Little_Flatty Posted January 14, 2022 Share Posted January 14, 2022 (edited) Ha! Thought that would get your attention 🤣 Sorry to dissapoint...no meteries here, but this morning I had a ripper session (by my standards). I was supposed to do a whiting session with a few friends, but the predicted inclement weather had us postpone. Woke up at a leisurely 6am, saw it was fine and decided to head down to Meadowbank for a fish. It was high tide, so things were looking good. Had my trusty 3 inch bass minnow in pumpkinseed rigged up on a 1/32oz jighead and thought that would be good for a start. After a few casts, came up tight on a little flounder. I was happy with this because it's the furthest up the river I have ever seen them: There's a little divot in the mangroves here that I always try to cast into, that I nickname 'flatty corner'. I seem to find a few here, and pretty good ones at that. Trouble is, it takes a bit of skill (which I don't possess) to land the lure in there. Anyhow, after umpteen tries, I land the perfect backhand cast (@DerekD would be proud) into flatty corner, and sure enough, feel a 'thunk' on the third hop. Give the line a bit of a yanking and realise I'm onto a solid fish. After a reasonable fight, a 50cm flatty swims into the net: This was one of the rare occasions I got to pose with a fish. A fellow fisho who was on the pontoon came up and took the picture for me. Interestingly, he had one of those AFN fish ID measuring mats and was trying to look it up - he must be new to fishing. I helped him with that and then told him where the fish were. He was observant enough to take a picture of my lure. Hopefully he gets a few. It starts bucketing and I almost decide to call it a day. But on my 'last cast', I get snagged. The rain had eased a bit, so I thought I'd tie on a leader before I left. As I rummage for my leader spool, I discover my raincoat is in my bag! I put it on, re-rig and fish on. This time I rig weedless and with my very last 3 inch bass minnow, in watermelon! How dare I run my stocks so low! Move to the other side of the point where there are some rocky shallows. On a couple of the casts, I miss flatty hits at my feet, so what the heck, let's put a cast along the shoreline, literally 1m out from shore. Feel a little 'tap tap' halfway through the retrieve, and I hit it. The drag starts singing! Up comes a 52cm flathead: I've overstayed my planned session time by about half an hour at this point, but I was on a roll, so I thought I'd have a few 'last casts'. On one of them, I get a hit, and up comes a 45cm flatty: Pretty happy with that, and after that it was time to go home. All fish released. Edited January 14, 2022 by Little_Flatty 14 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebel Posted January 15, 2022 Share Posted January 15, 2022 Great morning. Well done. Nice haul. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Restyle Posted January 15, 2022 Share Posted January 15, 2022 have to say, you got me with the title haha. good effort of the flattys 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekD Posted January 15, 2022 Share Posted January 15, 2022 Hi @Little_Flatty I laughed at the 147 (of) flathead click bait and really enjoyed the report. The most frustrating thing about isolating at home is knowing there are great fishing opportunities happening that I can't get into till next weekend so these reports really make my day. Thanks for sharing. Derek 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bessell1955 Posted January 15, 2022 Share Posted January 15, 2022 Well they are if you join them together! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little_Flatty Posted January 15, 2022 Author Share Posted January 15, 2022 45 minutes ago, DerekD said: Hi @Little_Flatty I laughed at the 147 (of) flathead click bait and really enjoyed the report. The most frustrating thing about isolating at home is knowing there are great fishing opportunities happening that I can't get into till next weekend so these reports really make my day. Thanks for sharing. Derek I hear you Derek. Even though we're doing our utmost, I think we're all likely to have a one week of enforced fly tying sooner or later . Hope you're doing ok. Iso aside, hope your health and sense of humour is holding up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooter0069 Posted January 15, 2022 Share Posted January 15, 2022 Great report and photos some nice fish great effort 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little_Flatty Posted January 15, 2022 Author Share Posted January 15, 2022 Well didn't my day just get better? We took our kids to the playground at Tarban Ck and my wife says "why don't you bring your rod?". Well I'm not one to disobey my wife, so I did! In a 15min session, 147cm just became 201cm, with a 54cm fish: Caught on a 2 inch Bass minnow on a 1/32oz jighead. At Tarban Ck. This one's for you @maccapacca...now you know that they're at your stomping ground (I put this one back of course!). I've now safely stashed the gear away, lest I use up all of my luck before my whiting session tomorrow. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirvin21 Posted January 15, 2022 Share Posted January 15, 2022 Good stuff mate, you're getting some consistent results 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Sydney Posted January 15, 2022 Share Posted January 15, 2022 Two meters of flathead in a day! Jokes aside those are still four big flathead, well done indeed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little_Flatty Posted January 15, 2022 Author Share Posted January 15, 2022 I remember @big Neil saying something about the cod going off before a storm. I wonder if the same thing applies to estuary fish. Seriously, results like this are not normal for me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirvin21 Posted January 15, 2022 Share Posted January 15, 2022 3 minutes ago, Little_Flatty said: I remember @big Neil saying something about the cod going off before a storm. I wonder if the same thing applies to estuary fish. Seriously, results like this are not normal for me! Definitely, I've seen it with multiple species 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenno64 Posted January 15, 2022 Share Posted January 15, 2022 Great post and some top fish there! Good luck with the whiting session tomorrow! