Hodgey Posted July 17, 2010 Share Posted July 17, 2010 GDay everyone At 3pm yesterday I had a sneak look at the Willy Weather site, and commented to my work colleagues that conditions for Saturday looked ideal. Moon phase, wind strength and direction, tide movement and clear skies all pointed towards a good morning on the water. The only downside was water temp, which is currently hovering around 11 degrees. A confirmation e-mail from Deno had us set for Saturday. Kickoff this morning was 8:00am at the boatshed and we were quickly heading to some deep water. Within 5 minutes of arriving, the first fish of 50cm was splashing around in the esky, quickly followed by a 57cm model. With the water temp so low, a slow retrieve is the order of the day. Each cast should take you a couple of minutes to retrieve, with a lot of short, gentle hops on the way. Ironically, contrary to popular belief, every fish was caught casting against the current. At the 40 minute mark, we had 7 fish in the esky between 50cm and 59cm ... enough to feed our families. Now it was purely for entertainment. Half an hour before slack tide, and the piscatorial Gods decided to smile down upon us. Dene sets the hook on a solid fish, which doggedly seeks the bottom of the lake whilst making the drag on his reel sing that sweet song. Up comes a very respectable fish of 77cm A bloody nice Winter fish! Twenty minutes later and I managed to land a similar fish, also 77cm Strewth! Two quality fish in the middle of Winter! A quick re-tie of my leader and the 4" Swimming Mullet goes sailing back out across the water. I light up a quick smoke while waiting for the lure to finally reach the bottom, commenting to Dene (for the umpteenth time) on the extraordinary quality of the fish being caught. A quick couple of hops and the lures starts to swim off. I set the hook and it's immediately obvious that this is an even better fish. Fighting quality fish in deep and obstruction - free water is a lot easier on your heart , and all you need is patience and a little luck to land them. 86cm See ya girl! Shortly after, the tide turned and it was like flicking a switch ... the fish had gone. No complaints from us though Just for something different, we're going to have another crack at them tomorrow. We got a great feed today, so the esky will be left at home. I wonder what will transpire .... Have a great weekend everyone Hodgey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slinkymalinky Posted July 17, 2010 Share Posted July 17, 2010 You're making sound easy, Hodgey & Deno but I know that a lot of work and experience goes into you rocking back up to the ramp with a full esky when almost everyone else is going fishless. Nice work and cracking fish, boys :thumbup: Congrats on a honker session, Slinky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicktoozoff Posted July 17, 2010 Share Posted July 17, 2010 Nice going Hodgey, good to see that someone had a good saturday. Stuck at work this weekend and the weather looks like it's going to shut down for monday through wednesday. GRRRRRR! That 86cm croc is fat as, very nice. Cheers Nick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arpie Posted July 17, 2010 Share Posted July 17, 2010 Gee!!What an amazing session for the middle of winter, Hodgey & Dene!! :1clap: In superb condition as well!! I vote we have a Social down in Tuross! Tomorrow, I'm having a bit of a Pirtek type comp amongst some yakkin' buddies from around the state & Qld ...... sort of a State of Origin! I just hope that I can land 2 to contribute to NSW's total length!! Fingers crossed!! Well done boys!! Roberta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul.kenny Posted July 17, 2010 Share Posted July 17, 2010 Well done guys, great session and outstanding fish . It does demonstrate the value of local knowledge and closely watching the conditions to ensure you adapt to the fish behaviour!! Those big lizards would have been great fun on light gear and would have made the cold morning worth the effort Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray R Posted July 17, 2010 Share Posted July 17, 2010 top stuff Hodgey, great looking lizards, makes the cold morning start well and truly worth it, the secret must be in that special twitch you have. LOL.. Congrats to you and Dene... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robeebee Posted July 17, 2010 Share Posted July 17, 2010 terrific session as usual mate onya Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod L Posted July 18, 2010 Share Posted July 18, 2010 Great work fellas As I was reading it I had a sense of dé·jà vu so I did a quick search. Looks like the time of year for big flatties in Tuross July 20, 2008 report Not sure what happened in 2009 though? Geez, it must have been cold if you're pulling out hats like that Dene Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenno64 Posted July 18, 2010 Share Posted July 18, 2010 That is senstaional in the middle of winter. Hodgey, your winter techniques certainly work. What depth of water were you averaging? