Fish from in close

[ginko]

A couple of weeks back, I picked up a small black drummer inches from the shore - so I've been trying out the waters in close with some success.

This Thursday I had a few casts from a local (Neutral bay) floating wharf at low tide. The water was very muddy after all the rain, and I put on a bright yellow soft plastic wriggler. I thought there might be a flattie sitting on the bottom, but nothing was taking the lure down deep. I retrieved carefully right upto the pontoon each time, in case anything was following it up out of the murky depth. After five or six casts, the upto-the-pontoon retrieve was rewarded when a dark shadow shot out from under the pontoon and engulfed the bait.

At first, I thought it was a very dirty bream, and when I got it out, I mistook it for a bass. But its huge eyes and barrumundi-shaped head were the hallmarks of an estuary perch. (pics attached) This guy went back in, since I figured his usual habitat would be up in the sadly polluted waters by homebush or beyond.

Friday, I landed a flattie at deewhy in the morning high tide, literally hooked at my feet in the shore dump. A 38cm model taken on a whole pilchard with 3 ganged #4 hooks. Again, it was a case of fishing right to my feet. The cast had been out wide for salmon/tailor, but I figured there might be flatties sitting closer in the rip. I thought I'd better give them a chance on the retrieve... (pic attached)

Then this morning (Sunday) at flint and steel point, after missing a ?kingie?tailor? that bit my oversize yakka in half (and missed my single hook), I thought I'd try a cast right in close at the red channel marker (onshore) with a fillet of the now-half-yakka. Bang! literally right next to the rocks. 42cm flattie saved me from coming home empty handed.

Three trips where the donut was prevented by fish in close.

[mako2000]

Interesting that, I had an hour to kill yesterday so went to Kurnell flicking a soft plastic around. There was a fair swell pushing in between the groynes and twice I got hit basically at my feet right on the dropoff In the middle of the whitewater. Unfortunately both times I was in daydream land and missed the strike as it was the last thing I was expecting!

[dabble]

An estuary perch in Neutral Bay is an excellent capture mate. Well done, i doubt too many people have done that.