Jump to content

Two firsts on a fifteen minute express session

Little_Flatty

By Little_Flatty
in Fishing Reports

 Share

Recommended Posts

Little_Flatty BLUE MARLIN

Little_Flatty

Posted
Posted

Morning Raiders,

Was up till all hours last night doing house stuff and meal prep for the week ahead, so I thought I’d have a sleep in and give fishing a miss in the morning.

Woke up at the crack of 6.15 am and thought ‘what the heck’ and was out the door and on the Meadowbank shoreline in a flash.

I had a great catch-up with @wazatherfisherman last week and he let me loose on his home made plastics selections, so I was well stocked. Thanks Waza! I rigged up one of his prawns on an EWG hook with a 1/8th oz bullet weight (ie a Texas rig) and got casting.

About five mins in, I felt a tap and struck.  The hook found its mark and I was on! After a moment playing the fish, I realised my reel wasn’t regaining line, then I realised the fish was still running! Damn baitcasters and their silent drags! After losing a few on Waza’s lures in the days prior, I really wanted to land this one, so I started to feel a bit nervous.

It was a spirited fight, with a few dangerous moments where the fish swum towards me, causing the need to rapidly recover line, but soon enough the fish was at my feet. As I brought it up in the net, it gave one last headshake and the leader parted. Thank goodness for the net!

It was better than I thought: a 54cm flathead! Not bad for a first fish on Waza’s lures😎

image.png.2eceb3812fe35942e798cee50e786bcf.png

Put it back in the drink, then re-rigged. That was when I realised my rod was so badly tip wrapped that I needed to cut the line and pack up. All over in fifteen mins!

As a side note, the outfit pictured is a new setup. It is a KastKing Zephyr BFS combo, for ultralight luring. Great to be back to baitcasters, I’ve missed them! Thus far it has really exceeded my expectations; its action is nice and fast and it very ably handled a reasonable fish. This was my first fish on this new combo. First of many hopefully!

Thanks for reading!

  • Like 21
Link to comment
Share on other sites
noelm BLUE MARLIN

noelm

Posted
Posted

Even though I have some nice bait casters, including a "vintage" ABU 2500c, I prefer a small spin reel for that kind of stuff, don't really know why, it's just something that kind of suits me.....if you get what I mean? OH, and nice Flathead.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Little_Flatty BLUE MARLIN

Little_Flatty

Posted
  • Author
Posted
8 hours ago, XD351 said:

Great report and a nice flattie there LF! Been a long time since I last used a bait caster - 20yrs or more !

Thanks. It’s been a while for me as well. More than 10 years since I used one seriously.

8 hours ago, wazatherfisherman said:

Great result for 15 minutes of fishing Mike! First of many on the new set up!

Thanks Waza. Let’s see what else your lures will produce! Some interesting designs and colours to experiment with.

I’m going to fish home made lures almost exclusively for the next while. Apart from your plastics, some colleagues are 3D printing some hardbodies for me to try!

8 hours ago, noelm said:

Even though I have some nice bait casters, including a "vintage" ABU 2500c, I prefer a small spin reel for that kind of stuff, don't really know why, it's just something that kind of suits me.....if you get what I mean? OH, and nice Flathead.

Thanks Noel. Yep I totally get it re spinning reels. I love fishing with baitcasters, there’s something about the ergonomics of fishing with one and also the challenge of casting that makes it fun. That said, there’s a reason why I’ve been fishing exclusively with spinning reels the past decade or so. I recently heard about BFS (bait finesse system) which is basically casting ultralight lures on baitcasters and curiosity got the better of me 🤣 

8 hours ago, bessell1955 said:

Great catch!

Thanks Bessel.

6 hours ago, Yowie said:

Nice flattie. When they get a bit bigger, like that one, they can peel off a bit of line on a run.

Thanks Yowie. They certainly can take some line! I was tempted to up the drag slightly and/or thumb the spool fighting this fish, but thankfully common sense prevailed. Took a lot of discipline though. It could have ended in tears otherwise!

6 hours ago, Rebel said:

Top flattie.

Great report.

Well done

Thanks Rebel. You kind of opened my mind to KastKing gear with some of your previous recommendations on gear from that brand. It certainly impressed me enough with its performance.

5 hours ago, Green Hornet said:

Great fish Mike and glad to see the BFS outfit working for you. Its good fun to mix things up from the standard spin gear every now and then. 
Two thumbs up to Waza as well for supplying the plastics.

Thanks Pete, it certainly is great to mix things up from time to time. Looking forward to trying it out on some bream (already got one with this reel, but nothing to write home about).

20 minutes ago, Isaac Ct said:

Well done Mike, nice to see Wazza’s lures working a treat.

Well done

Thanks Isaac, Wazza’s lures sure do work! Plenty more to come!

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Yowie WAHOO

Yowie

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Little_Flatty said:

 

Thanks Yowie. They certainly can take some line! I was tempted to up the drag slightly and/or thumb the spool fighting this fish, but thankfully common sense prevailed. Took a lot of discipline though. It could have ended in tears otherwise!

I remember years ago, drifting with nippers in about a metre of water, the rod bent over and there was a big run in a straight line, a lot of line was peeled off, I called it for a kingie. Turned out to be a flattie about 75cm. It was on steroids. 🤣

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Little_Flatty BLUE MARLIN

Little_Flatty

Posted
  • Author
Posted
8 hours ago, Larkin said:

Good size flatty mike!

Not bad for a fifteen minute session. Was it one of the soaked lures?

