Last 2 H&C Bay Sessions

[jdanger]

Had the day off last Monday so spent the afternoon flicking newly discovered Z-Man grubs around my local. The weather was fantastic and it was just one of those days where a foot couldn't be put wrong.

Opened the tally with this well-timed lizard, a cm or two short of my PB but fat as. Hooked up as one of the residents who I only ever seem to meet on good days was walking his dog past. He stopped for a chat while one of the neighbours came to have a squiz at the fish. I took a pic, and let her go.

Continuing to cast close along the wall and concentrating on the drains seemed to be the formula with these two quickly following.

After finally snagging up I decided to employ what I call the JDanger Land Based Precision Cast Method. The JDLBPCM is most useful when trying to cast close to structure in windy conditions and basically entails walking to the spot where you'd like your lure to sit, dropping your jig, then freespooling as you walk back to your point of origin. Benefits include the ability to cover 150 yards in a single retrieve and also not hitting oncoming joggers and dog walkers in the face by accident (assuming you're the kind of angler to cast at oncoming pedestrians in the first place). Don't worry about spooking fish as by the time you walk back to your stuff they've probably settled, as I discovered.

Anyway, after freeing my jig, dropping it back down and walking back to my net and backpack, I wound up the slack only to find this little guy on the end of my line:

It was at this point that I noticed another fisho 50 meters ahead of me angling off a pontoon who moved on by the time I got to him. He must have been burleying hard as he left an absolute feeding frenzy at his feet; heaps of bream the size of toadfish and 10 times as many toadfish were swarming over the submerged steps. I thought to myself "there must be a fish under here" and sure enough, working the lure back to my feet produced this from under me:

Breaming with confidence, I approach the next stretch of water, this time saying out loud "there's gotta be one here". Sure enough, second hop on the first cast and my lure gets smacked. The drag must've come loose because this just-legal model took off and left my heart pounding even after the catch and release!

Very soon after I finally hit an unsalvageable snag and lost my last light Nitro jighead. The downgrade to my second choice was followed by a couple of dropped fish so I called it a day, happy with the tally.

Went out again yesterday afternoon/evening and boy, what a difference a week makes. Threw SP's and my shiny new 3B fat dog deep for three hours for nothing but a few late hits sans hookups on the Z-mans. The wind was up and my hands were freezing. I made my way to the ferry wharf to try for some night-time flatties and the trip was quickly looking like a doughnut.

I finally hooked up, a way away from my net. I had to climb through a railing to get to it while staying connected; the rod tip dropped and the loss of tension became a loss of a fish. Goddamnit!

I was about to pack it in after losing a couple of SP's and a vibe, not to mention another fish (again with the net!) when I discovered I had one last 1/8th Nitro head in the box. I said a silent prayer, hoping that my last 'good' jighead would produce and slid on a GULP 2" shrimp.

Finally! Hook up! Had a couple of spectators, one of whom helped with the netting. We chatted about SPs for a while as they'd never used them. They'd had a luckless couple of weeks using chicken breast and massive sinkers sans burley, targeting jews or something.

Anyway, they left. Next cast and whoop! Not big, but number 2.

was still out with her friend who's going O/S so I had a bit more time to fish. Went to try the far side of the wharf, in the same place that I dropped an earlier fish. I clearly didn't think I was going to get anything because I left my net with my backpack again only to hook up and have the fish heart-breakingly snap the 6lb leader after pulling her 2/3rds out of the water.

After opening my shin on a metal circuit box and leaving the Parra's salinity levels up 20% due to my tears from the dropped fish, I called it a night, defeated, cold and sore.

So, yeah. Bring a net and keep it near you.

Edited May 7, 2013 by jdanger

[Blood Knot]

Great report mate - sounds like you had a top session . Love how you reinvented the spelling of brimming to suit the occasion - its what I dont do sometimes

Cheers Blood Knot

Breaming with confidence, I approach the next stretch of water, this time saying out loud "there's gotta be one here". Sure enough, second hop on the first cast and my lure gets smacked. The drag must've come loose because this just-legal model took off and left my heart pounding even after the catch and release!

[nbdshroom]

Fantastic report and pics! Sounds very productive too. That is a nice near-PB flatty.

[shole01]

nice work mate

gives me some ideas for a sunday cnr session

[tw9635]

Nice work and gret report! Sounds like a solid session. How big was the flatty that snapped your leader while lifting it up?

[PRED-ATOR]

well done mate : )

[CarlRak]

That's a really good report, well done on the fish and I hope the tears have dried-up.

[bassboy888]

Nice work mate, some nice fish there. I would be kicking my self about those flathead as well! Like the genius behind the JDLBPCM, very similar to what the bass pros do in the states called (i think) long lining. Where they cast a crank bait behind the boat, put the reel in free spool, and use the electric to move the boat 100ft away and crank the lure back getting it down deeper than it would on a standard cast and retrieve, hitting deeper schooled or sulking fish.

[Paul]

Great report mate.

Been a while since I've hit the local. Need to get out there more often. Wouldn't mind catching a jewie in there too especially on some SPs

Cheers

Paul

[adfrew]

Nice report mate, sounds like a good session. Nice few Flatties there and inventing a new technique you really had a very productive Monday there

Should catch up for a session again too, we can help each other with that pesky Net that keep wandering away.

[jdanger]

Nice work and gret report! Sounds like a solid session. How big was the flatty that snapped your leader while lifting it up?

Not huge. 40-45cm if I had to guess.

Great report mate.

Been a while since I've hit the local. Need to get out there more often. Wouldn't mind catching a jewie in there too especially on some SPs

Cheers

Paul

I always imagined H&C was too shallow/featureless to expect jewies regularly. I remember reading a report about someone grabbing one on SP's while out for bream a good few years back so who knows. I think it was Jewhunter but I can't find the report now. Heaps of chopper tailor were busting up all over the place last night and reading Nibbles' latest report makes me think I should've flicked something bigger around.

Nice report mate, sounds like a good session. Nice few Flatties there and inventing a new technique you really had a very productive Monday there

Should catch up for a session again too, we can help each other with that pesky Net that keep wandering away.

For real! I'll shoot you a text next time I'm planning a flick.

Thanks for the comments.