Strange capture

[noelm]

Not really a strange capture, just a strange way to catch a Whiting! About mid morning I was sitting in the balcony overlooking the water, not a breath of wind, I decided to go flyfishing, but......the tide was half out, a few people swimming, but, bugger it, off I went. All I took was the rod with a bread fly tied on, no landing net, no other gear at all. Off across the road, down onto the sand flat, just wandering around in shin deep (warm) water, casting Willy nilly, saw a couple of Mullet, got some "looks" from a young mother paddling with her little kid, probably thinking "what's this old dude doing" anyway, my best cast of the day, went for miles, feeling proud of myself I started stripping back. Everything stopped dead....holy crap, I had a fish! I had to kind of chase the fish around a bit, as I got it close I had a WTF moment, my fly was about 2 foot away from the fish! Must be tangled somehow I think to myself, when I finally beached it, a decent Whiting....wait for it, with about 2 foot of line hanging out of its mouth, and a tiny swivel, my itsy bitsy fly hook had gone through one eye of the swivel! Feeling quite proud of myself I was going to toss it back, then thought about Whiting and salad, nah, I'm keeping it, just on 40cm

[noelm]

Just looking at the picture, if I had of measured in properly, it would be over 40, but still nowhere near my record.

[Pickles]

40 is a really good whiting Noel, we’ll done.

[XD351]

Great report and nice whiting! I can just about taste that succulent white flesh all the way up here in Sydney 🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤

Edited May 5, 2023 by XD351

[noelm]

Yep, going to have it tomorrow night.....can hardly wait. The poor person that lost it, the hook was pretty rusty and the line was kind of dirty, but the fish was still swimming around OK, no idea if it had a go at my bread fly while I carried on with my poor attempt at fly fishing, or if it was just 100% dumb luck that I hooked the swivel, my guess is dumb luck.

edit.......just thinking back, where I caught it, the water was only about 6" deep (bad cast direction) but I couldn't see the fish, they are just so camouflaged, but then, I wasn't really expecting anything either.

Edited May 5, 2023 by noelm

[Isaac Ct]

Great story, what a fish to catch on a fly! Well done.

[campr]

About 30 years ago I had the same thing happen.  Lost a big bream cut off in oister lease.  Next day at same spot I landed a bream over 1kg when hook point went through swivel of trace I lost the previous day.  I always assumed the hook picked up the line which slid along until it went through eye of swivel.  Ron 

[Yowie]

A good catch there Noel. If you want to throw back a 40cm whiting, you would have rocks in your head. 🤣

Next time you have those thoughts, ring me and I will call and collect. 😁

[noelm]

Throwing it back was a thought because I felt sorry for it, plus I had nowhere to put it, I didn't take anything, if I wanted to keep fishing I would have had to put it in my pocket or down my shirt......and a 40cm Whiting in either of those places doesn't sound like fun!

[bessell1955]

Great catch, well done.

[noelm]

Went again this morning, perfect conditions, tide just right, a bit chilly, but not cold, beautiful sunrise. First cast I "whipped" my fly off I wonder where "whipped" flies go?  They just seem to vanish! Anyway, tied on another one, cast here and there, stood on an Oyster and cut my toe, dropped my little fly container somewhere and caught nothing at all.....what a great morning fishing!

[Green Hornet]

1 hour ago, noelm said:

Went again this morning, perfect conditions, tide just right, a bit chilly, but not cold, beautiful sunrise. First cast I "whipped" my fly off I wonder where "whipped" flies go?  They just seem to vanish! Anyway, tied on another one, cast here and there, stood on an Oyster and cut my toe, dropped my little fly container somewhere and caught nothing at all.....what a great morning fishing!

Some days are diamonds, some days are crap. At least the flies won’t cost too much to replace and your toe will heal.
Killer whiting and what a fluke capture. Just goes to show how hardy fish are and can survive a snapped line or deep hook.

[Rebel]

Nice whiting.

Great story well done.

[noelm]

29 minutes ago, Green Hornet said:

Some days are diamonds, some days are crap. At least the flies won’t cost too much to replace and your toe will heal.
Killer whiting and what a fluke capture. Just goes to show how hardy fish are and can survive a snapped line or deep hook.

