Hawkesbury river "Great" Friday

[garfield28]

Hi all, 

 

Went to the Hawkesbury river with my son, brother and nephew on good Friday, and not expecting the fishing to be too good in light of all the rain we've had but seeing the trip was planned some weeks ago, we all decided to stick to the plan to go. Met the brother and his son at the ramp at 5.30 am. First stop was to go pump some nippers, so off we went to our spot and got a bucket full in no time, then a while doing a drift near the wreck, the boys were setting their rods up while  cooked egg and bacon rolls for breaky. It didn't take long after the first cast the the nephew was onto a good size flatty of 45 cm, next one in the water was my son who pulled up tight on another Flathead keeper. It went a little quiet for a short time so we moved spots and instantly were rewarded. The nephew was onto a stonker of a flatty easily 70cm + but lost it at the boat. Next thing my rod peels off line and stops, I wonder if I've hooked a log on the fast drift or if I have a fish, I wind in and the line is tight and heavy but nothing points towards a fish, but then this thing just goes bezerk and starts thrashing its head, I take my time with the drag set to get it in and after a short while up comes this monster Flathead easily 90cm I reckon, I know straight away with my light gear I'm more then likely not going to land it, but I got her real close to the boat and she just goes ban, bang with her head and back to the depths of the river.... was going to be my trophy fish for sure, was never going to keep her but would have been lovely to get a couple of pics with that big beautiful beast. After that let down we moved back and started our drift again and proceeded to catch more Flathead all of legal length but seeing my brother doesn't like eating fish, only catching them (weirdo) and my son and I had enough for a feed we were just catching and releasing. My brother catches a good size bream 43 cm which he was going to let go but for some reason it's guts came out of its bum hole not sure why or what was going on there, but we decided to taker it home for the oven. My my nephew cathes another good size flatty which again bust him at the boat and then I catch another big flatty that this time I land in the boat... she is easily my PB fish let alone Flathead and in all the excitement and me wanting to do the right thing and get a quick pic and then let her go, I didn't even measure her. I reckon she was mid 70's maybe more but as I said I didn't measure her, just got a couple of quick snaps and then watched her gracefully swim away to one day give someone else the thrill she gave me.

 

All in all, was a top day, easily one of my most enjoyable on the water. Great weather, great fishing and great company. My young bloke has his P's and drove back to beautiful Port Stephnes whiched allowed his old man to enjoy a few nice cold ales while out on the majestic Hawkesbury.

Thanks for reading

Geoff  

[Scratchie]

Nice one geoffro! Good to see you out and about mate! Let's be honest, how many did the boy catch?? We all know he's a big banana! Lol ? congrats on the pb mate! 

Cheers scratchie!!! 

[big Neil]

I loved reading your report Geoff. Can't beat a good family outing when the fish are willing to play. You'll all remember that day on the water, that's for sure. BN

[garfield28]

20 hours ago, Scratchie said:

Nice one geoffro! Good to see you out and about mate! Let's be honest, how many did the boy catch?? We all know he's a big banana! Lol ? congrats on the pb mate! 

Cheers scratchie!!! 

Thanks Scratchie, yeah it certainly has been a while, still trying to get my boat sorted so I can get her out and about beautiful PS.... HaHaHa yeah the boy is a banana but he's improving. 

 

18 hours ago, big Neil said:

I loved reading your report Geoff. Can't beat a good family outing when the fish are willing to play. You'll all remember that day on the water, that's for sure. BN

Thanks BN, yeah that's for sure mate just one of those really memorable days. 

[harold]

What a great day's fishing. I love catching and eating flattys although I have always let the big fellows go back home to fight another day just like you.

[rickmarlin62]

great read  congrats on the pb  im still not sure it was easter it didn't rain and the wind didn't blow..rick

[Yowie]

Sounds like a good day out with the family.

When you pull up a good sized flattie, you do not want too much tension on the line. Keeping the drag pressure down a bit, can help with the head thrashing of the big ones. If you need a bit of extra tension of the line, place a finger onto the spool for the extra lift, and if the big mother wants to take off or head thrash, release the finger from the spool and there won't be too much tension on the line. Takes some practice to get that correct.

[antonywardle]

Nice work @garfield28 Good report and good to see you catching!

 

[seasponge]

Great read Geoff. Looks like you had an awesome day out fishing and all enjoyed yourselves. 

 

Do you mind me asking where you pumped nippers? I've been looking for a spot around there, but the closest I know is up in Cowan Creek, and I prefer to fish the Berowra end. You can PM me if you like.