Generational hat trick?

[R E G I C Y C L E]

Been a while since my last post. I had some great sessions on the bream towards the end of last summer but since then ive had a fairly quiet winter on the fishing front. The trout were quiet towards the end of the season but I'll hopefully get stuck into them again when the new season opens this weekend. 

Anyway, to the report... I had to head in to the city after work last night, and decided that the tides would be right for a quick session at Iron Cove on the way. Parked in my usual location and started fishing the shore front. The weapon for the night was my go to ultralight 5'9/1000 combo with 6lb leader to a daiwa crank, really a trout combo but such fun to use it has become my first choice for the estuaries. It was a slow start as the sun set and I was half resigned to a donut after 30 minutes of no activity, except for the plentiful mullet jumping. Slowing making my way around the shoreline I came to a drainage canal which seemed to have some flow from the recent rains. After two or three casts into the outlet area, I briefly hooked up to a fish, which shook the hooks. Good signs that there may be hungry fish after all!

Another couple of casts and I felt a solid thump. The fish came straight to the surface and I saw a quick flash of a flatty that I called for a 50cm fish. Given my history of being bitten off by flattys on crankbaits, I backed the drag right off, and lowered the rod tip to control the fight. I was sure the lure would have been engulfed, so thought I had little chance of landing the fish. After playing it for 2 or 3 minutes, I finally got it close enough to see the lure pinned on the outside of its mouth. Relieved, I applied more pressure and got within netting distance. It was only when I went for the scoop that I realised it was no mere 50cm fish, and my trout net would hardly be adequate! Somehow got the fish in the net, and onto the mat of truth, to record a new pb of 66cm! After a quick photo from a passerby I released the croc back into the depths.

It was well and truly dark by this stage but the canal mouth was well lit by street lights. I packed up the brag mat and fired a cast in exactly the direction of the last. Halfway through the retrieve I feel a familiar clunk! Sure enough, after a brief fight, up comes another flatty, this time around 40cm. Happy snap (excuse the awkward grip, doing my best to avoid a spiking), and back it goes.

Well, 2 fish in 2 casts. I tentatively fire out another cast into the same zone, almost willing another fish to try my obviously attractive morsel of a lure. Unbelievably, I hookup to another fish, and quickly skulldrag to shore a flatty no more than 20cm long. Another quick photo and release.

A couple more casts around yielded no results, and running out of time I called it a night.

Given the time of night, my only explanation to catching 3 flathead in 3 successive casts in the exact same spot, with such a dramatic reduction in size was that I interrupted a family dinner. Each of the 3 generations present couldn't resist my offering landing directly on their plate.

If anyone else has any other theories to offer feel free to share 😄

[big Neil]

A great opportunistic session is what I'd call it. That 66cm Flattie is an excellent catch. The drain must have been producing something to attract the bait and the predators follow. I reckon you could go there again and get a result.

Good luck with the new Trout season.

bn

[Pickles]

Great @R E G I C Y C L E, 3 fish in 3 casts annd one going 66 👏👏 -  almost like a tailor school. 
the black lure looks like one of those freshwater floating frogs with a bib, certainly did the job.

[Hill373737]

8 hours ago, R E G I C Y C L E said:

 

Given the time of night, my only explanation to catching 3 flathead in 3 successive casts in the exact same spot, with such a dramatic reduction in size was that I interrupted a family dinner. Each of the 3 generations present couldn't resist my offering landing directly on their plate.

If anyone else has any other theories to offer feel free to share 😄

66cm is a good flathead @R E G I C Y C L E , nice work!

It would be a female at that size and I've seen underwater photos of large females with smaller males laying around it and on top of it so that may explain 3 fish in 3 casts from the same area.

 

[Steve0]

From fish.gov.au

 

Quote

Dusky flathead were sampled from various locations throughout NSW between 2001 and 2006 to
investigate aspects of their biology. The study identified that female dusky flathead have an
extended reproductively active period between November and March while male reproductive
activity occurs mainly between September and March. Female dusky flathead in spawning
condition were caught only near the entrance of estuaries and in adjacent coastal water

In other words, the boys are probably hanging around with the girls waiting to breed.

[bessell1955]

A breeding trio?

[Yowie]

A nice session, with a good sized one in the mix. Worth the effort to stop off for a fish.

[Larkin]

Got to be happy with that! 
congrats on the PB!

[R E G I C Y C L E]

17 hours ago, big Neil said:

A great opportunistic session is what I'd call it. That 66cm Flattie is an excellent catch. The drain must have been producing something to attract the bait and the predators follow. I reckon you could go there again and get a result.

Good luck with the new Trout season.

bn

Thanks BN! Yes the short session certainly paid off. I'll be having a crack at the trout tomorrow so hopefully they are on the chew.

14 hours ago, Pickles said:

Great @R E G I C Y C L E, 3 fish in 3 casts annd one going 66 👏👏 -  almost like a tailor school. 
the black lure looks like one of those freshwater floating frogs with a bib, certainly did the job.

Thanks Pickles, the lure is actually a standard chubby style crank bait, but the flattys love it. Only issue is that due to its small size the often completely swallow them, meaning the leader is at ther mercy of their teeth!

13 hours ago, Hill373737 said:

66cm is a good flathead @R E G I C Y C L E , nice work!

It would be a female at that size and I've seen underwater photos of large females with smaller males laying around it and on top of it so that may explain 3 fish in 3 casts from the same area.

 

Thanks Hill373737! Yes I thought this was the logical explanation, I was just trying to be creative. If this is the case it's interesting that the other fish didn't spook while I was fighting the big girl!

13 hours ago, Steve0 said:

From fish.gov.au

 

In other words, the boys are probably hanging around with the girls waiting to breed.

Thanks Steve0. I may have interrupted more than dinner.

12 hours ago, bessell1955 said:

A breeding trio?

Yes seems likely

9 hours ago, Yowie said:

A nice session, with a good sized one in the mix. Worth the effort to stop off for a fish.

Thanks Yowie! Happy with the result after a few lean months.

4 hours ago, Larkin said:

Got to be happy with that! 
congrats on the PB!

Thanks Larkin!

[linewetter]

Huge catch, congrats!  The only thing better than catching a fish on first cast, is catching fish on back to back to casts.  Makes ya feel like a fish whisperer 😁