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By the way @squidjigga, here’s @linewetter’s recent report where he experimented with the slow roll retrieve

Definitely, I'll be keen to meet up when I get a chance as I'm always looking to learn from others.

Good job man! Let me know if you’re down to meet up for a fish at some stage? Would be cool to learn together

🤣 I guess there's one group member wanna do solo... Better luck next time man!

Congratulations! And I believe there's a lot more to come! Lure fishing makes it more fun when you explore different methods and lures along the journey - it's so lucky we have great mentors and buddies here. Great report too!

Nice work @SpeedyGiraffe49! Lots of parallels in experience as I've recently got into lure fishing and have been practicing casting and retrieving under @DerekD's mentorship too. I've only been able to get small hook ups on soft plastics (pearl 3 inch paddle tails) so far: one small bream, two tiny tailor, and a lizard fish. ^ Some of my soft plastic "successes" so far. I'm still waiting to hook up a decent fish like your flatty on a soft plastic or catch my first fish on surface lure but I'm sure it will come with gradual improvement by practicing and just spending more time fishing. I would love to hear from @linewetter if he has any advice or not-so-obvious tips on the slow rolling technique he's had so much success with.

Ngl that title actually made me laugh 😆 Better luck next time

Thanks @Aussie_fisher, 33cm is an awesome fish to start on. Thanks @linewetter! Yeah the wriggler looked near identical to the bait fish that were on the shoreline. The bait fish even chased it as I dragged the lure through them, and even the cadence of the tail matched the baitfish. Pretty cool seeing how well we’ve refined a lure that you can buy 5 of for around $10. Thanks @Mike Sydney, I’ll have to try that when I’m out next 👍🏽

hahahaha I told you don’t give that donut boyz tag oxygen we can’t have that sticking @XD351 that moniker was below the belt, I’d been sulking about it all day, muttering to myself, snapping at the kids… 😂

I dare you to poke that Leopard Seal SteveO. Even if it does look pretty skinny as you said.

Cooks river at Tempe, sunrise and sunset Underneath the Wolli Creek bridge , evening and night

Had a change of plans tonight and was able to fish after an early dinner. I sent a text to my newfound night fishing buddy @Mike Sydney to see if he was heading out for the night and that he was. We met up together in Drummoyne and both tied on a Zman Slim Swimz in Greasy Prawn coincidentally. I like to think just a case of great minds think alike 😁 First few casts both of us had some nibbles and interest but no hookups. That...was the end of the action for a looooong while as we walked around casting. We were both super excited at first at the instant action on arrival but it just disappeared as soon as it came. I swapped from soft plastic to crankbait back to soft plastics while Mike switched between plastic shapes. Even so, we had no action. We walked to a different part of the bay where Mike told me the story of catching his biggest flatty at and started casting around. It wasn't long before Mike hooked onto the star of the night: The curse is broken for one of us!!! I started casting around hoping for a fish next. We finally found where the fish were hiding out because there was interest and tugs, but just weren't hooking up well. After a few dozen more casts, it was time to Mike to go. I walked him back to his car since I was going to leave too. On the way back to my car, I had a couple of casts too...which turned into me standing there next to the car determined to catch a fish. I could hear the fish now splashing, I could feel the fish HEADSHAKES on the other end of the rod, everything but actually hooking onto a fish. It was like the fish were taunting me and goading me into doing just one more casts and I kept falling for it. I kept casting and casting thinking "ok this'll be the last one then I really gotta go..." but then I'd feel the fish biting the tail of the paddletail and shaking it around and it'd entice me to cast again. After what was probably three dozen casts, I finally stopped and packed up my stuff. We are no longer the donut boyz, it is just me now, singular donut boy

Well done mate, you’ll get plenty from here now you’ve busted the first one out. Look how quickly you got the second! The floodgates have opened. Another retrieve you might try for flathead is short fast rolls and sudden stops. Being able to vary your retrieves with different speeds, hop heights, pauses, twitches etc is what I love the most about soft plastics, there’s always something you can do to change things up. Great report @SpeedyGiraffe49 well done.

