Flatties and more Flatties Tuesday Barrenjoey Wide 20.04.2021

[zmk1962]

G'day Raiders, 

First post in a while. With the school holidays over implying reduced ramp traffic, and weather conditions forecasting a great day, Maria and I decided to hit our favourite flattie grounds off Barrenjoey. 

At the ramp at 645am. Found a guy power washing the slippery slime off the ramp taking up 2 lanes at a time (nice to see our fishing licence revenue being put to good use). Not a big issue -  there were just a few boats launching and we all got out pretty smoothly.   

We were at the grounds rigged and in the water by 730am ....started fishing with half pillies and SPs ... and  bagged out on flatties by 12.15pm with a good sized rock cod thrown in. 

Flatties were all solid model 45-60cm. Well fed and plump. Here's a few pictures:

PS. Maria out-fished me good and proper. 

PPS. I caught a 60cm barracouta which was quickly dispatched and filleted into strip baits. Most of the flatties came in on the couta fillets once we started using them, but the bigger models were more consistent on the SPs.

PPS. Back at the ramp - power washing was complete and what a difference - no slime no slip - top job.

Cheers Zoran

 

[slothparade]

Looks like a great day. Good job, wish I could catch some flatties 5 or 6 years since my last one  LOL I just can't seem to get them. catch everything els but flatties. Great feed. How do you cook them? I just use butter 

[GoingFishing]

Outfished by Maria ! Not your first time i gather !

A really good bag there Z. i notice all your photos are flatties with a plastic hanging out of their mouth !!!

[Fun2fish]

How deep were you fishing I’ve struggled there since the floods I’m normally in 56. 60 mtrs

[Pickles]

Great report ZMK, we’re getting into flattie season now 🙂🙂🙂 (my wife often outfishes me and loves to eat flathead), some really nice fish there - great job.

Edited April 21, 2021 by Pickles
Addition

[Rebel]

Great report. Super photos. Well done. Good to see you back.

[Yowie]

Nice bag of flatties, with some big models in  amongst them.

[dlvbw]

Awesome work. Perfect eating size. 

[masterfisho7]

TOP STUFF SOME NICE FISH THERE SHOULD HAVE SOME TOP FISH TO EAT

[61 crusher]

Great to hear the ramp got a good gurney it would be awesome if all ramps where done regularly for the safety of all 

When I saw Tuesday’s seabreeze report you came straight to mind Zoran. Good to hear the two of you got out for a great bag of plump flatties, the plastics look like they were working well. Lady Luck triumphs again 

Good report & photos 👍

[zmk1962]

13 hours ago, slothparade said:

Looks like a great day. Good job, wish I could catch some flatties 5 or 6 years since my last one  LOL I just can't seem to get them. catch everything els but flatties. Great feed. How do you cook them? I just use butter 

Hey mate... Are you targeting them in the estuary or offshore?  Offshore flatties are probs the most consistent catch you can find.... which is awesome because they are good on the chew too. I've written up a few tips on locations, and methods previously - have a search for drift and drop, or bottom bashing sinker jig. Re cooking, If we want to keep it simple a dusting of salt/pepper/flour and a quick fry in olive oil with a clove of garlic, chippies and a fresh garden salad is hard to beat. You may want to check out the kitchen forum for other recipes ... or if you are stuck KC ( @kingie chaser ) can set you straight 🤙

11 hours ago, GoingFishing said:

Outfished by Maria ! Not your first time i gather !

A really good bag there Z. i notice all your photos are flatties with a plastic hanging out of their mouth !!!

Hahaha ... cheeky bugger Sam.  But I will say please recall a previous trip report where it was 17 to 3 in my favour as I remember it. Also, I am happy to report I landed the 2 biggest fish of the day. But as always it depends which side of the boat you fish.

Plastic !!! ... double cheeky.  You know that can cause reactions among members. Some are allergic to plastic.

11 hours ago, Fun2fish said:

How deep were you fishing I’ve struggled there since the floods I’m normally in 56. 60 mtrs

This is the second trip since the floods and all fish were caught around 50m.  The first just over 2 weeks ago (april 3), there were only pickers at 40m and 50m ...  we worked out way to 60m to catch 6 flatties.. and went as afar as Texas reef looking for action. Eventually landing a single mowie keeper and a jacket.  Mind you it was a dead flat and zero wind calm day offshore - we hit speeds over 60kmh. But there was a LOT of debris in the Hawkesbury and even some offshore - so you had to keep a sharp lookout. We dodged a whole tree trunk about 20km off Terrigal only because there was a bird standing at full height on it - a real life isolated danger mark !!!!!

