Catching my PB flathead then the only time I was hoping to not hook up again...

[linewetter]

Went out fishing tonight at a local spot to me that I've been to many many times at night.  It's moderately lit in some areas and pretty dark in others so I bring a head torch with me.  I'm usually the only one around and on the rare occasion will come across a dog walker.  It's a safe area but I always keep my head on a swivel anyway as one should. 

I threw on some soft plastics and went to work.  It didn't take too long before I hooked onto my first fish.  It definitely didn't feel like a tailor (all I've been catching lately) and I was surprised what I pulled up:

 

 

A butter bream!  I've caught this a few times before with bread on a hook but never with lures.  A welcome first for me on lures.  This one was a chubby one in my hand, went back into the water quickly.

 

I recast into the same area and next cast out I felt the distinct hits of a tailor.  Hooked up and brought it in and sure enough, it was a tailor:

This time not hooked in the eye so was quite happy about that.  All of the tailor I've been catching have been about this size so far.  I hope to catch a bigger one soon as I expect them to hit like a freight train.

 

I recast into the same exact area again a few times with past experience knowing that if I caught one tailor, there's likely to be more around.  After a couple of casts I hooked into another tailor of very similar size...this time unfortunately hooked in the eye socket.  Had to empty my pockets to get my hemostats but luckily this time, didn't seem to damage the eye as bad as prior hook ups have gone since it slid out the eye socket with relative ease:

 

After a dozen more casts, I started to fan out my casts to find the fish.  Felt a hit and a miss on one of my casts so slowed the lure way down to give a second chance for an ambush - and it worked.  Felt a heavy weight on the other side and started pumping whatever it was in.  It didn't react so I was starting to wonder if I caught the magical timber fish again...but then it started to shake its head as it surfaced, letting me know it was a flatty.  I guided it onto shore and it was very very angry.  My biggest catch this winter so far so warranted bringing out the brag mat.

 

 

To my surprise, it bent my hook as well.  A happy surprise for a worthy opponent.  I slid it back into the water and it left me a parting gift of a face full of water from kicking off.

 

Very happy with my catches so far, I continued casting.  I would hear rustles and turn around and it would just be a bird or a rat scurrying around, but I'd look anyway just in case.  I kept my head torch on because I noticed it drew tiny baitfish and minnows to my feet due to the light source - hoped that it would also draw in fish closer to shore to me.  That's not all the was drawn to my light however...

 

 

This eel seemed to take a liking to the light.  I only noticed it after it splashed near my feet out of fear from my movements.  After I took notice, I kept a more watchful eye out and recorded this clip.  

Can anyone ID the eel?  It was quite curious...it would keep going back and forth and actually would come up to very very shallow water up to my feet almost.  It spent a good amount of time around me and I had to keep an eye on it to make sure it didn't start walking on land to me because it sure felt like this thing wanted to befriend me!

 

With one eye on the eel, one ear out for any noises behind me, and two hands on the rod trying to feel for any bites, my drag suddenly started singing.  It went for a good 5 seconds before stopping and pulled hard.  I had no idea what it was.  I started to pump and wind the fish in and while it was heavy, it didn't give much resistance past the initial run.  As I got it closer to shore and surfacing, it made a huge commotion and splashing.  I quickly pulled it onto shore before it could get a chance to unhook itself and it was a good sized flathead!  

 

 

Pulled my brag mat out for this one and it ended up being my PB flatty at 53cm!  Very very happy with this catch.  I held onto its tail to give it a moment in the water but it had other ideas and kicked off with a huge splash all over me as well.  Fair trade for giving it a lip piercing.

 

It was after this that I started to hear rustling behind me.  I turned around like usual expecting to see a bird fly off or just some critter scurrying.  Instead I see someone walking towards my direction in the distance.  Not a big deal, probably just someone on a night stroll so I turned my head torch brighter to make sure they knew I was here and so that they knew I could see them too.  Didn't want anyone to be spooked.  But since they were heading toward my direction, I paused my fishing and pretended to mess with my line to keep an eye on them. 

 

I look down and then back up and they were gone.  Strange...I didn't get a good feeling about this so I packed up my brag mat and items and just took a few steps up to see if I could see where they went.  They were sitting on a bench in the dark about 15m away from me and waved at me.  I waved back and figured it was just someone on the night stroll then...so went back down and started to fish again but with my eyes towards their direction. 

