nal Posted May 25, 2022 Share Posted May 25, 2022 After having a fairly good session on Sunday afternoon at the local wharf involving a kingie and quite a few large arrows I decided to head down again this afternoon. With a perfectly timed high tide, low wind, and good moon phase I was pretty optimistic. Once I got to the wharf I realised the water was extremely brown and after about an hour of fishing it wasn’t looking too good, not much pelagic action in sight. So I thought I’d target jewies instead, however the fresh squid couldn’t get past the nibblers and I was starting to feel like this might be a failed session. I ended up switching to live yakkas in an attempt to get past the nibblers and target the larger fish. Finally, I noticed line starting to come off my spool with a fair amount of speed and flicked the bail arm over to set hook. After a short fight on heavy gear I was stoked to see my first Jewie in ages, only a soapie but felt good to get onto them again especially in the local. After some quick pics it went back in the drink to grow bigger. Fairly happy with that result, and my deadline soon approaching I casted out another yakka and started to pack up, then I noticed my yakka starting to freak out and move erratically. I kept packing up but leaving the rod till last as to give myself the best chance of hooking up, just before I started to reel my livie in I saw my line go tense and set hook, immediately feeling weight. Fairly convinced it was a good Jewie due to the headshakes an heavy weight I tried to get it in as quickly as possible. Eventually I got it to the wharf only to see it was a large flathead, little disappointed but definitely not a bad bycatch. However, I was fishing solo, with no net and no way of landing it, using 20lb leader and a relatively small hook. After 15mins of struggle and testing different ideas I eventually managed to get the flattie on the wharf, I realised that it was actually much larger than I previously thought, measured 78cm and very thick. After some quick photos, she went back to breed hopefully many more trophy flathead. Pretty happy with this result as I don’t target flathead and this is my second one over 70 since I started fishing just under 2 years ago. 20 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big Neil Posted May 25, 2022 Share Posted May 25, 2022 Great report and pictures Max-fish. Always feels extra good when you get some interest after you start packing up. The number of times that one extra cast or additional 5 mins pays off is amazing. Quite likely that you will get even more big flatties in the future as you are targeting large fish anyway. Cheers, bn 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nal Posted May 25, 2022 Author Share Posted May 25, 2022 41 minutes ago, big Neil said: Great report and pictures Max-fish. Always feels extra good when you get some interest after you start packing up. The number of times that one extra cast or additional 5 mins pays off is amazing. Quite likely that you will get even more big flatties in the future as you are targeting large fish anyway. Cheers, bn Thanks Bn, yeah that last couple minutes definitely payed off, and I can only hope for more large flatties, my top 4 biggest ones have all been on live yakkas so hopefully a good sign and I can crack the 80 mark soon. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
masterfisho7 Posted May 25, 2022 Share Posted May 25, 2022 Great report man that,s one top flathead love the photos top stuff 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isaac Ct Posted May 25, 2022 Share Posted May 25, 2022 Great stuff mate, those are some cracking fish Well done. Keep it up. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bessell1955 Posted May 25, 2022 Share Posted May 25, 2022 That is a HUGE Flathead! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noelm Posted May 25, 2022 Share Posted May 25, 2022 Just goes to show, keep at it, use the best bait you have and you will still catch fish, even in heavily populated locations, you just have to put the time and effort in. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saltrix Posted May 25, 2022 Share Posted May 25, 2022 Nice catch and good photos 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebel Posted May 26, 2022 Share Posted May 26, 2022 Top report. Well done. Nice Flattie. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoMoreDonuts Posted May 26, 2022 Share Posted May 26, 2022 That looks like a great session. I’d take that bycatch everyday of the week! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooter0069 Posted May 26, 2022 Share Posted May 26, 2022 Great report and great flathead 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pickles Posted May 29, 2022 Share Posted May 29, 2022 Great report and congratulations on two really good fish Max. Leaving the rod alone and only picking it up / striking is the key to hooking fish - it certainly is when using circle hooks (which is pretty much all I use). Well done. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scratchie Posted May 29, 2022 Share Posted May 29, 2022 That’s a cracking flatty! Well done 👍 cheers scratchie!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenno64 Posted May 30, 2022 Share Posted May 30, 2022 Cracking flatty....the 80 will come soon! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluebenbomb Posted May 30, 2022 Share Posted May 30, 2022 Good job mate, keep up the great work 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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