11 hours ago, Pickles said:

Great report ZMK, we’re getting into flattie season now 🙂🙂🙂 (my wife often outfishes me and loves to eat flathead), some really nice fish there - great job.

Thanks Pickles ... maybe we'll meet up on the water over the flattie gounds ... just look for the red and white boat where the husband is unhooking and dispatching the fish, while the wife is baiting and casting the spare rod 🙄.

11 hours ago, Rebel said:

Great report. Super photos. Well done. Good to see you back.

Thanks Rebel, it was only a short break!

11 hours ago, Yowie said:

Nice bag of flatties, with some big models in  amongst them.

Thanks Yowie. I swear I had no idea cheeky Sam was going to mention plastic. How rude of him. Also, sorry about mentioning the mowie ... but I am truly grateful for everything the sea provides - plus it just tasted so good I had to mention it.

 

9 hours ago, dlvbw said:

Awesome work. Perfect eating size. 

Thanks mate.

8 hours ago, masterfisho7 said:

TOP STUFF SOME NICE FISH THERE SHOULD HAVE SOME TOP FISH TO EAT

Well I hope we have some left for us ... so far some have gone to the neighbours, some to family, some to a fishing buddy who couldn't make the trip !  Maybe I should start enforcing  @Brendan Monks's saying   - "you gotta do the miles to get the smiles" ... as captain's rule #1.  

But then again, it's great to share your luck for so many reasons.

2 hours ago, 61 crusher said:

Great to hear the ramp got a good gurney it would be awesome if all ramps where done regularly for the safety of all 

When I saw Tuesday’s seabreeze report you came straight to mind Zoran. Good to hear the two of you got out for a great bag of plump flatties, the plastics look like they were working well. Lady Luck triumphs again 

Good report & photos 👍

Couldn't agree more Deiter money well spent on the ramp. Hahaha seabreaze - Yes it's a nice time in life when you can let seabreeze set the agenda and also have lady luck come along. PS - please read above re plastics - I can feel and allergic reaction coming on.

Cheers Zoran

 

[big Neil]

Great write up and photos Zoran. At around $50 -$60 per kilo Flathead are a very worthwhile catch. They taste great and usually provide a good days fishing. Have to get back to Sydney to try getting among them. Cheers, bn

[mrsswordfisherman]

Good to see you back Zoran and hope all is well

[Yowie]

8 hours ago, zmk1962 said:

 

Thanks Yowie. I swear I had no idea cheeky Sam was going to mention plastic. How rude of him. Also, sorry about mentioning the mowie ... but I am truly grateful for everything the sea provides - plus it just tasted so good I had to mention it.

 

 

Cheers Zoran

 

Well, it does look nice, however, the taste puts me off. 

Thank you, but NO THANKS.  🤣

[jenno64]

Cracking post and great fish!

[zmk1962]

35 minutes ago, motiondave said:

Nice stuff @zmk1962

What to did you use? 

Hi Dave... what was the question??

[zmk1962]

Parsley Bay. George St Brooklyn. 
cheers Z

[Scratchie]

Nice work on the flatties Zoran. Good to see Maria out fish you again. My wife generally does too hence her very limited invites 🤣🤣🤣

cheers scratchie!!! 

[GordoRetired]

Done by the misses.... Good on her. 🙂

Nice bag of my favorite eating fish there Zoran. Well done. 👍

[Swarm270]

What plastics are you using ?

[zmk1962]

14 hours ago, Swarm270 said:

What plastics are you using ?

We used several different types on the day. 

Berkley Powerbait 10cm Minnow Chartreuse shad

Berkley Powerbait 12.5cm Bubble Shiner Pearl White (thats the grub looking one you see in the photo)

Berkley Powerbait 12.5cm Bubble Shiner Pearl  Ayu

The pink and lumo squid looking things in the first two photos are jigs that I make up my self.

Check this post:

 

Cheers Zoran

[Swarm270]

5 hours ago, zmk1962 said:

We used several different types on the day. 

Berkley Powerbait 10cm Minnow Chartreuse shad

Berkley Powerbait 12.5cm Bubble Shiner Pearl White (thats the grub looking one you see in the photo)

Berkley Powerbait 12.5cm Bubble Shiner Pearl  Ayu

The pink and lumo squid looking things in the first two photos are jigs that I make up my self.

Check this post:

 

Cheers Zoran

Cool, thanks Zoran