 

I had a bad gut feeling and after 2 casts, decided I'm going to leave instead.  I didn't want to have to watch my back like this knowing someone was here.  As I'm starting to reel in I notice this person had gotten up and was walking toward my direction again.  Surely he was going to turn and keep walking and not come to me right?...No normal person is going to come be right next to me in this empty dark park.  At this point I'm full on watching him with my head torch on max power and reeling with my other hands.  He actually starts to walk directly at me now and I'm hoping and praying I don't hook onto a fish or snag right now.  I feel some feedback on the line and start to reel even faster.  Luckily, no hook ups.  Just as I get my lure in, he's about 5m away from me now and starts to ask random questions and coming closer.  I chat back normally as I grab my things but notice he's looking around and scoping it out.  I will refrain from being judgey but he's not dressed normally either.  I wish him a good night and immediately leave as he stays in the complete dark where I was fishing.  

 

I'm glad I trusted my gut tonight and made the decision to leave when I did since I was able to leave pretty much right as he came to me.  Like I said, I've been here many many times at night and it's a safe area so I never had any qualms about fishing alone at night, most people are normal people just walking by - but still keep my head on a swivel just out of common sense.  Won't stop me from fishing at night but wanted to share as a reminder to all to remain vigilant if you're fishing at night cause I know I will even more so now.

Edited July 6 by linewetter

[Little_Flatty]

That's a pretty good session for a winter evening @linewetter. Two decent sized ones as well.

Yeah we all have stories of encounters when fishing in the dark, some humorous, others not so much.

[linewetter]

2 minutes ago, Little_Flatty said:

That's a pretty good session for a winter evening @linewetter. Two decent sized ones as well.

Yeah we all have stories of encounters when fishing in the dark, some humorous, others not so much.

Haha fishing in the winter is a different beast...at this point if I come away with no fish but at least feel a missed hit I consider it a successful session 🤣😄  At least it means I felt something alive on the other side!

[lhan]

Very good session bro and congrats on the PB. It's definitely safer to walk away when you feeling uncomfortable especially at night alone

[Yowie]

Couple of nice flatties for the effort.

[james Cutler]

Great story. Well done. I am not a night walker.

[Green Hornet]

Man, that guy would have freaked me right out. Sad that you can’t go for a fish these days/nights without fearing for your safety.  
Good to see a couple of real nice flatties and a PB make things worthwhile for you in the end.

[Aussie_fisher]

2 nice flathead. Gotta be happy with that. Usually it’s safe but always have to keep your guard up at night. Once I was fishing at night and some drunk guy came and started cussing at the ground and kicking the air and I was straight out of there.

[linewetter]

3 hours ago, Green Hornet said:

Man, that guy would have freaked me right out. Sad that you can’t go for a fish these days/nights without fearing for your safety.  
Good to see a couple of real nice flatties and a PB make things worthwhile for you in the end.

Yeah I am usually not one to be put off easily but sometimes reading body language and demeanor means it’s better to leave. A memorable night at least with scoring the PB 😅

[linewetter]

3 hours ago, Aussie_fisher said:

2 nice flathead. Gotta be happy with that. Usually it’s safe but always have to keep your guard up at night. Once I was fishing at night and some drunk guy came and started cussing at the ground and kicking the air and I was straight out of there.

Agreed! Usually is safe at night, but always have to still mind your own at night, especially being near water too. 

[Larkin]

Some nice catches linewetter!

sometimes people just want to watch people fishing. But always trust your gut - if you get a bad feeling best to get going.

i remember reading a fellow fishraider report where he was at grays point boat ramp at around 3 in the morning and a guy was walking around, then went and sat at one of the tables watching him. I’m pretty sure he left the situation too. 

[Mike Sydney]

I get lots of randoms of all stripes at night, you’re something different to look at or talk to mostly. But I agree with @Larkin if the gut is giving you the feels listen to it. I used to be nervous when i first started night fishing but my experience has been people just like talking to fishermen. And dogs for that matter seem to love us even without any bait.

Hasn’t been a safe week for fishers, first the poor bloke in Frankston and two more rock fishermen drowned at Little Bay today. 😔
 

 

[big Neil]

Shame that your trip ended the way it did but always take note of your gut feeling. You did very well with the fishing anyway. PB Flattie and a few other fish. Tailor are such aggressive feeders and that is why they end up with a hook in the eye. Only thing I can suggest is flattening the barb. Won't stop the eye hook up but could minimize the damage caused by retrieving the hook to release the fish. Always a problem for fish species with their eyes well forward towards their mouth.

An excellent report with great photos and a cool video of the eel. That would have been a handful had you hooked it.

Cheers, bn

[kantong]

some nice flatties there and thanks for sharing your cautionary tale