Mike89 Posted October 1, 2017 Share Posted October 1, 2017 (edited) Hit up the harbour around Balmain and Blackwattle this weekend and had some roaring success on some new gear. On Friday night with the old man in town I asked him to join me for a quick flick down at Blackwattle Bay. Walking up and down the drop-off to a couple of holes I'd had some success on I was casting out small lures on 1/12 and 1/20 jig heads hoping for a big bream or EP. As we were about to turn it in for the evening I had a final cast out with a tiny 2 inch squidgee and a 1/20 jig head. Hitting the bottom I felt a soft pull and then a bit of a thump. Coming up tight on my ultra light gear it started to feel like a serious fish. After a long wrestle on 6lb line with some solid runs, with no net handy I sent my dad down onto the oysters to grab the fish by hand. On 6lb line, a 3kg rod and a little Stradic 1000 I nabbed my PB flathead, coming in at 75cm: Saturday I dropped into the tackle shop to spool up a heavier outfit with 15lb line. The rod is a 4-7kg Lox with a 3000 Caldia, intended for bigger plastics fishing. Derek has shown me the ropes on tossing out bigger plastics - 5", 6" and even 9" shads and slapsticks - for larger pelagic species and after getting the basics down over the course of a few masterclass sessions with the pro I picked up the outfit for summer. While waiting for a mate who was tied up with a sick kid at home, I went down to a little bay in Balmain where I have had some success with flatties and blackfish previously. Launching out some of the bigger shads I had some hook-ups with some decent fish, however both times I managed to lose the fish before I even got to catch a glimpse of what I'd hooked onto. Switching to something lighter I put on a 5" shad in nuclear chicken and pitched it out on a 1/6 jighead. A couple of flicks, a pause and then wham! I was on as the pressure came down like a tonne of bricks. My reel started to burn off line. After the first intense few runs I was fairly sure what I was onto and looked to play it cool as I was only on a 16lb leader, letting the fish take line at will and keeping the pressure on as best I could. I tried to keep the fish off the rocks and oysters to the left, trying to pull him in close enough to where I could potentially grab the leader. The fish had other ideas, dragging me around the corner to where I had to fight it from high up on a ledge. Pump and wind, pump and wind, and there it was: glimmering a few feet under the surface, the unmistakable yellow lateral line, shiny green back and forked yellow tail. It was a king for sure, and I saw it with my own eyes! It floated around, exhausted for 30 seconds before beating its tail and taking another powerful run off into the deep. I need a net, I thought. I flagged down a passing car, yelling over to them that I needed some help. Without much exchange, I tossed them my car keys and told them my net was in the boot. Unfortunately they weren't much good with the net so I decided to pull the fish onto the rocks and grab it myself. I walked it over, easing the spent fish onto the rocks, jumped down the ledge and grabbed the fish by the tail. There you go! First king on plastics, first king in 18 months and my second PB in 24 hours. Came in at 78cm and 6kg. What a weekend! A big thank you to Derek who has introduced me to this kind of fishing and who taught me the retrieve and gave me the confidence that you can actually catch big fish on light line with this technique and a bit of patience and persistence. Cheers mate! Edited October 15, 2017 by Mike89 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reel' em in Posted October 1, 2017 Share Posted October 1, 2017 Nice fish mate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickmarlin62 Posted October 1, 2017 Share Posted October 1, 2017 two pbs ..awesome...nice feed from kings that size...whats next.??...rick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antonywardle Posted October 1, 2017 Share Posted October 1, 2017 great read.and probably the best dressed fisho i've seen in a while! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsswordfisherman Posted October 2, 2017 Share Posted October 2, 2017 Great post Mike and thanks Derek for great raider spirit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaohuang Posted October 2, 2017 Share Posted October 2, 2017 Wow, what a weekend, great job! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nbdshroom Posted October 2, 2017 Share Posted October 2, 2017 Well done Mike89. Props also to Derek for showing you the ropes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frayed_Knot Posted October 2, 2017 Share Posted October 2, 2017 Great Report, sounds like you had an entertaining weekend. Always nice to have a flick and get some PB's! Keep it up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest123456789 Posted October 2, 2017 Share Posted October 2, 2017 Great read Mike I really enjoyed it, congratulations on two PB's. A lot of skill to land the king on light gear around structure and shallow water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveTheBoy Posted October 2, 2017 Share Posted October 2, 2017 Good on you mate sensational! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regan Posted October 2, 2017 Share Posted October 2, 2017 well mate, you cant complain about your week Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yowie Posted October 2, 2017 Share Posted October 2, 2017 Great work, good fish to cap it off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishermanSteve Posted October 2, 2017 Share Posted October 2, 2017 Flathead location is 3mins walk from mine lol I must get down there. Not caught there yet and been often lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrJ Posted October 2, 2017 Share Posted October 2, 2017 great report nothing quite beats the excitement of knowing you're onto a good fish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebenos Posted October 3, 2017 Share Posted October 3, 2017 thats a serious effort ! good work mate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekD Posted October 3, 2017 Share Posted October 3, 2017 Hi Mike, I enjoy reading your reports just as much as the actual fishing sessions we have had together. I'm a little upset to have missed this session but really happy to see that your effort in learning the various techniques has been paying off. To achieve a king like that in what has been the worst season I've seen for over a decade is a really excellent result. I'm seriously hoping the kings will turn up in numbers inside the harbour in late October as they did last year and then it should be way shorter till your next king. Regards, Derek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenno64 Posted October 3, 2017 Share Posted October 3, 2017 A couple of trophies won and well done on the PBs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
COASTIE 01 Posted October 3, 2017 Share Posted October 3, 2017 nice report mike if you dont mind me asking, what set up do you use Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
papafish Posted October 3, 2017 Share Posted October 3, 2017 nice one mike!! next time when u fish balmain give me a call. i'll come join during my break.~ been greeting bream and flatty only lately. had a very strong take 2 weeks ago... saw a big fish smashing the bait fish, hooked on a zman grub and smashed!! and then sp gone... maybe i didn't tie it up probably lol. last only 3 sec Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JacobyBream Posted October 4, 2017 Share Posted October 4, 2017 Nice work mate! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josamill Posted October 4, 2017 Share Posted October 4, 2017 Quality fish - especially on plastics...... Well done mate! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SBAT Posted October 4, 2017 Share Posted October 4, 2017 Congratulations on the 2 PB’s and on the great read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonD Posted October 5, 2017 Share Posted October 5, 2017 Awsome fun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrybeynon Posted October 5, 2017 Share Posted October 5, 2017 Nice catches, I fish down Blackwattle bay all the time there are some good size fish around there. Haven't cracked a king on plastics yet it's on my bucket list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu-SP Posted October 7, 2017 Share Posted October 7, 2017 Nothing better than seeing the line peel off your reel. Hopefully there are a few kings around tomorrow!! Great report!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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