recurve Posted February 7, 2017 Share Posted February 7, 2017 I have always struggled to get a feed in Lake Illawarra.. Decided to take the wife and boy on the lake for the day. Son brought a friend with so was really nice. I went early and drifted around flicking plastics. To my surprise I caught a 60cm flatty. Then I was hit by schools of tailor which shredded all my plastics. But I did manage a 50cm Flatty before getting really upset about the amount of plastics I was getting through. 9am I went back in to pick up the crew. Wife and two boys. Did some cruising around the lake and then stopped for a past time which young blokes love. Yabby Pumping. off they went making a crap load of noise and being very busy. Ended up getting quite a few. Then we took off to the drop off. I set up small hooks hoping for whiting. I was bait boy. Spent 2 hours standing in the middle with three different ledger rigs being swung at me impatiently. Surprised I did not get hooked. Yabbies came off to easily and I could not keep up so I cheated and went with Squid Tentacles to give myself a break. Being Dad on the boat is frikkin hard work. Caught a real mix. Amazing the diversity of species in the lake. One of the boys caught a proper puffer fish. Then to my surprise my son pulls a 50cm flat head out. First time we have caught enough flathead for a proper feed from the lake. We were pretty chuffed. Lake was murky and tonnes of jelly fish so swimming was off which was a real bummer. If you have kids I highly recommend a day on the lake. We have never had a bad day. When the water is clear and the jelly fish are not swarming it is beautiful to swim in. No great surprise that when we came back in the crew was gone. I had to retrieve and clean down on my own. No one even flicked me gas money. I felt used. Oh and I had to fillet and cook the fish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scratchie Posted February 7, 2017 Share Posted February 7, 2017 Great report mate and glad you got a feed. A bonus for all your hard work! Cheers scratchie!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hooked-Up Posted February 7, 2017 Share Posted February 7, 2017 Sounds terrible mate i feel for ya! Lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fab1 Posted February 7, 2017 Share Posted February 7, 2017 It is a beutiful spot for young kids swimming/playing in the shallows.The few times I've caught any whiting there has been on either beach worms or a pinch of peeled prawn on a #6 hook. Great read. Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yowie Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 When I fished that way many years ago, the tailor could be a problem, especially in the 'back channel' as we called it, that is the channel along the island which runs to the drop off. Take some metal lures, which would relieve damage and expense to the soft plastics when the choppers turn up. No such thing as soft plastics in my young days, just metal lures, such as the Wonder Wobbler, or a metal slice, or pieces of white cloth tied around a long shank hook. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimg1au Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 HI were in the lake can you pump nippers i fish there some times would like to try some i usualy use fresh tailor strips there is pleanty of them in the lake and yes you some times come home with a feed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
recurve Posted February 8, 2017 Author Share Posted February 8, 2017 All the sand banks on both sides of the bridge hold them. Some patches are pretty worked over but you can always find them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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