kiwicraig Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 Today I had the pleasure of hosting my friend from work and his father that is visiting from Venezuela. We hit the water today a bit after 9am with the tide having just turned and started the run in. There was a bit of wind and it was forecast to pick up (which it did later) so we decided to stay inside. We started out in one of may favorite places to drift for flatties but the tide was not really running very hard yet and the wind was pushing harder in the opposite direction. The result was we were very slowly drifting the wrong way. Time to change tactics - we anchored on a hole and cast soft plastics towards the edge of a sand bank and worked them back towards the hole. This picked us up one undersized and one 38cm flattie over an hour. I had been planning to resume drifting the Ettalong Channel once the tide was running a bit faster, but by the time it picked up the wind had increased as well. Time for plan C - we motored a bit towards Rip Bridge then stated the drift again. This time the wind was off our rear quarter so it was pushing us along with and slightly across the current. I hooked a solid flattie but it spat the lure at the boat. Because the wind was coming slightly across the current it kept pushing us towards shallow water, rocks, jetties, moored boats and all sorts of other hazards. Despite the fact we had some early interest in the bait and lures we decided to go and try another spot with a different angle again. We crossed under Rip Bridge and set up a drift in one of my spots near Blackwall. Now the wind was going in much the same direction as the current. Suddenly we're all on. Triple hookup. Two of them drop off quite quickly, but my friend's Dad brings in nice flounder. We reposition 100m to avoid a high traffic area and start drifting again. In this spot the drift is quite short, but the wind was working with us much better than previous spots. Over several drifts we pick up 3 more flatties in the 40-55cm range. We also caught and released a female Blue Swimmer. Almost every drift is getting solid hits. Eventually the wind comes up a bit more and we decided to pack it in - heading home with 4 flathead and a flounder in the esky. At the boat ramp I see a fellow boatie struggling to get his boat on the trailer in a stiff cross breeze. I waded down the ramp and pushed the back end of his boat around and then held it while he wound it in with the slowest electric winch I have ever seen in my life. I think I made his day - and in a way having the chance to help someone when so many others have helped me in the same situation was a highlight for me as well. Went home feeling relaxed and happy, gave my friend and his dad a great day and had a feed of fresh fish. Does not get any better than that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juzz318 Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 Good on you for lending a hand its times like that when things can go horribly wrong when others just walk on bye. Cant complain with that bag of flatties and a good day out on the water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meg126 Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 Hey - we had the same issue in brissie waters the other day - just a matter of moving around till you find something that works ah? What do you use as bait and what sort of lures were you using? My biggest hazard was avoiding the cruiser captains who didn't seem to see us till the last second... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwicraig Posted January 3, 2016 Author Share Posted January 3, 2016 We used a combination of bait and lures. 1/2 pillies were doing the damage. Prawns were also drawing bites but mostly being stolen without hookup. I got a couple of flatties on a 4 inch curly tail minnow and then went to 6 1/2 inch plastic to try and get a bigger fish. But yeah - once I found a place where the wind and current were going in more or less the same direction it started to work for us. The other advantage of the spot that I found in the end was that it was sort of out of the main thoroughfare so the holiday skippers were less of an issue. It has certainly been a bit more crowded out there recently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yowie Posted January 3, 2016 Share Posted January 3, 2016 A bit of good work there to find a few amongst the wind and lunatic boaties. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
golf_fish Posted January 3, 2016 Share Posted January 3, 2016 That's a pretty nice haul for some pretty dodgy conditions. Good work...... I've seen a lot of people doing the drift under the Rip Bridge, but have never really seen anybody catch anything..... I always go and find a deep hole and anchor up and always seem to catch our fair share, everything from octopus to red rock cod.... It really is one of my favourite spots to fish. We've caught well over 20 different species from just that spot alone. I should actually sit back and try and count the exact number one day. But it is a pointless place to anchor up if the water is running to hard, almost impossible to get find the bottom with your bait!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antonywardle Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 nice work Craig. We'll have to team up again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwicraig Posted January 8, 2016 Author Share Posted January 8, 2016 Sounds good Ant! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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