LuckyFil

Great catch of perfect sized flatties. Best time of year for them I reckon especially if you can get out there mid week. Shame about the rain but you could have got wet AND caught no fish 🤔.

15 hours ago, Isaac Ct said:

Tiny puncture marks all the way up the yakka and near the head was damaged, not sure what it could've been.

Sounds like a jewie to me. Their pin-like teeth will do that to a livie just to let you know what you missed😢. Would have been a lot more damage to the livie if it was a tailor and kings don't have teeth to speak of, flattie's are rasping teeth , so yeah pretty sure it was a jew.

A good session nevertheless and an interesting report to read, thanks for posting.

Mullet on lures is becoming a thing!

2 hours ago, big Neil said:

Adds a whole new dimension to the edible quality of the less popular (edible) fish species.

Very true Neil

On 4/9/2024 at 7:24 AM, Yowie said:

I like autumn as the best time to fish.

Spot on!

I posted a report last week of a large bully mullet I caught on an SP. The fillets were magnificent in the smoker - my wife and I thought it was the tastiest fish I'd ever done in the smoker.

I kept the gut (froze) and used it for bait when fishing in Brisbane Waters earlier this week. It was a great success with the bream . I caught 2 on the first afternoon and dropped a few others. We went back the next day and caught five more, the largest 38cm down to 31cm plus a couple that were under 30cm that went back even though probably legal (30 is my minimum). I remember using mullet gut years ago and I'd forgotten how good it is (although messy).

I ran out of the mullet gut after the first day but had some salted mackerel, defrosted squid (months old) and peeled green prawns. By far and away the crappy old squid was the favourite, go figure.

I think the fish were probably turned on by the muddy water after last week's deluge plus its around the time they start the spawning run. One pic of the fish from the second arvo.

Thanks for all the feedback.

Interesting to hear that other Raiders have caught mullet on various lures especially when they are schooling up, which I think they will be doing over the coming month prior to their sea run.

I was fishing for flathead with soft plastics at Narrabeen lake this afternoon when I got slammed by something that's a first for me. It ran me all over the place on the light outfit and I couldn't figure out what it was as it clearly wasn't a flattie by the way it took off. After a few minutes of back and forth and taking drag at times I was surprised to see a big bully mullet finally at my feet. 

It measured 47cm. Maybe other Raiders have caught them on lures before but I thought they only ate weed or bread.

Managed a couple of average sized flathead 44 and 42, after that. They look pretty small next to the mullet.

Been fishing for more than 60 years and I never thought I'd say catching a mullet was a big deal but it was new for me if only because I caught it on a SP.

Cheers

Fil

Peeling the banana was clearly the trick 😬.

Lovely Jew 

Wow that’s quite a haul of blue swimmers!

I get the occasional one down near Hardys Bay and Pretty Beach but nothing like that number!

That’s a good catch for sure.

Dont the flounder hit the plastic hard and fight really well ! I caught one a couple of weeks ago when chasing flatties up near Ettalong.

Good report and nice pics. Stinger may work but I find it’s partly the nature of surface strikes that means you don’t hookup some of the time.

Looks like a fun location for bass fishing you’ve got there 

Fil

10 hours ago, Little_Flatty said:

Looks like a nice few days Fil. Nice flatty there. Red hot action!

FYI I fixed up the photo for you that was uploaded as a pdf (great catch of a jewie on a handline). Hope that was what was intended.

Thanks for fixing that, technology not my forte!

Having a few days at Wagstaffe (Central Coast) and took the old tinny out around the usual spots Hardys Bay, Ettalong foreshore etc. A few fatties on plastics, one blue swimmer that managed to actually get hooked in the corner of his claw and a couple of soapy jews both too small (50 and 40cm). Caught one big lizard 72cm that had a happy snap then back home - swam off happily. While she was getting ready to net the flathead Mary-annes's (wife)  handline went spinning around the boat. That had to wait till she netted my fish then she pulled in her line which had the first jewie. That day the flathead was too big and the jewies too small - needed to swap sizes ha. Also got a decent flounder on the plastic, it hit it like a train and fought much harder than most of the flatties.

