Forty Baskets-Clontarf 25/4/15

[Brendan_G]

This morning I woke up to the hot sun piercing through my bedroom window in beautiful Sydney. So you no what that means a fun filled day of fishing. I quickly ran down stairs and grabbed my gear including my rods,tackle box and a new set of soft bodies that i thought I would try out for fun. I also decided that I would pull some chicken breast out of the freezer and let it de frost before i set out on my journey.

It was 1:00pm when I arrived at Forty Baskets to fish off the pier in the hot sun. Their was not much wind around so I threw in two 6ft rods to try my luck. One with a soft body and one with chicken and I also bullied the water with lots of bread to get them biting. 1/2hr later I started getting little nibbles and when I reeled up my line I was shocked to find a stingray had found his way onto the end of my hook. After a solid 1hr I was having no luck except when I wheeled in a 5cm baby bream. I had rigged up one line for bream and was casting out deep while another line was rigged up with a wire trace and was rigged up for flathead where I was casting into the shallow sandy area. After a long hour of tiny bites I packed up my gear annoyed and frusturated and drove to my backup spot CLONTARF.

As I arrived at Clontarf at 3:00pm black clouds and a thunderstorm that was brewing confronted me. But that was not going to stop me from reeling in a decent fish. After my first cast I got a smashing bite but disappointment smacked me in the head when a nice sized flatty somehow found his way of my hook. Next cast bites where flying and got baited by small bream on my flathead rig. Meanwhile on my other rod a flathead was dragging away. When I finally reeled in disappointment hit when realised it was only a 7cm flathead that had somehow broke away from his mother. The only thing that bought a smile to my face was a school of fish that were soaring out of the water and following my rod. After another few hits I needed to pack up fast with lightning striking and thunder booming. I grabbed my gear and ran to the car just as the heavens opened and the rain started to pelt down. Although I did not catch anything worthwhile I still really enjoyed my day out and hope to return to my old ways of wheeling in 30cm+ breams soon HOPEFULLY!!!

Cheers, Brendan

[Linc]

Nice report mate, but pls do yourself a favour and lose the wire trace, that stuff is just not necessary (especially for flatties) and will greatly decrease the number of bites you get. use a fluorocarbon leader instead.

[nutsaboutfishing]

Pity about 40 baskets, I was at Davis Marina this morning, but not ,much biting. Incidently where abouts at Clontarf did you fish, and were you using SP and baits?

[Ryder]

Nice report mate.

I can't wait for your blackfish report from Lake Cathie.

You got the good oil all round.

I have to agree with Linc, don't use wire traces unless they are needed.

Sharks, Spanish etc yes, but flathead you don't need it.

Use long shank hooks and a trace of heavier mono.

You got a bit of entertainment on a tough day inside.

[Brendan_G]

Thank you guys for the advice on the wire trace I will switch it to a heavier trace. The Lake Cathie Blackfish report won't be coming until September because I can't get up there until then but I will be doing more reports from around Sydney maybe even the Hawksbury River next month. And I was fishing on the eastern side of Clontarf around the corner near the café using bait nutsaboutfishing. Get the occasional whiting on light gear there.

Cheers Brendan

[SgtBundy]

I don't think you need to go heavier - 6lb FC will do the job for most flathead, or 15lb if you want to go up a bit depending on any rough ground.

Save the wire for tailor or sharks.