Fecund Flathead Frolics Feature Feverish Fight For Freedom

[DrRaymondSnapper]

When my wife Donna advised me that she needed essential camping supplies such as an expresso machine and milk frother from our local retail outlet for an upcoming trip to western QLD , I spotted an opportunity for some impulse buying on fishing tackle. When she was distracted , I managed to sneak off into the fishing aisles to marvel at their shiny offerings. With my basket full of goodies in hand and as I was reaching for more lures I was unceremoniously grabbed by the ear and steered towards the checkout counter. I barely had time to grasp the bargain bin to prevent me being yanked out the door. As I gazed into the tray of cut price lures , my attention was drawn to an interesting hardbody that was sporting my favourite colour scheme. The lure that caught my eye was called a Zerek Zappelin 70S semi-suspending hardbody that promised a tight wobbling action and a darting retrieve that was irresistible to predatory fish of all types.  The colour pattern was close to Blended frog in appearance and this sealed the deal for me. As Donna emptied her barrow full of purchases onto the counter , I managed to lob my single item in amongst them. It was spotted and a scornful gaze was thrown in my direction.                                                                                                                                I had long wanted to do more hardbody lure fishing and was keen to try my new purchase so I unhooked the shock collar and snuck out the door , bound for my flathead spot to try and tempt the locals. The weather was gorgeous and was bright and sunny with a light onshore breeze. The tide was running out and my first area to fish was a sandy area dotted with weed patches and shelving water depth. I was wielding my usual combo of T-Curve / 2500 Stella FJ and commenced by casting around the weed beds. The packaging recommended a straight wobbling retrieve at a constant speed or a twitch and pause method. Not being too familiar with these lures , I elected to try the twitch technique. With the rod tip held low , I began twitching but totally misjudged the lure profile and action and nearly ended up with a Zappelin in the face. With such an auspicious start , my second cast was sent out and I decided on a less dramatic retrieve. When my lure hit the water , I paused to let it sink then began to wind but it didn`t move. Thinking that it had fluttered into a weed clump , I applied some pressure and began to slowly bring the lure back. Suddenly the " weed " began to move sideways then turned and headed out to sea with a rush. The rod tip loaded up and I began to apply pressure to try and turn the fish`s head. Fortunately I managed to get it under control and began to gain ground on the fish. At this point I had no idea as to what I had hooked but suspected a big flathead was on the line. Just when I thought that i had the fish under control , it started a series of short powerful runs that took me by surprise. When the fish got closer to the shore it began to thrash about on the surface and started to throw violent headshakes. I have lost quite a few flatties to thrown hooks at this stage of the fight and my anxiety level was rising as I caught sight of the fish in the shallows. It definitely was a big flathead and fortunately my knots and trebles held as I brought the fish ashore. I hadn`t needed to worry as the hooks were securely embedded and it looked like the lure had been taken on the drop.  In my haste to secure the fish and prevent its escape I failed to properly handle its head and was rewarded with a nice deep  spiking on the hand. My carelessness resulted in a hefty triangular laceration and blood poured over my gear , the fish and the sand. Fortunately,  I managed to stem the bleeding and was relieved to see that self-suturing would not be required. My hand is throbbing as I type this and it is a good lesson in being careful when handling flathead.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  When I measured the fish, it was 68cm in length and was very wide through the body for its length. It weighed just over 2.5 kg. I was in two minds as to keeping or releasing the fish but decided to keep it after viewing those big fillets. I had released 3 fish over 65 cm in the last 2 months and felt that I had earned this one. This fish had put up a great fight after a sluggish start and showed what a challenge a big flathead can be. I messaged Donna that I had caught tea and managed to " accidently " show the fish to all the other anglers that I encountered on the way back to the car. When I got home Donna told me that she was glad that she insisted that I buy that lure.                                                                                                                                                                                                                          I think that I may get Blended Frog numberplates , a Blended Frog tattoo and any future children will be named Blended Frog.  Anyone who was watching me fish would have thought that I knew what I was doing but I know better.

[Yowie]

Expresso machine and milk frother for camping?  sorry, but had to laugh at that. I don't drink coffee or tea anyway.

Nice fish. Weed patches on the edge of banks provide cover for the flatties, sometimes they hide in the weed patches so zip a lure over the weed itself.

[TheFishyFisherman]

That’s a monster flattie!!! Must have been really fun to fight!

[mrsswordfisherman]

1 hour ago, Yowie said:

Expresso machine and milk frother for camping?  sorry, but had to laugh at that. I don't drink coffee or tea anyway.

Nice fish. Weed patches on the edge of banks provide cover for the flatties, sometimes they hide in the weed patches so zip a lure over the weed itself.

Cmon Dave you must see the van club people all with their coffee machines!!

[Larkin]

Nice catch Raymond! They definitely like to tear up hands - and the would tends to keep bleeding.

[Yowie]

9 hours ago, mrsswordfisherman said:

Cmon Dave you must see the van club people all with their coffee machines!!

Well Donna, some do have coffee machines in their vans, but being a non coffee drinker, I still think it is funny the way that people cannot "function" unless they have coffee.

[zmk1962]

Well done DrRaymond. That’s one memorable yarn. Bet you’re glad Donna guided you to the blendedfrog by sharpening your focus 😂

cheers Z

[Little_Flatty]

Good title and great fish @DrRaymondSnapper.

[LuckyFil]

A great read, you write better scripts than most of the tv sitcoms😆

[bessell1955]

Those Flattie spikes have a real sting in them. 