@wazatherfisherman ‘s lures working a treat 👍
 

 

Yep, it was one of the ones soaked in gulp juice. I consolidated two of my half empty gulp bottles and got Waza's collection marinating away. I suspect they won't last the rest of summer/autumn. Although the soft plastic prawn fared better than my leader, so maybe there's some life in them yet.

I have some bigger garfish imitations to try as well, but not quite as big as the ones you were using outside. It's been impressed on me by Waza - big lure, big fish! Trouble is, after 35 years of fishing I am yet to get bored of catching smaller fish 🤣

11 hours ago, Yowie said:

I remember years ago, drifting with nippers in about a metre of water, the rod bent over and there was a big run in a straight line, a lot of line was peeled off, I called it for a kingie. Turned out to be a flattie about 75cm. It was on steroids. 🤣

Sometimes fish can surprise you!

This flatty was caught in water less than one metre deep as well. Goes to show the quality of fish that hang out in the shallows.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Yowie WAHOO

Yowie

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, Little_Flatty said:

Sometimes fish can surprise you!

This flatty was caught in water less than one metre deep as well. Goes to show the quality of fish that hang out in the shallows.

The shallowest I have seen in daylight was wading in 15cm of water, along the edge of a sand bank. The flattie was behind me, barely enough water to cover it, easily 60cm long. I don't know who received the biggest surprise when I nearly trod on it. 😂

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Little_Flatty BLUE MARLIN

Little_Flatty

Posted
  • Author
Posted

@Rebel @Mr.Wang I’ve been pleasantly surprised with a couple of Chinese Domestic Market reels I have purchased. One is this KastKing outfit, the other is a Piscifun Carbon X, which is outright the best spinning reel in my collection (I know I’m going out on a limb here!). A bit of thought has been put into their design and manufacture and it shows. Not dirt cheap for the good stuff (expect Sienna to Sedona price ranges), but not $500 either. They’re not for everyone, but this experiment has worked for me!

1 hour ago, kantong said:

solid flattie! you have to change your name to Big Flatty or Solid Flatty!

I have to stay loyal to my roots and remember the days when a little flatty on a lure was a big achievement! 😎 That said, I am somewhat more solid than I used to be, so maybe the name is apt 🤣

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
BabySnapperKiller WHITING

BabySnapperKiller

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Little_Flatty said:

One is this KastKing outfit, the other is a Piscifun Carbon X, which is outright the best spinning reel in my collection

@Little_FlattyKastKing is growing rapidly these years in China, as for Piscifun I am not familiar with this brand. I think they are mainly targeting overseas market.

Thanks for sharing! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
mrsswordfisherman SWORDFISH

mrsswordfisherman

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Little_Flatty said:

@Rebel @Mr.Wang I’ve been pleasantly surprised with a couple of Chinese Domestic Market reels I have purchased. One is this KastKing outfit, the other is a Piscifun Carbon X, which is outright the best spinning reel in my collection (I know I’m going out on a limb here!). A bit of thought has been put into their design and manufacture and it shows. Not dirt cheap for the good stuff (expect Sienna to Sedona price ranges), but not $500 either. They’re not for everyone, but this experiment has worked for me!

I have to stay loyal to my roots and remember the days when a little flatty on a lure was a big achievement! 😎 That said, I am somewhat more solid than I used to be, so maybe the name is apt 🤣

Swordfisherman Stewy buys his braid off KastKing 50lb 1000 metres for $30!!

We are fishing right now with the braid. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Little_Flatty BLUE MARLIN

Little_Flatty

Posted
  • Author
Posted
On 2/14/2023 at 2:22 PM, Mr.Wang said:

@Little_FlattyKastKing is growing rapidly these years in China, as for Piscifun I am not familiar with this brand. I think they are mainly targeting overseas market.

Thanks for sharing! 

The Carbon X is a great reel, definitely worth a look in. On current exchange rates, it's about $84 AUD for a 1000 size (probably about a 1500-2000 size) but I think you'd struggle to find a better reel from the majors for 3-4 times that amount. I bought it as a 'basher' reel to keep in the car, but it soon displaced my other reels in that size. I'm tempted to get a 1000 size for myself, but that would just be too indulgent!

I have a 2000 size which is more like a 2500 or 3000, going off the line capacity. It comfortably takes 300m of 8lb braid with backing.

On 2/14/2023 at 3:35 PM, mrsswordfisherman said:

Swordfisherman Stewy buys his braid off KastKing 50lb 1000 metres for $30!!

We are fishing right now with the braid. 

Must be the Cod rods! Good luck! Shame they don't make it in 4lb. I'd buy a kilometre of that!

On 2/14/2023 at 8:14 PM, Centrepin said:

well done "Solid Flatty". Great you had a good 15 min sesion.

Thanks Geoff. Will try to get out for a more epic session soon! 😎

1 hour ago, jenno64 said:

That’s a fine looking flatty! Great work and don’t you hate the tight tip wrap when the bite is hot😳

Thanks Jenno, another 5cm and it would be approaching the size of the flatties you catch 🤣. That tight tip wrap had to be seen to be believed. It could have bound a guide to the blank! Not sure how it happened but I did flick the freespool to make it easier to get the fish out of the net.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
BabySnapperKiller WHITING

BabySnapperKiller

Posted
Posted
12 hours ago, Little_Flatty said:

On current exchange rates, it's about $84 AUD for a 1000 size (probably about a 1500-2000 size) but I think you'd struggle to find a better reel from the majors for 3-4 times that amount

I am thinking to buy another light reel (My sienna from friend is about to retire) and I was planning to go with Nasci. 

Do you recon the Carbon X is better? 

From the web it is now Carbon X 2

And did you get it from Aliexpress?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...