually aiming for a nice little plate sized flatty or bream. Which is why i was only armed with 6lb braid and 4lb fluoro (linesystems; i love you). I started of hopping my blade along the bottom, cast after cast in different directions enjoying my day when... near the base of the wharf, close to the end of my retrieve, i feel i tiny little 'tick' like a bream bite. I strike and straight away i could tell it was some sort of flat fish but nothing substantial at all, until.. Suddenly i feel a lot of dead weight. Half way up, in no real imposing structure, it feels like my little flatty (so i'd thought) got stuck? Ummm no. Out of no where it takes a big run, thankfully away from structure and in my head this fish went from being 30-40cm to about 70+. I knew straight away i was in for the long haul and there was no rushing this fish. I had a few tense moments for a couple of minutes steering the fish away from structure and changed my mind about 10 times on whether it was a jewie or a flatty. I just wanted a glimpse of it. And then, low and behold... it appears from under the wharf, and it just keeps coming and coming, there was no end to this fish! it was big! But i had bigger problems, for 1) i had no net! so i spent probably a good 5 mins trying to lie down and grab by it's gills or lip, but Flloyd (that's right, i named... her?) didn't like that and kept taking her last bursts for freedom when my neighbour sees me struggling from the shore and says; "Ohh you got a fish, have you" "yes, it's rather large!" "Ok, hold on a tick i'll get you our net".

Unfortunately, i think my neighbour under-estimated the size of the fish with the net she came up with because you'd struggle to fit my head in that thing. Anyway, after 2 missed shots, roughly 25 mins of fighting and a dodgy net/tail grab job.... Up she came! My biggest croc, let alone fish to date! and who would have thought it would have been caught on 6lb line and 4lb leader (thank god she was lip hooked). She ended up going 78cm and a bit on the lie detector and she wasn't lacking in fatness. So a few pics and we realised her into our saltwater pool/enclosure (which had access to the open water), where she had a sulk for a couple of hours and then back to the depths!

Either than that, on sunday i fished for a while with only bread and landed 3 nice blackies (1 goodun) and legal bream (30cm). Plus, i felt victim to a massive local surgeon fish that has probably three of my hooks in it's mouth but was seen casually picking bread pieces in the berley trail.

Anyway, please excuse the length of this report... I don't expect you to read it all but i just felt like writing

Cheers, Luke

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[CarlRak]

Great fish, great read. Well done.

[bassboy888]

You couldnt get any luckier than that!!! Big Flatty, Light line, Lip hooked, Stayed on whyile trying to net and in your own back yard! Very very jealous. Congrats on the top catch and great report

[paul.kenny]

Great report and great fish Luke. That croc certainly challenged your fishing skills and good onya for letting the big girl go to live for another day

[gregg.michael]

What a great report. Thanks for sharing this one with us. Sounds like a victorious battle of epic proportions.

similarly well done on letting her go. The temptation to keep such a memorable fish is usually pretty strong.

So I commend you on doing the right thing.

Mike

[Centrepin]

Thanks for the report. It is a lovely story witth a happy ending.

Even the neighbours got involved.

Appreciated,

Geoff

[ACIMA]

Great read Luke and Flloyd sure is a beauty

You've done a great job landing her on such light gear and it's good to see fellow fishermen/women are willing to lend each other a hand.

Well Done

Cheers Brad<><

[Morgs84]

Well done mate ,

awesome fish. gotta love that feeling when a fish goes from being a baby to a monster in one big run !

Ive got that same lure but havent had much luck with it ,what action do you do with it ?

I reckon i might need to upgrade/replace the hooks 2, what hook upgrades ddid you do ? was it hard?

good photos 2, the neighbour help you out with that 2 i hope

Morgs

[night_rider]

Wow!

Matey solid effort. I can only hope to find this hiding in and around the harbour!

Well Done!

[Fishgetter]

Awesome fish.... havnt been able to find anything near that size around the harbour.

[Bashful]

Great report! The pics look like the flattie was bigger than 78cm...nice work with the light gear

[Robinsoi]

Great report and even better fish

Thanks so much for sharing and good on you for letting the big mamma go.