adkel53 Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 This morning I had the pleasure of taking my longest standing fishing mate (and the one who is responsible for my addiction!) out to target lizards on Botany Bay. He is visiting Sydney from Nowra for the week. He landed the first fish not too long after we began - a nice eater of 45 cm. I landed another of 48 cm over the next 90 or so minutes. Things were pretty slow so a decision was taken to move to another of my favourite areas. Another 43 to me and a couple of missed hits to Colin were the result as we moved along the relatively shallow shoreline in about 1.2 metres of clear water. I had a solid take, a head shake and a fish that began to swim off to one side quite strongly - always a sign of a reasonable fish. As it turned out, she was a bit more than just reasonable. We got a glimpse of her in the shallow water early in the fight and quickly realised she was a very big fish. I loosened the drag a little and went to work, eventually bringing her to the boat in the shallows near the shore we were rapidly being blown into. Fortunately we had raised the motor because she dived under the boat and swam off towards the (slightly) deeper water again, necessitating thrusting the rod tip into the water and working the line around and under the bow. Eventually she came in again and I guided her carefully into the waiting net. She went 88cm on the tape measure - a true crocodile. After a few happy snaps and a hand shake between mates she was revived in the water and we watched her power off towards the deeper water. I often use 10 Berkley Vanish as a leader but today I had opted to use 17lb Vanish. Good decision - the end of the leader was quite frayed and snapped when I put a little pressure on it after her release. I was using 4lb Fireline and a clear-coloured 3" Zmann Minnowz lure on a 1/4 ox TT jighead for those who like to know these things. A 2-4 kg Pflueger rod and Daiwa Caldia 2500 completed the setup. The next two hours produced only 1 more 45 cm fish and a couple more missed hits in the increasingly windy conditions. A morning to savour. Sharing it with a long-term friend made it just that little bit sweeter! Tight lines all, Kel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scratchie Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 Kel, that's a ripper story with a very happy finish. Well played on the light gear and I hope you have many more outings like that with your fishing bud! Cheers scratchie!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
filthmonger Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 Good fish mate!! Dolls Point? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adkel53 Posted October 2, 2013 Author Share Posted October 2, 2013 Similar area! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bharris Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 Cracker croc mate good stuff Sent from my GT-S7500T using Tapatalk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pomey_git Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 Beautiful! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vo2c88 Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 Good to see the big girls are back :-) Good on you for letting her go. Well Done :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hodgey Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 Excellent fish Kel! A great fish on light gear! Cheers Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sam bros Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 magnificent croc mate love it when the rod bends harder and you realise its a bigger fish and well played on the light line cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Witha Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 Check the thickness of her! Well fed girl! Congrats mate great story and wonderful release. Many more! Witha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlayerOne Posted October 3, 2013 Share Posted October 3, 2013 She would've given the drag a nice work out :-) ....Cracker flattie mate! ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenno64 Posted October 3, 2013 Share Posted October 3, 2013 That's a cracker and a promise of a good season! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray R Posted October 3, 2013 Share Posted October 3, 2013 Great lizard mate, top effort congrats... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davemmm Posted October 4, 2013 Share Posted October 4, 2013 Cracker of a fish. Goin on the background I've got a few good ones out of there in the past (although not quite that good) Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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