Hodgey Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 GDay all My nephew Mark has just picked up a nice little estuary rig; 4.2m with brand new 30hp Suzuki. He has been having a little trouble finding the fish, so I joined him for a session this morning to see if we couldn't change his luck. His boat is decked out nicely with sounder, radio and casting decks, and all for the princely sum of $3500 It's one thing to take someone to a location, and simply tell them 'we'll find them here'. It's more beneficial to explain to them WHY they are here, and more importantly, help them to interpret 'obvious' information that they have missed. Flatties like nothing better than to glide up into the shallows and enjoy the early morning sun. You would be surprised how shallow they will get! Quite often, the only evidence of this for the 'mid-morning angler' is an empty 'lie'. Sneak up there early in the morning and its a different story. As with last weekend, we saw another half a dozen fish well over 75cm. A quick drift along one of the weedbeds presented the opportunity to explain another principle. Although Mark had observed several very good lies in close proximity to the weed bed, he was continually targeting the deeper water and dropoffs (without success). Most of the lies were within 2 metres of the weed bed, and they were all facing TOWARDS the weeds. They're expecting their tucker to come from the weeds, so cast your lure to the very edge, and slowly skip it back to the boat. My fish profile plastic was accounting for several fish, while Mark's prawn profile was untouched. The dark of the moon is a better time for prawn profiles IMO, and the shallows were alive with bait fish of all size and description. Mark tied on a fish profile, starting casting to the weed edges ... and started catching fish. The water is very clear, and the natural coloured plastics were doing very well. A couple of flounder and three 50+cm flatties were in the esky. Mark then provided the entertainment for the morning. I could hear his little Seido reel rattling away behind me, so I picked up the landing net in readiness to land his fish. We could see the fish in the shallows and it was approx 60cm. As luck would have it, he pulled the hooks The flattie then does a 180, picks up the discarded lure, and goes for another screaming run Mark's enjoying his second good tussle for the morning...all on the one fish. Luck was not with him though, and with a distinct 'click' the leader and the jighead parted ways An hour passes by without incident, so Mark decides to change to a Squidgy Flickbait. He had been using my 4" Minnow in Lime Tiger as the water had become a little discoloured when the wind picked up. I suggested we re-cycle the plastic, so I took my shabby-looking lure off and put his minnow on. "Don't you catch a bloody fish on it" Mark chuckles. Time for a move. Next spot is similar to the first, but this one is a greater expanse of weeds. Clear sand 'pockets' can be seen using the polarised sunnies, and should be targeted using the same technique as described previously. My first cast with his minnow and I am into a bit of weight. It's a steady drag, and my first thought is a clump of weed. Strangely, my clump of weed starts to swim to the left. Ahhh ... this might be a reasonable fish. One thing I have learned when fishing over the flats is that the fish tend to go HARD. Even the smaller ones can give you some curry in the skinny water, and this fish was having a field day. It was determined to stay as far away from the boat as possible. Mark picks up the landing net...and waits. Finally we get a glimpse of her. Mark looks at his landing net (which is ideal for catching XOS butterflies), looks at the fish, and realises his dilemma. After a few Hail Mary's and some heart-stopping 'swipes' of the net, we finally have this little lady lying on the floor. 78cm and once again in prime condition. Mark takes some happy snaps for me, and off she swims for another day. We continued the drift without success, so it's time to move to where I caught my fish last weekend. The water is a little deeper here and a lot darker, so the slim fish profile come off, and the Mango Ripple swimming grubs go on. I hoped the curly tail would provide added vibration in the darker water, and it paid off, with another three very nice fish for the esky. By now the wind had really sprung up, and it had started to rain, so it was time to head in. Mark had a great day on the water, and I reckon he'll be into a few more fish in the future For those who are interested, we were running 4lb braid and 10lb flurocarbon leader. Jigheads were 1/16oz in the shallows, and 1/8oz in the slightly deeper water. Hook sizes 1/0 or 2/0. Hope you had a great weekend Raiders Cheers Hodgey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jewhunter Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 You are the Lizard Master Hodgey. Beaut looking Flattie in prime condition. Top report again mate with a stack of helpful info in it. Cheers, Grant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray R Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 Good onya Uncle Hodgey, another great report, your nephew would have been stoked not only to catch a few but learn a heap from the master.. Congrats on your outing .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arpie Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 You have one very lucky nepheew there, Hodgey!! Well done on giving him some of the 'secret fishy business' ...... not so secret now, eh?? Can't wait to get you up here one day, to try my backyard! Top fishing & top tips! Cheerio Roberta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brooker435 Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 Hodgey, Fantastic Report a real top read and a Very nice Flattie Indeed. I might use some of your tips in the post and put them into practice at Narrabeen Lakes and Anywhere else I decide to go and chase Flatties Top Stuff...... Regards, Nathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hobbitt Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 NICE ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diver1 Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 awesome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hodgey.son Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 Another great report Dad! Well done. Congrats on another super fish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenno64 Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 Hodgey, There is a hell of a lot of wisdom and common sense in that post. Great read and well done...you are going to have a cracker of a summer! P.S. Nephew scored a free superguide for the day! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brendong Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 Excellent work mate... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slinkymalinky Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 You're just having waaaaayyyyy too much fun at the moment, Hodgey. A great report and a beautiful big lady lizard. Great to see them go back to make more lizards too. I'm about a hairs breadth from hopping in my car and driving 18 hours to come and have a fish with you Cheers, Slinky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james7 Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 The way you describe it makes me feel like I'm there with you Skip! Top report! Fantastic photos too. Can you take a video camera next time, or even better, get a film crew! Love your reports and those big flatties just keep coming and coming! Cheers Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stylo Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 So many great little tips in your post hodgey - thanks for sharing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doug43 Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 Great reports Hodgey Thanks for the tips and what a way to show the ropes to your nephew! Doug. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod L Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 Great read Skip. I'm looking forward to a few days up there over Xmas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.dawg Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 Top report heaps off info Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xtosea Posted December 1, 2009 Share Posted December 1, 2009 Man, you are a big Flathead magnet!!! You should start tagging them to see if you catch the same one twice? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregL Posted December 1, 2009 Share Posted December 1, 2009 Mate excellent read. It's so interesting to compare things I do for snapper to what you do for flatties. So similar, just different signs. You look at weed beds with pockets, so do we, mine are kelp and white bolders. Fish drop offs, same. Your change in rippling water for change of depth or current speed will be my change in swell/wave heights when they hit reef or come threw changing bottom. Water clarity and available light, change lure colour and bait seen changes jerk shads or pogys. A fish is a fish so the rules shouldn't change to much I suppose. Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adjustedpete Posted December 1, 2009 Share Posted December 1, 2009 Thanx Hodgey, That is just gold. With that kind of info we will all be having flatties for dinner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenno64 Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 Hodgey, My parcel arrived with 3 new SX60s, a ps45F and a vx35....I'm ready to try some new weapons:) Thanks for the info on diving depths etc. I have some good spots to work them over once work is out of the way! I will let you know how they fare! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hodgey Posted December 4, 2009 Author Share Posted December 4, 2009 Good stuff Rob! I'm looking forward to your feedback .... Cheers Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkHorse Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 Ian, As always an excellent read and awesome pictures. Heading down on friday! Can't wait and am so looking forward to it. Some excellent tips and recommendations! Thanks again for all your help and information. Regards, Rob. P.S. Is it worth brining my blue swimmer nets/pots???? Anything else I should bring? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now