Four species in one day

[codymanly]

Fellow raiders, today was a good day. I haven't fished much the last few months but after surfing in ridiculously warm Sydney water this week I decided today was the day to end my hiatus.

Armed with nothing more than 2kg of the finest servo pilies money can buy, I headed down to middle harbour. I burley up a bit and with a minute I had my first legal bream. Didn't have the brag mat or my phone, so I apologise for not having any photos to share. I continued on and pulled out another few, occasionally letting them hang out just under the surface to see if anything bigger would follow them up.

Im certainly glad I did. A few kings came up to suss my bream out, one of which was definitely legal.

i flicked a metal and a stick bait around for a while but couldn't get anything interested, so I went back to what was working and using another pilie head, pulled up a solid 40cm snapper. I couldn't believe the size of it. On my 3-5 kilo rod it gave a nice fight.

An hour went by and not much was doing, so I burleyd up again and almost instantly my rod buckled over. I tightened the drag a little and knew for sure I had a pelagic. I haven't seen bonito in middle harbour for  awhile, but it felt like that's what it was. After a nice little fight I saw him, and a mate he had tagging along. Landed him safely without the net, one of which I seriously have to get, and kept him for dinner.

the weather was all over the place, with intermittent wind and rain, but I was having a good time so I figured I'd use the rest of the bait and see what I could get.

i chucked some of the last pilchard out, hoping quietly I'd get a nice flatty to go along with the bonito for dinner. I felt a really small tap on the line, and so I gently raised the rod tip, and sure enough, there was this massive weight on the end of it.

it was like she hadn't quite worked out she was hooked, and then when the penny finally she dropped, I got all sorts of head shakes and a few massive runs.

i was definitely undergunned, I had 6 pound leader, not sure of the braid, possibly 10 pound, and a tiny hook.

i slowly got it up to the jetty, and Lo and behold, the biggest f&$@ing flatty I've ever caught. 

ive caught a few big ones, but this thing was ridiculous. It had to have been close to 90cm.

I was trying to work out how I was going to land it with no net, when I eventually decided to grab the leader and hope she was well enough hooked to pull her out onto the jetty.

as soon as I grabbed the leader, she did a few massive head shakes, and bit straight through the leader and swam off.

my heart was pounding. I just couldn't believe how big it was. Can anyone tell me how old a flattie that size might be?

anyway, it was a ripper day and the sort of productive session that keeps you coming back when it's not so good.

good luck to all you guys and girls 

[Trailcraft43]

Maybe 9 years or more.

[Guest Guest123456789]

Not very bright are they? Number of times I've checked my bait and there's a lizard on the end that didn't realise it was hooked I've lost count. Only thing more stupid is a squid.

[DaveBM]

That's a bit unfair Luke. They stay still for a living, so once they've eaten your bait they stop there and wait for something new to come along.

[Guest Guest123456789]

@DaveBM good point, stupid is the wrong word. Certainly hooking and fighting the fish is easier than many other species from an anglers perspective, would you. agree?

[big Neil]

Great report Codymanly. I felt as if I was there too. You'll have to get better prepared to land these fish mate. They are few and far between,...hard enough hooking them without battling to land them. Better luck next outing. Thanks for sharing. BN

[Great_White]

codymanly , wow, what an incredible day fishing the jetty ..

Might be time, to bite the bullet and purchase a decent landing net, probably one with a decent extension handle.

Shame you lost that massive flattie ...

But at least you got something to take home for dinner ...

Very under rated Bonito. When I was living on the Sth Coast, I would always bring home 1/2 dozen or so for eating.

Well done on a great day out ..

Great_White