Little_Flatty Posted December 14, 2021 Share Posted December 14, 2021 Last night after a good flathead dinner, I checked the tides to see where a before-work session was feasible. After realising a few things about the tides, currents and eddies, I formulated a theory about where some fish might be and resolved to give it a go in the morning. This was at Meadowbank again, but in a spot I have never actually fished before. It's interesting how cognitive biases can cause you to walk past spots that you really should have given a go. I've been making a conscious effort to dispense with my biases of late. Woke up at about sunrise and after a bit of bumbling around, got out the door. Arrived on the water about 5:50am and started casting. About five casts in, the lure gets walloped and the drag starts singing. I knew straight away it was a good fish. About a minute later, a good flatty surfaces, and I knew it might be a PB. There were a few nervous moments netting the fish - I was fishing 6lb braid and leader, and my telescopic net had not been extended yet - but eventually I got the fish up for a measure. It went 58cm, which bests my previous PB by 5cm. Had a bit of weight to it. It's a long way from a metrey, but I was plenty happy with this fish, and it also gave me an appreciation of how massive a flatty approaching 1m would be. Quick happy snap and back in the water it went. It came from a bit more than 1m of water near the mangrove edges, on a Berkley 3-inch watermelon bass minnow, rigged on a 1/12 jighead. The rest of the session was uneventful, with just another undersize flatty caught and released. I called it just before 7am. All in all, not a bad session. 16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirvin21 Posted December 14, 2021 Share Posted December 14, 2021 Nothing wrong with that fish, getting bigger mate When they get over 60cm they start looking like a different species 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yowie Posted December 14, 2021 Share Posted December 14, 2021 Nice fish. Flatties will sit in very shallow water at times looking for food. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isaac Ct Posted December 14, 2021 Share Posted December 14, 2021 Very nice fish mate, that is a cracker flattie. Congrats on the PB. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bessell1955 Posted December 15, 2021 Share Posted December 15, 2021 Well done, a great fish. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Hornet Posted December 15, 2021 Share Posted December 15, 2021 Nice fish Little Flatty. Pound for pound, I reckon 60cm duskies fight the hardest. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebel Posted December 15, 2021 Share Posted December 15, 2021 Great report. Well done. Nice flatty, better than nothing. Cheers. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenno64 Posted December 15, 2021 Share Posted December 15, 2021 They're getting BIGGER! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larkin Posted December 15, 2021 Share Posted December 15, 2021 Nice catch mate. 👍 Flick out some bigger lures - and see if you can land a monster - they’re out there sitting in the drop offs as the tide runs off the flats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little_Flatty Posted December 15, 2021 Author Share Posted December 15, 2021 10 hours ago, Larkin said: Nice catch mate. 👍 Flick out some bigger lures - and see if you can land a monster - they’re out there sitting in the drop offs as the tide runs off the flats. I was doing exactly that this morning! Alas, the crocs didn't come out to play. Did release an undersize flatty though. And it was a run-in tide, as opposed to a run-out. Some schools of mullet were holed up hard against the point yesterday. I've seen them there a couple of times previous. I wondered if they were hiding from something, but they weren't there this morning. Probably tide dependent - will need to observe for a bit longer I suspect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
masterfisho7 Posted December 16, 2021 Share Posted December 16, 2021 That,s one top fish well done 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilkfish Posted December 16, 2021 Share Posted December 16, 2021 Great fish, especially when caught land based. Looks like you put alot of analysis behind your efforts. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big Neil Posted December 16, 2021 Share Posted December 16, 2021 A very nice fish to land on 6lb line LF. More importantly (to me) is the fact that you actively determined the HOW, WHEN and WHY to come up with the WHAT. That's an important step on the path to catching more fish. Thanks for the report mate, job well done. bn 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
61 crusher Posted December 18, 2021 Share Posted December 18, 2021 Congrats on the PB, nice fish 👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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