Let's go!!! Congratulations man! I was happy for you when I read your text of the flatties but didn't know it was your first flatty on plastics! Man how good does that wriggler look too? One of many many more fish to come I am sure of it.

Watching the sun rise over the ocean is one of the best parts of beach fishing. View from my " local " Dudley Beach. And not a soul in sight.

No doubt the first of many. Always easier after you get the first one. Now for a bigger fish.

Congrats. My first fish on a soft plastic (it was a squidgie prawn wriggler exact same colour) was actually a very nice 33cm flounder. It’s a great feeling

My first flathead on a soft plastic - I was frothing haha

I started fishing with lures about 9 months ago. Inspired by the late Sandflat Fishing Australia Youtube channel I began my learning fairly non-traditionally - on hardbodies. Specifically a Daiwa Double Clutch and Sugapen. While I’d tried to use soft plastic lures before, the only fish that I’d caught in that entire time were a couple chopper Tailor. Not for lack of trying either - I’ve had multiple donut sessions without really understanding why. Well today, inspired by recent learnings from @linewetter and @DerekD, I decided to head out to Silver Beach to fish the sandy patches between the rock groynes. I arrived mid-runout tide, and tied on a Squidgy wriggler with a 1/8oz jig head, not feeling particularly confident given my history. Since the water was shallow, I decided to copy @linewetter by simply slow rolling the plastic instead of the usual hop hop retrieve. I found this easier in this context because it helped me to stay in contact with the lure, and also cover more ground by moving a bit faster. Additionally, @DerekD’s recent casting lesson really started to pay dividends as I was able to punch out some fairly long accurate casts to place the plastic over the sand patches I wanted. Took me about 20mins before my rod loaded up…unsure whether it was another piece of weed I half heartedly set the hook, and suddenly the weight started moving! Definitely didn’t feel like a big fish. Turned out to be a 32cm flathead - my first ever flathead on a soft plastic lure! I managed to snag 1 more small flathead in a similar way as I continued to cover more ground with my new found confidence. Perhaps not the most incredible catches, but for me it was quite personally significant and a massive confidence boost in trusting that soft plastics actually work 😆 Here’s a photo of the smaller of my two catches:

Moments later, the Dolphins hit the Salmon and they moved to my side of the sandbar. A long way down an incredibly steep hill, but the fishing was good I have no idea what this may have been. It looks like it's purpose was winching, but rocks below would not have suited. A Leopard Seal on it's holiday in the sun. It was very lean but very much alive.

Cheers for the info mate

Landbased!

Because I'm having problems stirring up enthusiasm to fish in filthy water around the city, I have few current photos here, but a stack of photos around Eden. Cast in the surfers direction (too far to hit). A good location for Salmon and Tailor, but Kings gave me no thinking time before they hit bottom. Had I held them off the bottom, the cunje covered rock is an overhang. The spectacular gutters along the beach generally produced better fishing. I didn't have anything to take a photo on the day a large Bronzie was relaxing in a gutter in almost flat conditions. Natures garden above a Tailor hotspot Shallow water trapped hundreds of jellyfish My last session at Eden. That's a totally empty beach as far as can be seen. Behind it stretches about 1/3 as far in the opposite direction, also empty. Not long after, lightning suggested I find a location away from the carbon stick until it passed. Waiting patiently for Luderick cleaning time

If you fish Akuna Bay you won't have a problem when the fog comes down because the marina is well lit. The best area is on the opposite side of the creek to the marina. If you go down to the end towards the sandflat stay more in the centre of the creek. Most use either an anchor each end or one on shore so you don't blow around. It pays to establish a small continuous burley trail to keep the Yellowtail around your boat and if the fish are around they'll find you. A light-stick on the wire trace about 30cm above the hooks often works really well. Good luck when you try, they are great fun to catch and excellent on the plate

Yeah those dotted parts are all sandbar, leading up to it is anywhere from 12-20 meters deep. Im in the same boat, yet to get a hairtail however I have never intentionally targeted them. If you use a beacon light you should be ok there, its not a heavy traffic area, especially to the right as you indicated.