Little_Flatty Posted July 7 Share Posted July 7 This morning I decided to head out to Tarban Ck early for a shot at the pelagics I'd seen hunting on the topwater. I had my 120mm Sugapen tied on and started casting. I'm still getting used to using lures this size, but I'm enjoying with wild casting distances that you can achieve with them! Early on I had a decent fish swipe the lure, but no hookup. Then it went quiet for a while. That's normal until sunrise, so I moved along, covering water. Keep casting. Then, about 2m out, something pops up from under and swipes the Sugapen and pulls it under. It was one of the weirdest topwater takes I'd seen. I strike and a little fight ensues. It was something brown...possibly a flathead? When it surfaces, I can't believe my eyes: No way! My first ever topwater squid! Anyhow I think for a few seconds about taking it home with me for bait later on but think better of it and Mr Squiddles is returned to the water. He disappears gladly in a puff of ink. I don't think many squid are that lucky! Anyhow, my topwater Egi-ing career was short lived, unsurprisingly, and there were no repeat captures. Continue casting on. It's quiet. But halfway across the creek, I see a swirl behind my lure and my line tightens up. I've lost a few good fish recently by going too soft on them so this fish was given no leeway. With 8lb braid and 20lb leader I could really get it in fast. Up comes a decent tailor: As I brought the fish up very green, it was very difficult to photograph and on top of that, he clamped so hard on the trebles I was starting to doubt if I'd get my Sugapen back. But thankfully he eventually let go and I was able to slip the trebles out and send him back home. I have to say I like trebles much better with crushed barbs, especially with the way Tailor engulf lures. Happy with that. After that it was time to head home before the park got busy. 19 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james Cutler Posted July 7 Share Posted July 7 Top morning. Well done. I have a Sugapen that size. I put a single hook on it after reading @DerekD's post on single hooks. Caught a few flathead with it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Hornet Posted July 7 Share Posted July 7 Squid on a topwater, never heard of that before Mike, good going and a nice tailor as well to sweeten tally made things worthwhile. Good to hear the barbless hooks are working out for you. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aussie_fisher Posted July 7 Share Posted July 7 Nice session. A 40cm tailor is a cracker plus a top water squid too! Went out as well this morning to hen and chicken bay and not a single bite. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little_Flatty Posted July 7 Author Share Posted July 7 2 hours ago, james Cutler said: Top morning. Well done. I have a Sugapen that size. I put a single hook on it after reading @DerekD's post on single hooks. Caught a few flathead with it. Thanks James, More topwater flathead are on the cards in summer hopefully! 1 hour ago, Green Hornet said: Squid on a topwater, never heard of that before Mike, good going and a nice tailor as well to sweeten tally made things worthwhile. Good to hear the barbless hooks are working out for you. Hey Pete, yeah it was certainly a surprise. Yeah the barbless hooks are paying off. 1 hour ago, Aussie_fisher said: Nice session. A 40cm tailor is a cracker plus a top water squid too! Went out as well this morning to hen and chicken bay and not a single bite. Thanks mate. Yeah I find the winter finesse bite hard going at times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yowie Posted July 7 Share Posted July 7 A nice little session there Mike. Reasonable sized tailor for your efforts. I have had squid, large calamari ones on a few occasions, take a trolled pillie on the surface when I was trolling for tailor near the mouth of Port Hacking. The first one a surprise, the next couple no so. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fried Rice Posted July 7 Share Posted July 7 1 hour ago, Yowie said: A nice little session there Mike. Reasonable sized tailor for your efforts. I have had squid, large calamari ones on a few occasions, take a trolled pillie on the surface when I was trolling for tailor near the mouth of Port Hacking. The first one a surprise, the next couple no so. That is awesome. I often had them attack prawns in pittwater but never hooked up. You can tell because they bite a chunk out of the back of the neck. I'd quickly tie a jig on and 9 times out of 10 it was Calamari for dinner. That squid was lucky Little Flatty, alongside flounder they are one species that are always kept. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirvin21 Posted July 7 Share Posted July 7 That's awesome Pretty unique surface catchp 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linewetter Posted July 7 Share Posted July 7 Never read about anyone who’s caught squid on a top water before! That is an awesome catch. And really interesting to see top water still working seemingly well for you in the winter. I have a bigger top water lure of similar size I got on clearance that I put away until warmer weather but perhaps I ought to bring it out after all seeing your results…I’ve not had much luck on top water in general but it is definitely the most exciting way to catch something. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bessell1955 Posted July 7 Share Posted July 7 A good result. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little_Flatty Posted July 7 Author Share Posted July 7 2 hours ago, Yowie said: A nice little session there Mike. Reasonable sized tailor for your efforts. I have had squid, large calamari ones on a few occasions, take a trolled pillie on the surface when I was trolling for tailor near the mouth of Port Hacking. The first one a surprise, the next couple no so. Cheers Dave, Yeah I guess there is much for me to learn about squid behaviour. Kind of like what we used to think about bream and flathead...once upon a time, we didn't think they would eat lures, then we didn't think that they would eat topwater lures and now they regularly do both things. 