lhan Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 Hi all, Sneaked in an arvo session at Morrison Bay continuing my exploration along Parra river Putney area. I had tried a few cast here before but no luck at that time. The plan this time is to dedicate an hour trialing this little bay. As mentioned in the last post, I'm now obsessed with lightness. And I dare to go a step further - 4lb fluro + 6lb braid + 1-3kg ul rod this time. No jig/metal, only SP. But only 3g available as I run out of 1/12oz ones. The tide is running in and the overcast seems promising, after a few cast I got several hits (or snag hits) and I managed to lose a flathead once getting it out of water! Sad but I knew there's fish around - it's good enough and all I need is a bit more patience. I walked towards the sandy bank and kept casting, with little double twitches I felt a dump on the other end. It was a powerful hit and I was thinking finally a good bream! It's quite heavy and even managed to pulled out my line for a bit. As it surfaced I realised it's not a bream but a chunky whiting! No wonder there's no dirty snag! But still that's good fat fish and actually my first whiting on lure. After released the whiting I decided to walk back and looked for the might flathead I missed. Ambush predators like them usually stick around. A few cast in I felt nothing when I prepared to move again. However I saw a flathead literally jumping out of water trying to smash my little slim swimz while I was quickly rolling back so I could walk away. Alrighty as you wish Mr. Flatty. Casting lure out again and scanning that fan of water. All of a sudden I felt a scratchy sense traveling thru the rod to my hand, just like sandy paper scratching sth. Rod up, hook set and fish on. Kept the rod a little bit on the side so I don't put the flathead out of water too early so I wouldn't lose it from the iconic head shake. Finally landed it and it's a good 42cm beauty. Photo taken and released. At this point I was really really proud so I decided to step further. After carefully checking the 4lb lead is fine after that flathead, I tied the precious Atomic Crank Mid 38mm on - I'll bite it if I'm fish. Kept walking along the bank and I kept throwing it out. After maybe 10 casts I felt I had a good skill to work it properly. After 15 casts I felt a bang on it. Stopped where it is and kept doing what I just did. Bang again! Line's running, reel is singing, and all of a sudden I lost tension - I lost it! While reeling back I realised the leader broken from the middle. Maybe it's a good bream snagged me to a oyster rock that finally have the mighty 4lb leader cut? It can't be a tailor trying to save his mate anyway. With the sadness of losing a good hardbody lure I called it a day. What a good session with a bitter sweet feeling! 19 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little_Flatty Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 Nice one @lhan. Some nice fish there. Morrison bay has some big bream in the shallows on a high tide. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little_Flatty Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 I forgot to mention, my first ever cranka crab was lost to an unstoppable fish the first time I used it. It happens! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lhan Posted February 5 Author Share Posted February 5 1 hour ago, Little_Flatty said: I forgot to mention, my first ever cranka crab was lost to an unstoppable fish the first time I used it. It happens! haha yeah it's their destiny, sooner or later... I'm gonna take on some expensive revenge 🤑 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bessell1955 Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 A nice session on light gear. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kantong Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 great session mate. Light gear and big fish sounds like a good recipe. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R E G I C Y C L E Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 Risk it for the biscuit they say! A couple of weeks ago I got snapped off by a nice trout that was feeding in less than a foot of water. I could clearly see the presso lure pinned in its mouth as it slowly cruised off to the shadows to sulk. I contemplated chasing it yelling things but there was no chance of retrieving the lure. It happens. 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hill373737 Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 Sounds like a good session @lhan, nice work, fishing with light tackle is great fun. In my craziest bream period, I was using 3lb braid and 3lb leader which usually means goodbye lure if there is tailor or even flatties around. I often tied on a bite leader - about 75mm of 15lb between the light leader and the lure - definitely saved me a lot of pain and frustration. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenno64 Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 I like the bravery of light line so when you do land a cracker it will be memorable! I fished 6lb the other day and luckily only small flatties liked that lure, otherwise it's touch and go if they swallow the lure:) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marky mark Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 I think the nuttiest I ever got was one outfit with a very soft 7 ft rod running 3lb flurocarbon straight thru, no leader when chasing bream. I only ever put SP's on it though and just accepted there would be a few jigheads lost that day! I don't think a bit heavier (4lb braid, 6lb fluro leader makes much difference getting a reaction bite around structure and I wouldn't be shy of going to 8lb if its nice and soft. From memory the 4lb braid I was using actually broke around 10lb so worked well with 8lb leaders. