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Port Stephens flathead.


fisherman666

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Hey Raiders, first report here. Good Friday it was, and I have borrowed a mate's tinny for the long weekend. He is the primary carer at the moment for both his little girl and his wife and can't use the boat, so I'm kinda doing him a favour by putting some fresh fuel through the motor :) Fishing with another mate who is non fisher and his girlfriend who is a keen one. They are new to the area from SA so I was feeling like a bit of a tour guide ha ha. Also this was my first time actually launching and skippering a boat since getting my licence in January (well not entirely true, but by myself anyway) so I was hoping to send em home with at least a feed. I don't have the best luck normally.

Launched at Karuah to fish the oyster racks. Headed to some old racks and anchored. I throw in a bait of frozen slimy mackerel piece on a long shank hook. I grab my other rod (the bream rod) and literally bang the bait rod is on. I've been fishing for 45 seconds and a legal flathead is boatside and into the net. Woohoo. A bit of luck on my side today. It clears the ruler (low 40s) so it is despatched and into the ice. Next I sink another bait and grab the bream rod to try a new plastic that was hand made for me by a friend. It is a normal 1/4 oz jighead but has a spinner glued on and painted eyes. It's a bit heavy for my rod but he swears they catch flathead and I give it a go.

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My friend who made it is a dedicated freshwater fisherman and I think it's a cool idea. The plastics themselves I'm told are hard to find in Aus and were a bulk buy from the US. I used the white pearl.

Back to the story, I flick the SP for a few casts and I am on again for matching flattie. This is already the best fishing I have had in about 2 months and my first flathead on SP. Whoo! Meanwhile my bait rod is on again but it feels small. So I'm juggling rods now and pull in a small bream. Time to focus I say to myself. I cast the plastic again and I am on to what feels like a much bigger fish. My plastics rod is a 1-3 kg 7ft rod and a 1000 reel (4lb braid with 6lb FC leader) and its fairly well bent with a more than a few strong runs. I like what I see on the surface which turns out to be a fat 59cm flathead. A new PB for me and I have 3 fish (all I need) in a short time and I look like a bit of pro here so I wind the rods in and crack a beer. Next fish in the boat is another low 40s flattie by my mates GF and she is very happy to catch a local feed. I muck around with some more tiny bream on bait and the ebb tide is really slowing now and so is the flattie action plus its near sunset so we called it a day.

Now I have flathead tails in the freezer so I can return the boat on Tuesday with fish plus a feed for my wife and I. And I put my mate onto a feed. Win-win all round.

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One of the best ways to kill a flattie is to hold it in ur hand with a rag and push its head down till its neck breaks. Using the edge of a tinnie seat work better by resting its body on the seat and have its head over the edge and quickly push its head down till till u hear a crack.

No mess, fish dies straight away and no twitching. Thought I would share because it looks as though u have stabbed them in the head.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

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One of the best ways to kill a flattie is to hold it in ur hand with a rag and push its head down till its neck breaks. Using the edge of a tinnie seat work better by resting its body on the seat and have its head over the edge and quickly push its head down till till u hear a crack.

No mess, fish dies straight away and no twitching. Thought I would share because it looks as though u have stabbed them in the head.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

I think I'lll try that next time, I appreciate you telling me, Thanks

I stabbed em because I recently read the ike jime website and was trying out this method.

Ultimately I want it to be quick for the fish. I do practise the neck break on other species normally aus salmon.

Cheers fellas for the thumbs up. My best fishing for ages!

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