[DrRaymondSnapper]

16 hours ago, Yowie said:

Expresso machine and milk frother for camping?  sorry, but had to laugh at that. I don't drink coffee or tea anyway.

Nice fish. Weed patches on the edge of banks provide cover for the flatties, sometimes they hide in the weed patches so zip a lure over the weed itself.

I`m in the same boat as you Yowie on that one but you know what they say -- happy wife / happy life. Agree on the habitat . Good advice on retrieve. I`m always worried that I`ll get badly snagged in dense weed but I`ll try out what you suggest.

[DrRaymondSnapper]

16 minutes ago, bessell1955 said:

Those Flattie spikes have a real sting in them. 

I can definitely vouch for that. The amount of blood was amazing but also concerning.

[DrRaymondSnapper]

3 hours ago, LuckyFil said:

A great read, you write better scripts than most of the tv sitcoms😆

Ha ha. Thanks. I like to add a little humour sometimes.

[DrRaymondSnapper]

4 hours ago, zmk1962 said:

Well done DrRaymond. That’s one memorable yarn. Bet you’re glad Donna guided you to the blendedfrog by sharpening your focus 😂

cheers Z

Thank you Z. Donna did try to take all the credit. My input was only minor.

[DrRaymondSnapper]

3 hours ago, Little_Flatty said:

Good title and great fish @DrRaymondSnapper.

Thank you. I`ve come to appreciate the fighting qualities of big flathead recently. They try all the tricks to unhook you. I`ve definitely been lucky to tangle with some good ones lately. I`ve also lost some good ones too.

[DrRaymondSnapper]

14 hours ago, Larkin said:

Nice catch Raymond! They definitely like to tear up hands - and the would tends to keep bleeding.

Thanks Larkin. The cut just wouldn1t stop bleeding. I had to clean blood of all my gear in the end. I`ve been spiked before but this was a real slash from a head shake from a large fish. My fault entirely. I had the last laugh at dinner last night though.

[DrRaymondSnapper]

16 hours ago, TheFishyFisherman said:

That’s a monster flattie!!! Must have been really fun to fight!

Thanks . New respect for big flathead. They don`t just sit there like logs. They fight as hard as most fish. They have a powerful tail and a muscular body and know a few tricks. It was an excellent fight. Not just skull dragging this one.

[LuckyFil]

24 minutes ago, DrRaymondSnapper said:

Ha ha. Thanks. I like to add a little humour sometimes.

I can hear your wife in the background saying “don’t encourage him”!!

I agree with Yowie regarding flatty preferred locations, I often catch them in areas of weed and sand patches in Narrabeen lake and Brisbane Waters. If it’s real weedy a plastic on a jig head snags less weed and still catches plenty of fish 

[big Neil]

A well spun yarn of the one that didn't get away Dr Raymond. One always has to prioritise the essentials when planning a new adventure so what the heck to the coffee machine. Probably a little unfair that you were unable to get a reasonable amount of fishing gear, but hey you did alright with what you did manage to get to the register. No doubt you will keep the unfairness in mind when you next visit the tackle store.

bn

[Little_Flatty]

@DrRaymondSnapper I’m sure you’ve found your coffee contraption but some workmates have recently put me onto a South Indian coffee filter and that thing has been a revelation. It’s extremely compact and can be procured for a very reasonable price. Only disadvantage is that it takes 10-20mins to make a coffee. Doesn’t froth milk, but there’s other ways to do that.

[DrRaymondSnapper]

17 hours ago, big Neil said:

A well spun yarn of the one that didn't get away Dr Raymond. One always has to prioritise the essentials when planning a new adventure so what the heck to the coffee machine. Probably a little unfair that you were unable to get a reasonable amount of fishing gear, but hey you did alright with what you did manage to get to the register. No doubt you will keep the unfairness in mind when you next visit the tackle store.

bn

I`m very susceptible to impulse buying in tackle stores bn. You know the saying - " lures catch more fishermen than fish ". Its funny though , you buy all types of lures but don`t use them for fear of failure and go back to tried and tested ones that have worked in the past. You really only need about a dozen but marketing tells you to try something different every time. There is a lot of psychology involved in selling products like lures. I plead guilty to over-purchasing items but it makes the serotonin flow.

[DrRaymondSnapper]

16 hours ago, Little_Flatty said:

@DrRaymondSnapper I’m sure you’ve found your coffee contraption but some workmates have recently put me onto a South Indian coffee filter and that thing has been a revelation. It’s extremely compact and can be procured for a very reasonable price. Only disadvantage is that it takes 10-20mins to make a coffee. Doesn’t froth milk, but there’s other ways to do that.

I`ll pass the message on to Donna. She loves to try new ways to drink coffee but a 10 minute wait for a cup might make her homicidal.

[big Neil]

2 hours ago, DrRaymondSnapper said:

I`m very susceptible to impulse buying in tackle stores bn. You know the saying - " lures catch more fishermen than fish ". Its funny though , you buy all types of lures but don`t use them for fear of failure and go back to tried and tested ones that have worked in the past. You really only need about a dozen but marketing tells you to try something different every time. There is a lot of psychology involved in selling products like lures. I plead guilty to over-purchasing items but it makes the serotonin flow.

You're a card Dr Raymond...you should be dealt with.

bn

[DrRaymondSnapper]

2 hours ago, big Neil said:

You're a card Dr Raymond...you should be dealt with.

bn

Thanks bn. I try.

[Pickles]

Coffee machine camping - O Yeah