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lhan Posted February 9 Author Share Posted February 9 (edited) 6 hours ago, Marky mark said: I think the nuttiest I ever got was one outfit with a very soft 7 ft rod running 3lb flurocarbon straight thru, no leader when chasing bream. I only ever put SP's on it though and just accepted there would be a few jigheads lost that day! I don't think a bit heavier (4lb braid, 6lb fluro leader makes much difference getting a reaction bite around structure and I wouldn't be shy of going to 8lb if its nice and soft. From memory the 4lb braid I was using actually broke around 10lb so worked well with 8lb leaders. Thanks for sharing Mark! Straight fluro sounds like a great idea tbh. I might try on one of my spare spool. I have to admit even I'm really obsessed with light lines now, number wise I still caught more bream on lure using 8lb leader (which I used a lot until only recently). So maybe the difference wouldn't be that much as people thought Edited February 9 by lhan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marky mark Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 No worries mate, straight through reduces the failure of the main line to leader knot which helps a bit on silly string especially. I think it really helped for grazing fish out on sand flats/weed beds with SP grubs, worms and stuff where your trying to keep lure movement as natural and free as possible. Vibes and hardbodies in and around structure don't seem to benefit as much as their action is so much more aggressive (and it gets very expensive very quickly...). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pickles Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 Great report @lhan, certainly a good feeling landing a target species on light gear. Well done. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big Neil Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 Fishing is often a bit of a gamble... trading off the number of bites to the number of fish caught and the amount of gear lost. It can be great fun (and rewarding) to land something exceptional on light gear. One of the benefits of fishing is the challenges we set ourselves to get a fish landed. Looking forward to seeing how your experiences end up. Cheers, bn 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faker Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 On 2/5/2024 at 6:26 PM, lhan said: Hi all, Sneaked in an arvo session at Morrison Bay continuing my exploration along Parra river Putney area. I had tried a few cast here before but no luck at that time. The plan this time is to dedicate an hour trialing this little bay. As mentioned in the last post, I'm now obsessed with lightness. And I dare to go a step further - 4lb fluro + 6lb braid + 1-3kg ul rod this time. No jig/metal, only SP. But only 3g available as I run out of 1/12oz ones. The tide is running in and the overcast seems promising, after a few cast I got several hits (or snag hits) and I managed to lose a flathead once getting it out of water! Sad but I knew there's fish around - it's good enough and all I need is a bit more patience. I walked towards the sandy bank and kept casting, with little double twitches I felt a dump on the other end. It was a powerful hit and I was thinking finally a good bream! It's quite heavy and even managed to pulled out my line for a bit. As it surfaced I realised it's not a bream but a chunky whiting! No wonder there's no dirty snag! But still that's good fat fish and actually my first whiting on lure. After released the whiting I decided to walk back and looked for the might flathead I missed. Ambush predators like them usually stick around. A few cast in I felt nothing when I prepared to move again. However I saw a flathead literally jumping out of water trying to smash my little slim swimz while I was quickly rolling back so I could walk away. Alrighty as you wish Mr. Flatty. Casting lure out again and scanning that fan of water. All of a sudden I felt a scratchy sense traveling thru the rod to my hand, just like sandy paper scratching sth. Rod up, hook set and fish on. Kept the rod a little bit on the side so I don't put the flathead out of water too early so I wouldn't lose it from the iconic head shake. Finally landed it and it's a good 42cm beauty. Photo taken and released. At this point I was really really proud so I decided to step further. After carefully checking the 4lb lead is fine after that flathead, I tied the precious Atomic Crank Mid 38mm on - I'll bite it if I'm fish. Kept walking along the bank and I kept throwing it out. After maybe 10 casts I felt I had a good skill to work it properly. After 15 casts I felt a bang on it. Stopped where it is and kept doing what I just did. Bang again! Line's running, reel is singing, and all of a sudden I lost tension - I lost it! While reeling back I realised the leader broken from the middle. Maybe it's a good bream snagged me to a oyster rock that finally have the mighty 4lb leader cut? It can't be a tailor trying to save his mate anyway. With the sadness of losing a good hardbody lure I called it a day. What a good session with a bitter sweet feeling! I am too terrified to go below 6lb leaders Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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