Yep, the fish part of the day was crap, but...the "day" was great, early morning, no one around, the cut was only small, but I had to carry on a bit to get some sympathy and coffee made, saying how "it kills" 

[noelm]

This is the "secret spot" easy to get to, lots of swimmers and stuff, but one side is covered in small rocks in the sand, lots of short green weed, crabs, Nippers and worms, when the tides high, fish come in to forage, and if that tide coincides with dawn or dusk, it's really good, I caught the Whiting nearly under that small pedestrian bridge. It's open to the ocean and the beach, and further up the Estuary a bit there's lots of Nippers and squirt worms. It's dry at low tide, and mostly shallow sand at high tide.

[Green Hornet]

30 minutes ago, noelm said:

This is the "secret spot" easy to get to, lots of swimmers and stuff, but one side is covered in small rocks in the sand, lots of short green weed, crabs, Nippers and worms, when the tides high, fish come in to forage, and if that tide coincides with dawn or dusk, it's really good, I caught the Whiting nearly under that small pedestrian bridge. It's open to the ocean and the beach, and further up the Estuary a bit there's lots of Nippers and squirt worms. It's dry at low tide, and mostly shallow sand at high tide.

Very nice. It reminds me of a small creek I used to fish down my way before it became a sanctuary zone. Everyone overlooked it, but it was full of fish.

Is that rock wall backfilled with sand, over on Warilla Beach, the construction you posted about a year or so back? Looks like it would be effective.

[Little_Flatty]

Love it Noel. Reminds me of a few years ago, when I lost a lure due to a wind knot at the beginning of a session. Then later in the session, I snagged the lost rig and there was a flatty on the end of it! I lost the fish and the lure again, anyway...

Except, this time, you actually landed the fish!

[noelm]

1 hour ago, Green Hornet said:

Very nice. It reminds me of a small creek I used to fish down my way before it became a sanctuary zone. Everyone overlooked it, but it was full of fish.

Is that rock wall backfilled with sand, over on Warilla Beach, the construction you posted about a year or so back? Looks like it would be effective.

Yes, they placed rocks, one at a time, then filled with sand over and over until the gaps were filled, they are about 1/3 done now. They dug a big trench and filled it with "gravel" about 75-150mm in diameter, then bigger rocks, then the really big ones, flat face out.

edit.......I was talking to a worker there the other day, and supposedly the angle is called "natural fall" meaning if you put a big rock there, it won't roll away, just guessing, it's about 45 degrees?, the big rocks are supposed to be 5-6 tonne each, according to the "spec" not too sure if they are, but the big truck only has about 7-8 on it at a time, and they make quite a "thud" when they dump them. They are using 3 excavators, one has a kind of grabber gizmo that picks up single rocks and can rotate them so they fit nice, they did the concrete ramp yesterday (for surf club and emergency type vehicles).

Edited May 6, 2023 by noelm

[jenno64]

Great story Noel! Enjoy telling the story over a couple of thick fillets and a nice wine👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[noelm]

Just finished the Whiting, the family had take away while watching the footy, I offered to cook fish from the fridge....but no, I had to protect my Whiting fillets from the circling Buzzards.....a bit of simple salad, a handful of chips, life's good.....except for my Oyster cut, which I have just about played out the sympathy card now. If it's windy tomorrow morning I will limp around saying I can't possibly cook Sunday breakfast, but if it's nice, I might make a miracle recovery and go for a fish again, Bream this time on bread, the tide will be perfect.

[Yowie]

10 hours ago, noelm said:

This is the "secret spot" easy to get to, lots of swimmers and stuff, but one side is covered in small rocks in the sand, lots of short green weed, crabs, Nippers and worms, when the tides high, fish come in to forage, and if that tide coincides with dawn or dusk, it's really good, I caught the Whiting nearly under that small pedestrian bridge. It's open to the ocean and the beach, and further up the Estuary a bit there's lots of Nippers and squirt worms. It's dry at low tide, and mostly shallow sand at high tide.

Looks good, have seen it during my travels over the years.

[Larkin]

Talk about threading the needle! 
Nice catch!

[kantong]

now that is a good elbow slapper! well done mate

[noelm]

I have caught them bigger, but not often, my best is 48cm and just over a KG, caught in the same place, on an unweighted live Nipper, high tide just after dark, about 3-4 years ago I guess.

[nutsaboutfishing]

You should put in for a fishraider record "largest fish caught with a swivel" 😁