1 hour ago, Fried Rice said: That is awesome. I often had them attack prawns in pittwater but never hooked up. You can tell because they bite a chunk out of the back of the neck. I'd quickly tie a jig on and 9 times out of 10 it was Calamari for dinner. That squid was lucky Little Flatty, alongside flounder they are one species that are always kept. I've seen similar with live baits, but never had the presence of mind to present a squid jig to add the offender to my dinner plate. It certainly was a lucky squid. I actually had an esky in the car but my desire to fish for just a tad longer led to its release. 53 minutes ago, dirvin21 said: That's awesome Pretty unique surface catchp Thanks Dave, I'm not going to forget it in a hurry! 29 minutes ago, linewetter said: Never read about anyone who’s caught squid on a top water before! That is an awesome catch. And really interesting to see top water still working seemingly well for you in the winter. I have a bigger top water lure of similar size I got on clearance that I put away until warmer weather but perhaps I ought to bring it out after all seeing your results…I’ve not had much luck on top water in general but it is definitely the most exciting way to catch something. I haven't heard of it either, but I'm sure it happens. I've had squid attack my plastics in the past. I've only been using bigger lures because I've noticed bigger bait getting chased. 1 minute ago, bessell1955 said: A good result. Thanks Bessell, I was pretty happy with that! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larkin Posted July 7 Share Posted July 7 Nice session Mike! got to love the randomness of fishing! I Would have made some calamari rings out of that one! 🤣 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Sydney Posted July 7 Share Posted July 7 (edited) Well done @Little_Flatty and great photos. My first ever squid was on a Sugapen too actually, near UTS rowers of all places. Quite the shock isn’t it. When fishing surface at ferry wharves at night (Balmain east, neutral bay) they often come out of hiding to have a look but I’ve only ever had that one take. That’s some solid tailor too to be in the creek still at this time of year. Given you’ve been doing surface there for months it seems the bigger ones have only shown up there recently. I always presumed they were all heading slowly out to the beaches about now, but these seem to coming back inland to you. Edited July 7 by Mike Sydney 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lhan Posted July 7 Share Posted July 7 Amazing catches and very decent size too! I really have to throw out some jigs there! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little_Flatty Posted July 7 Author Share Posted July 7 5 minutes ago, Larkin said: Nice session Mike! got to love the randomness of fishing! I Would have made some calamari rings out of that one! 🤣 The randomness is what keeps us coming back If they weren't Parra river inhabitants, the tailor and calamari would've made a great meal! 43 minutes ago, Mike Sydney said: Well done @Little_Flatty and great photos. My first ever squid was on a Sugapen too actually, near UTS rowers of all places. Quite the shock isn’t it. When fishing surface at ferry wharves at night (Balmain east, neutral bay) they often come out of hiding to have a look but I’ve only ever had that one take. That’s some solid tailor too to be in the creek still at this time of year. Given you’ve been doing surface there for months it seems the bigger ones have only shown up there recently. I always presumed they were all heading slowly out to the beaches about now, but these seem to coming back inland to you. I knew it! Squid on topwater not a coincidence then I guess it stands to reason that squid will go where their food is and if it's on the surface then so be it. To be honest I think they've always been there, it's just been that I've been using smaller/lighter lures and not getting the casting distance to reach them. There's always a lot of bait in that creek and a long line of predators to chase them. 24 minutes ago, lhan said: Amazing catches and very decent size too! I really have to throw out some jigs there! Yes you do. Looking forward to the report Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big Neil Posted July 7 Share Posted July 7 A great report Mike, both captures described in excellent detail...painting a picture for the reader. Such a shame that the fish from that area are too dodgy to risk eating, but, at least, they provide good sport for the switched on angler. Many thanks for the report which I enjoyed. bn 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little_Flatty Posted July 7 Author Share Posted July 7 3 hours ago, big Neil said: A great report Mike, both captures described in excellent detail...painting a picture for the reader. Such a shame that the fish from that area are too dodgy to risk eating, but, at least, they provide good sport for the switched on angler. Many thanks for the report which I enjoyed. bn Cheers Neil, Least I can do is write a report in return for your wonderful adventures. It is a shame that it's not safe to eat the Parra fish, but then again if we could, we'd have a lot more commercial and amateur pressure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nutsaboutfishing Posted July 7 Share Posted July 7 Squid on topwater! Message Donna, that's definitely a FR record! Looks like you're beginning to challenge Niall to be topwater king. Cheers Richard 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little_Flatty Posted July 8 Author Share Posted July 8 2 hours ago, nutsaboutfishing said: Squid on topwater! Message Donna, that's definitely a FR record! Looks like you're beginning to challenge Niall to be topwater king. Cheers Richard Nope. Not even close to Niall and DerekD! Appreciate now why they like their topwater so much though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big Neil Posted July 8 Share Posted July 8 6 hours ago, Little_Flatty said: Cheers Neil, Least I can do is write a report in return for your wonderful adventures. It is a shame that it's not safe to eat the Parra fish, but then again if we could, we'd have a lot more commercial and amateur pressure. Pollution is nowhere near as bad as it used to be in the Parra BUT there was an immense load of serious polluting 50 yrs ago when I lived in Sydney. bn 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kantong Posted July 8 Share Posted July 8 a cracking session and a squid on top water, amazing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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