kiwicraig Posted December 28, 2018 Share Posted December 28, 2018 For my Dad's Christmas Pressie (and mine) I shouted him a charter trip with a difference. (Site rules - that is all I'll say about the charter, but PM me if you want more info) It was just the two of us and the whole trip was in Brisbane Waters and focused on targeting flathead on plastics. My dad had never fished with plastics before and being from NZ (where they don't have flathead) had only caught them a couple of times on bait with me. I've caught a few flathead on plastics but I do have a bad habit of going back with the tried and true drifting techniques with bait when I am wanting a better chance of a feed - so it was good to force myself to do something different. Dad was stoked to get the first fish of the day and his first fish on plastics. I landed the biggest of the day - which we released after a photo. We spent most of the time fishing on the flats between Lobster Beach and Half Tide Rocks. Our most productive period coming when managed to spot lock just on the edge of a big bait school and we were dropping casts around the edge of it. While doing this we saw something bigger harassing the bait. Dad switched to a fast retrieve and was rewarded with a nice Aussie Salmon. It was great until some dumbass came in and anchored in the middle of it and scared all the bait away. We still ended up with a great catch 13 keeper flatties, a nice salmon. Several smaller fish and the big girl released. We got back to the marina and I had the pleasure of watching someone else do all the filleting. Absolutely my favorite part of a paid trip. My little esky that I had brought to take the catch home in was half full of fillets and the salmon. We chucked half a bag of ice on top to keep them cool for the short trip home. And then, as we walked down the jetty we had an absolute disaster. The handle on my esky snapped and the whole thing dropped onto the jetty and then into the water! I was quick but not quick enough to save it all. I grabbed the esky and managed to get a couple of the fillets that had fallen out, but could not do much more than watch the others sink to the depths. We lost the salmon and more than half of the flathead fillets - ending up with 11 fillets and 7 pairs of wings. Devastated! Still a great day and enough for a great feed - but not much left for the freezer. 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
masterfisho7 Posted December 28, 2018 Share Posted December 28, 2018 Well done fine flathead and nice report Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antonywardle Posted December 28, 2018 Share Posted December 28, 2018 great report, sorry about the esky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwicraig Posted December 28, 2018 Author Share Posted December 28, 2018 22 minutes ago, antonywardle said: great report, sorry about the esky. haha I was far less concerned about the esky than losing the hard won catch! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest123456789 Posted December 28, 2018 Share Posted December 28, 2018 Nice report Craig and at least you managed to salvage a good portion of the haul. You got a funny story out of it that will get better as the years pass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zmk1962 Posted December 28, 2018 Share Posted December 28, 2018 Man-o-man... just catching up on posts.. Nice day out but what a shame regarding the catch!! But I bet you enjoyed to ones you managed to salvage - they would have tasted all the sweeter! Cheers Zoran 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yowie Posted December 28, 2018 Share Posted December 28, 2018 A bummer about losing most of the catch, but sounds like a great day out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwicraig Posted December 28, 2018 Author Share Posted December 28, 2018 47 minutes ago, flatheadluke said: Nice report Craig and at least you managed to salvage a good portion of the haul. You got a funny story out of it that will get better as the years pass. You are not wrong Luke. By the time we were having beers that night it was already being referred to as "so many fish it broke the eski". 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuckyFil Posted December 29, 2018 Share Posted December 29, 2018 Great story Craig - new technique (for the old man) some excitement (big flattie and the salmon) some drama (dickhead mooring on top of you), a great victory (esky full of fish) a disaster (lose esky into water with all your fish) a partial recovery and I guess some humour when you look back at the busted esky! Do you mind telling me what plastics you were using? Cheers Fil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sam bros Posted December 30, 2018 Share Posted December 30, 2018 Unfortunate about the fillets, its happened to me once where the esky handle broke. Lucky i was in the carpark and managed to save everything that had fallen out. I love targeting flatties on plastics in the estuary, one of my favourite forms of fishing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwicraig Posted December 30, 2018 Author Share Posted December 30, 2018 5 hours ago, LuckyFil said: Great story Craig - new technique (for the old man) some excitement (big flattie and the salmon) some drama (dickhead mooring on top of you), a great victory (esky full of fish) a disaster (lose esky into water with all your fish) a partial recovery and I guess some humour when you look back at the busted esky! Do you mind telling me what plastics you were using? Cheers Fil Haha - when you put it like that should turn it into a movie. They were Zman tails. A mix of curly tails and paddles in natural colours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuckyFil Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 21 hours ago, kiwicraig said: They were Zman tails. A mix of curly tails and paddles in natural colours. Great thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Welster Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 Oh dear not the esky. Sounds like a very educational day in the water. I didn’t know NZ didn’t have flatties. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rock hopper Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 Sounds like you had a great day with stories to last. Good on you with the save. Don't make things how they used too. Good knowledge goes along way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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