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hodgey Posted July 18, 2010 Author Share Posted July 18, 2010 Great work fellas As I was reading it I had a sense of dé·jà vu so I did a quick search. Looks like the time of year for big flatties in Tuross July 20, 2008 report Not sure what happened in 2009 though? Geez, it must have been cold if you're pulling out hats like that Dene Yep, 2009 was a write off due to floods I think? Must be time you came home to visit the outlaws, Rod! Cheers Skip That is senstaional in the middle of winter. Hodgey, your winter techniques certainly work. What depth of water were you averaging? GDay Rob Average depth is 9.4 metres. How is the fishing your way mate? We had a quick look today, and this was the best of them. Same techniques, same lures, but a lot of under size fish today. Cheers Hodgey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jewgaffer Posted July 18, 2010 Share Posted July 18, 2010 Excellent result on the flathead Hodgey..... Tuross and Narooma have always been among the best places on the coastline for flathead and going on your results lately it certainly appears that the better size flathead are in pretty good numbers at the moment .. going on the results on the bream up here throughout winter and even lately it's surprising that bream have become so scarce down your way and when you look at both areas it certainly speaks volumes for the standard of fishing in Sydney at the moment.... Cheers jewgaffer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cat-as-trophy Posted July 18, 2010 Share Posted July 18, 2010 (edited) Gee!!What an amazing session for the middle of winter, Hodgey & Dene!! :1clap: In superb condition as well!! I vote we have a Social down in Tuross! Tomorrow, I'm having a bit of a Pirtek type comp amongst some yakkin' buddies from around the state & Qld ...... sort of a State of Origin! I just hope that I can land 2 to contribute to NSW's total length!! Fingers crossed!! Well done boys!! Roberta I totally agree with Roberta! what a great haul of quality fish & I want to hook the ones you put back Rex & Cath Edited July 18, 2010 by mrs flightmanager Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james7 Posted July 18, 2010 Share Posted July 18, 2010 (edited) There's no doubt about it Skip, you and Dene are the Tuross Masters!!! What quality fish!!! However, the photos are starting to all look the same ... Dene holding huge flathead, ... you holding huge flathead ... You releasing huge flathead. Why don't you add some "fruit" like Slinky does? Maybe include a banana or two next time? Brilliant report and great photos! Cheers Peter PS Also, why is Dene wearing my beanie? And, do you think the flatties are in such great condition 'cause they've eaten all the bream? Edited July 18, 2010 by peterS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenno64 Posted July 18, 2010 Share Posted July 18, 2010 And another cracker to top the weekend off On fire in winter!!Good on you guys. I'm hoping to start getting out there again soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davegroves68 Posted July 18, 2010 Share Posted July 18, 2010 VERY good fish fellas. Well done Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slinkymalinky Posted July 18, 2010 Share Posted July 18, 2010 Now you're just showing off I'm not sure how you managed to train all those flatties to follow you and Deno around?? Maybe its all the food you've clearly been stuffing down their heads to get 'em into condition. Seriously, Hodgey... that last one is a pig. What a cracker fish Cheers, Slinky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norto Posted July 18, 2010 Share Posted July 18, 2010 Hodgey, Just wondering mate do you always use plastics or do you occasionally slip a bait in the water? I have only recently caught my first few flatties on plastics after fishing with bait my whole life.. and I gotta say I don't think I'll go back to the bait. Norto. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Hatte Posted July 18, 2010 Share Posted July 18, 2010 Way to go Hodgey, that is a cracker of a winter flattie session!!!! Never fished down that way before, but after seeing this i think its going on my to-do list Mick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jewhunter Posted July 18, 2010 Share Posted July 18, 2010 Crikey Skip! They are awesome winter crocs mate. Well done to Dene & yourself on a top session. You truly are the croc master! Cheers, Grant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hodgey Posted July 18, 2010 Author Share Posted July 18, 2010 Hodgey, Just wondering mate do you always use plastics or do you occasionally slip a bait in the water? Norto. I only use lures mate, as I am too lazy to collect bait Thanks for the feedback folks. It's great to see the fishing scene salvaged by these big girls. They're all released after the obligatory photos, in the hope that they'll make an appearance again another day. Hodgey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brendong Posted July 19, 2010 Share Posted July 19, 2010 Two 80 plus ladies in 2 days now that's just getting greedy....welldone my friend, well done... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACIMA Posted July 19, 2010 Share Posted July 19, 2010 Top effort and Great report Hodgey. The pics of those crocs are awesome you'll have to get them printed and as the Kerrigans would say "These are going straight to the pool room" Brad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IVZ350 Posted July 20, 2010 Share Posted July 20, 2010 big crocs and you hodgey go hand in hand mate dont matter what time of the year it is!! great Flatties mate Ivz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squizy Posted July 20, 2010 Share Posted July 20, 2010 Mate Well done....... It looks as though you picked up those ladies that I involuntarily released the other weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tide'n'knots Posted July 28, 2010 Share Posted July 28, 2010 you are a flathead freak hodgey! they are superb fish to catch at any time of the year let alone the middle of winter. pete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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