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little_Flatty Posted January 15, 2022 Author Share Posted January 15, 2022 (edited) 1 hour ago, maccapacca said: Good to know there’s something there, will have to try once I’m all good to walk and all.Will definitely be trying around there as soon as I can It was almost at my feet. Thought it was a snag at first then it took a run. The spot my photo was in was the exact spot I caught it. I was casting towards the moored boats. The exact spot doesn't matter so much, it's more that general area. The way I work my bass minnows is with a double hop, but small flicks. Cast it out, wind in the slack, keeping the rod down towards the water. Watch for the line to relax when it hits the bottom (takes a few seconds with ultralight jigheads). Then flick (or shake) the rod tip towards you a couple of times. Not too dramatic, just little flicks of the wrist. Then watch for the line to go slack again, indicating the lure is back on the bottom. Wind in the slack and repeat. Work the lure all the way to your feet, a lot of the flatties I catch lurk just beyond where you can see them. Or they might have followed it all the way in. I know everyone has their preference with jigheads but in narrow and shallow water like Tarban, the lighter you can go, the better. Casting distance doesn’t matter much…so long as you can cast 5-10m, that is plenty. Find the lightest jighead that lets you do that. After a hop, you want the lure to glide or almost suspend 5-30cm above the bottom. Light jigheads do this better. If it glides over the nose of a flatty, 8 times out of 10 it will snaffle it. It’s a matter of keeping it slow and close to the bottom. As an aside, I note that you have a slightly heavier outfit than what most typically fish with. I will say that I can get 15-20m with a 1/8oz jighead, on my 3-6kg outfit with 10lb braid. Maybe have a read of @DerekD's casting article while you are recovering, then consciously practice these tips when you are back on the water. That’s what works for me. Of course I’ve caught plenty of fish on heavier jigheads and more erratic presentations, but this technique is my go-to on the Parra shallows. Edited January 15, 2022 by Little_Flatty 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EnOz43 Posted January 15, 2022 Share Posted January 15, 2022 3 hours ago, Little_Flatty said: Well didn't my day just get better? We took our kids to the playground at Tarban Ck and my wife says "why don't you bring your rod?". Well I'm not one to disobey my wife, so I did! In a 15min session, 147cm just became 201cm, with a 54cm fish: Caught on a 2 inch Bass minnow on a 1/32oz jighead. At Tarban Ck. This one's for you @maccapacca...now you know that they're at your stomping ground (I put this one back of course!). I've now safely stashed the gear away, lest I use up all of my luck before my whiting session tomorrow. Well done Little_Flatty. It looks like you got that telescopic landing net and you've been using it. How do you find it? I haven't had an opportunity to use mine yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little_Flatty Posted January 15, 2022 Author Share Posted January 15, 2022 (edited) 21 minutes ago, EnOz43 said: Well done Little_Flatty. It looks like you got that telescopic landing net and you've been using it. How do you find it? I haven't had an opportunity to use mine yet. Love it, it’s so compact and light. Only issue is that there is no way that it would have handled any of these flatties as is; the supplied net is just too shallow. So I swapped out the net from another net I have. It’s not rubberised though so I need to find a better replacement. I know they exist. Only issue now is that I’ve now spent more on the net problem than I have spent on most of my outfits! But as you can see, when it’s needed it’s worth the money. Thanks for the suggestion. It solved my problem! Edited January 15, 2022 by Little_Flatty 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isaac Ct Posted January 15, 2022 Share Posted January 15, 2022 Nice stuff mate. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big Neil Posted January 15, 2022 Share Posted January 15, 2022 Mention in some of the threads to landing nets. I got one about 11 years ago that is the absolute best. Firstly it has rubber mesh so that it has no negative impact on the fish which I catch. It is wide and deep, ready for that metre long Murray Cod when I get one. It is lightweight, being aluminium construct. Lastly it easily extends to about 7ft (2.1m). I have used it thousands of times and it still functions exactly as it did when new. I love it! bn 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pickles Posted January 16, 2022 Share Posted January 16, 2022 A great report - thanks for sharing. It’s wonderful when the boss says”why don’t you bring your rod”. Got to love a feed of Flatties. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
61 crusher Posted January 16, 2022 Share Posted January 16, 2022 Wow 2 meters of flatties 👍 all land based, sounds like the parramatta river has really fired up you mentioned elsewhere struggling to get a bream have you tried the cut out in the pylon at the meadow bank bridge & casting hard on across to the next concrete pylon on the run out or just as it turns at your feet 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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