krause Posted June 17, 2017 Share Posted June 17, 2017 Hi all, It was that time of the week to get out in the kayak for a fish, so after a brief chat with HenryR Thursday was booked in for the Hawkesbury. The ultimate goal was jewies, but with a 12 month drought continuing I was just hoping for a nice feed of flathead. Henry had the knowledge of the area, and his plan seemed to make sense so off we set. We hit the water at 4.30am, departing from parsley bay boat ramp, and paddling out to our first spot to catch the last of the run out tide. After setting out squid and slimies as bait we began to drift the current and flick plastics. As this was a first for both of us, we quickly realised that it was either bait or plastics, not both, as we both snagged the bottom quickly. I surrendered my plastics rod and focussed on keeping my squid just off the bottom as I drifted. I flew by Henry as he made his way upstream to retrieve his now snagged slimie. Waving goodbye I watched as he disappeared into the low fog. As I drifted over the sweet spot (as described by Henry) I felt a few taps on the end of the squid. Concerned Id found the bottom I reeled in a few meters of line and BANG! There was weight. And good weight at that. It wasn’t far from the yak in only 8m of water so I got a glimpse of silver before it did the classic jewie run. YEEEWWW I begin screaming into the dark to see if I can get Henrys attention, but no luck. After a short fight I had netted my first jew in a looooong time, and what a stonker. It went 86cm and filled the entirety of my kayaks leg well. And whilst a jew isn’t a sportfish anything like the kings I’m used to chasing, they are just a cool critter. Happily released, it threw water all over me with a final kick, making the next few hours very cold for me….. Catching up with Henry and excitedly reporting my catch, we headed back upstream in hopes of repeating the catch, but we were unsuccessful. As a result we moved onto the next spot. Fast forward a few hours and several km’s later and the scores were unchanged, a single jew and a single jew only. We positioned ourselves near one of the bridges, flicking plastics whilst we waited for the top of the tide. With the river being very nice and giving us about an hour of slack water to fish, we got to work. With baits out we worked all matter of lures around the structure for nothing. Until a bait gets hit… theres weight…. carefully set the circle hook andddd…. Nothing. Bugger! Again, another bite and the same result. Again, and again, to the point it was getting embarrassing! We were blaming everything from big bream to hairtail, but after dropping a good dozen fish between the two of us, I finally pinned one. Screaming in joy like an idiot I pulled a little soapy up, and at 58cm it went straight back. At this point the water was starting to run again, and we discussed our options. With Sydney traffic ahead of me I decided to call it a day and headed for the ramp. But Henry, with only a flattie against his name, paddled back to spot number 1, determined to redeem his name. So off we went, and come 8pm I sent the message to see if he had achieved his goal, and holy $#!@% did he do just that. The message read “flattie, 91”. After recovering enough to reply, I confirm that the 91 was indeed the length. As I wasn’t there, what ill do is attach the photos and let Henry tell the story in the comments, then Ill edit his words into this report. What a bloody ripper fish though, and It had me kicking myself that I didn’t stay longer haha! Either way, it was a hell of a day, and you’ve got to love it when a plan comes together. You love it even more when PB’s are shattered all across the boards! Ripper of a trip! Cheers guys, and excuse the pic of me and my fish…. I don’t normally look so…. Yer :/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krause Posted June 17, 2017 Author Share Posted June 17, 2017 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ARC H Posted June 17, 2017 Share Posted June 17, 2017 good onya for releasing and those fish are nice size well done and good report ARC H Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regan Posted June 17, 2017 Share Posted June 17, 2017 1 hour ago, krause said: is that bait or a big fish swimming nice catch and release on the jews Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ARC H Posted June 17, 2017 Share Posted June 17, 2017 8 minutes ago, Regan said: is that bait or a big fish swimming nice catch and release on the jews its the released flattie bro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdanger Posted June 17, 2017 Share Posted June 17, 2017 What a lizard! Well done Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regan Posted June 17, 2017 Share Posted June 17, 2017 58 minutes ago, ARC H said: its the released flattie bro oh i can see that now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savit Posted June 17, 2017 Share Posted June 17, 2017 Nice croc and Jew. Thanks for the pictures and report. How long were your fishing sessions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scratchie Posted June 17, 2017 Share Posted June 17, 2017 Great report Krause and congrats guys on the pbs! cheers scratchie!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Volitan Posted June 17, 2017 Share Posted June 17, 2017 Congrats and love to hear about all that c & r 4:30 on the water - you guys deserve your fish cheers arron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HenryR Posted June 18, 2017 Share Posted June 18, 2017 18 hours ago, savit said: Nice croc and Jew. Thanks for the pictures and report. How long were your fishing sessions? savit, you have an eye for details! yep, was a looong day. It being a try-to-catch-Mulloway-day, and not being able to chase the slack the way boats can, we both waited out bottom and top the tide, Really, a half day is pretty normal. Then, at least if you have to travel back south from most Hawkesbury launches it's either slug it out with school and then peak hour traffic or fish past that bottle neck and make it a looong day! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
REELCRAZY Posted June 18, 2017 Share Posted June 18, 2017 Nice fish buddy, glad to see u have broken the drought Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoingFishing Posted June 18, 2017 Share Posted June 18, 2017 Well done guys that is a solid effort especially in the yak.... that flathead is well camouflaged amongst the sand even above water ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickmarlin62 Posted June 18, 2017 Share Posted June 18, 2017 nice work guys gets me thinkin I might start hittin the salt instead of my fave creeks on the yak..cheers guys inspirational ...rick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reel' em in Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 Great read mate & very nice catch for the both of you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seasponge Posted June 20, 2017 Share Posted June 20, 2017 Awesome fishing and awesome report. Who woulda thought an 86cm jewie in a yak could be overshadowed in the one report! Well done guys. How do you even manage a flattie that size in the kayak? Were you fishing close to that mud bank at the time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krause Posted June 20, 2017 Author Share Posted June 20, 2017 You'd have to direct that question to the catchee of the flathead. But you don't take them lightly, they very quickly cause alot of damage to your legs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HenryR Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 On 20/06/2017 at 5:28 PM, seasponge said: Awesome fishing and awesome report. Who woulda thought an 86cm jewie in a yak could be overshadowed in the one report! Well done guys. How do you even manage a flattie that size in the kayak? Were you fishing close to that mud bank at the time? seasponge, it was awkward. There was no way I was going to try and bring that flattie aboard. That would very probably have caused unreasonable harm to both the fish and myself! Paddle in one hand rod in the other, with the fish taking occasional runs and threatening to start thrashing its head, I anxiously punted myself, yak, and fish to the nearest 'beach'. The notable irony of it all was - I did reflect on this at the time: motivated by a previous oversize fish encounter, I had a gaff with me but was now tied to a fish I wanted set free unharmed as much as catch. The punting t took quite a while but - yay! - ended well I'm thinking about buying a bigger net, just not sure how to carry it on a kayak. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krause Posted June 21, 2017 Author Share Posted June 21, 2017 SUPER FOLDY NET!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HenryR Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 9 hours ago, krause said: SUPER FOLDY NET!!!!! ha-ha, gimme a lecture next time we go fishing ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rock&Beach Posted June 23, 2017 Share Posted June 23, 2017 That is a fantastic lizard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenno64 Posted June 25, 2017 Share Posted June 25, 2017 Great post and two fantastic fish...well done on a memorable winter catch and release!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seasponge Posted June 30, 2017 Share Posted June 30, 2017 On 6/17/2017 at 10:37 AM, krause said: Is that pic in The Gut? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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