Took a video of the flathead release but not sure how to load that? here's some pics of the rest.

Fil

8 hours ago, big Neil said:

Thanks Fil, appreciate it. Do you mainly bait fish, use soft plastics, or lures, to chase down Flathead?

bn

I have greatest success using using soft plastics but I grew up catching them on bait mainly yellowtail fillets or pilchard pieces . But sometimes they just don’t want to play no matter what I offer 🤔

Two nice fish to be happy with.

I've had a few dud trips lately and its natural to feel disheartened - you're doing all the right things in the right places and it just isn't working. Then out of the blue on the weekend two nice flathead on a day I expected nothing. I guess it's the old saying "time on the water" is what delivers results, ie you just have to keep trying doing what you know works and maybe a little experimenting to see if that changes things.

Good luck and keep up your great reports

Fil

See Jenno's report from yesterday - might have been his friend that had a go at your bonnie

What  a great day to be bass fishing.

Thanks for the info Bob and very sorry to hear about your experience with the catfish spike sounds painful!

Fil 

wow 40 bass in a morning is fantastic. Were they hanging in any particular areas or depths? I assume those lures go quite deep looking at the size of the bibs.

Cheers

Fil

13 hours ago, bessell1955 said:

I have been informed that Bass fight very hard in Lake St Clair, how did you find them?

 

Absolutely true. I don't do a lot of bass fishing I'm more saltwater estuary for flathead etc. The bass hit lures like a truck and for their size fight very hard especially once they get over 30-35cm

2 hours ago, big Neil said:

Could they have been Carp Fil? Good healthy-looking Bass, well done.  bn

52 minutes ago, R E G I C Y C L E said:

Solid bass! Carp are the most likely answer i think. They can be very active on the surface in the morning, especially larger models.

23 minutes ago, Yowie said:

Nice fish for all the effort. As others have suggested, mud marlin sometimes do the "tailor like" surface attacks.

Thanks for your comments guys I didn’t realise carp did that 

A short report about a short trip to Lake St Clair. Was visiting in-laws at Singleton and did a quick dash out to the lake one morning this week. Must bring a kayak next time as shore access is very limited partly due to fencing and partly the high water levels at present (91%) meaning a lot of areas have bush in the first 5 meters out in the water making fishing impossible .

Found a few gaps in between trees/shrubbery in the water to cast my spinnerbait and had a few hits but no hookups for the first hour. Tried chatter bait, small SP and cicada lure but the spinnerbait was the only thing getting interest. Moved around the corner into a small bay cast out let it sink then got smashed halfway back followed by a good tussle from a bass of around 41-42 cm, see pics.

Kept casting for another hour and again some half hearted hits and one very solid hit right under a snag near the bank , it took line against some firm drag then nothing! For some reason no hookup, bugger.

Anyway it only takes one decent fish to make good outing and I was happy especially as I missed the big storms that were lurking in the area.

A question for others. Several times in the second hour fish were hitting the surface in groups almost like a school of tailor would in saltwater . I'm familiar with bass "boofs" and did see a couple of those close to shore under trees , but I was baffled by what these other fish may have been. Judging by the splashes some of them were good sized fish. Any thoughts guys?

Fil

Wow that’s a cracker. Sounds like you had some luck on your side with all that structure. Well done on the tag and release too.

Fil

1 hour ago, Pickles said:

Nice work Fil, some lovely duckies there👍 would have been more leasant in still water than outside in those winds.

Yes conditions were ideal, the breeze was mild and my expert netter (wife) enjoyed the balmy weather while sipping champagne and reading her book - in between being called on to net my flathead. Ticked lots of boxes. 

Really enjoyed reading your report and great to see you were rewarded with a cracker fish.

Cheers

Fil