fragmeister Posted October 4, 2019 Share Posted October 4, 2019 Hi Raiders, It was my first trip since the foot surgery and I didn't want to overdo it so I decided to hit the Blue Spotted Flathead off Rosa Gully, hoping to get a feed in a few hours. The swell and the wind were not as predicted and the combination of the two plus the reflected waves off the shore made it a little bumpy. I started a drift in about 35 meters of water straight off Rosa Gully and I had a lot of small bites for the first part of the drift. I later discovered (by jagging a few by accident) that they were whiting. After a while, I hit a patch of flathead and hooked up two on the paternoster rig. The baits went straight back down and up came another two. I repeated the drift a couple of time more and reached my bag limit. I spent a few hours exploring and went home early. Good to be back on the water! 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebel Posted October 4, 2019 Share Posted October 4, 2019 Glad you are up and on the go again. You haven't lost your touch. Great haul. Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zmk1962 Posted October 4, 2019 Share Posted October 4, 2019 (edited) Hey Jim — What a great way to return to the water. Top catch. Hope the medical woes are behind you. cheers Zoran Edited October 4, 2019 by zmk1962 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankS Posted October 4, 2019 Share Posted October 4, 2019 Jim. Looks like your leg has come good just at the right time, you done well . Frank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wazatherfisherman Posted October 4, 2019 Share Posted October 4, 2019 Hi Jim good to hear you're back out fishing Waza Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blaxland Posted October 4, 2019 Share Posted October 4, 2019 Nice job was the drift north to south Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Welster Posted October 4, 2019 Share Posted October 4, 2019 Nice feed there it's great to hear you are back in the water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingie chaser Posted October 4, 2019 Share Posted October 4, 2019 6 hours ago, fragmeister said: .Good to be back on the water! Great that you come up trumps but I bet after all the time off the water just getting back on was the most fun...…………..right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yowie Posted October 4, 2019 Share Posted October 4, 2019 Nice bag limit there Jim. Assume the whiting were the Red Spot variety, only small but quite tasty if you fillet and remove the bones. They sell like hot cakes in some of the coastal towns further north. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pickles Posted October 4, 2019 Share Posted October 4, 2019 Great report Jim, justhad major leg surgery myself, so know what it’s like to be a bit unsteady and need to take it easy - a great catch there mate - the blue spots are extra tasty - great report. thanks, Pickles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryder Posted October 4, 2019 Share Posted October 4, 2019 Nice bag. Glad you're back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fragmeister Posted October 5, 2019 Author Share Posted October 5, 2019 (edited) Thanks all. It was great to be back on the water but I am certainly out of condition for a 3 am start after 3 hours sleep! The drift was north to south Blaxland. Correct Yowie, they were red spots. The foot was a little tender - all that lateral movement I guess, keeping balance in the swell. I settled down last night for a feed of deep-fried flathead and double cooked chips... bloody beautiful! Oh, and a few quiet ales. Funny thing, I didn't seem to feel any pain after that! BTW, I didn't mention earlier that I have changed my flathead bottom bouncing strategy a little. Through the entire drift, I will be getting bites. I believe most of those bites are either Red Spot Whiting or small Flathead. With one rod in the rod holder further out back and the other in my hand in closer, I will feel every bite in the handheld rod and strike at many bites which of course are often too small to hook up. Eventually, I will strike at a more serious bite and it will be a decent Bluespot. Almost immediately I would hook up on the rod in the rod holder which ofcourse arrives at the patch of fish a little later. So, basically, my strategy is that as long as I don't start the drift too far away from the patch of Blue Spots I leave both rods in the rod holders and stop interfering. There will be plenty of bait still on the hook by the time I am over the right patch of fish and the Bluespots will hook themselves. This saves the effort of striking at small fish, winding up a little way to see if the fish is on, letting it back down again and effectively taking it out of the bite zone. Not a lot of finesse but I think it is more effective to let the fish do the work for you. I am sure this will be a familiar strategy for many but for those who like me can tend to over-manage the rods this may be of value. It is certainly true that I will catch more fish with a rod held in the hand but they will be species and sizes I don't want. We have had a few discussions on bottom bouncing in this forum... So I am interested in how many of you would use a less managed rod holder approach and how many want to keep the rod in hand? Cheers Jim Edited October 5, 2019 by fragmeister 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scratchie Posted October 5, 2019 Share Posted October 5, 2019 Great to see you back on the water mate! And you found a feed. Gotta be happy with that! Cheers scratchie!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hookerbruce Posted October 5, 2019 Share Posted October 5, 2019 Yes on the days when we are feeling older the close in blue spots are an easy option. I usually drift with two rods hold one and leave one with a heavier sinker in the rod holder. Some days rodholder catches nearly all the fish other days I catch all the fish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fragmeister Posted October 5, 2019 Author Share Posted October 5, 2019 3 hours ago, Scratchie said: Great to see you back on the water mate! And you found a feed. Gotta be happy with that! Cheers scratchie!!! Thanks Scratchie. I don’t know how I survived this last 6 months without the stress relief! my wife reckons I have been easy to get on with though (not!) Cheers Jim 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yowie Posted October 5, 2019 Share Posted October 5, 2019 Jim, I drift with one rod only. If I can feel the small pickers, I will lift the rod to take the bait away from them, then drop it down again. If I can feel that I have hooked one spikey flattie, I will leave it to struggle for a short time. This will attract the blue spots sometimes, so you can hook them on the second hook. Sometimes it is only another spikey. 😜 You can usually feel a blue spot give the bait a good hit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zmk1962 Posted October 5, 2019 Share Posted October 5, 2019 I drift with max 2 rods if I am fishing alone, or 1 rod per person - too many tangles otherwise. My boat sits high which can cause issue with controlling drift direction. I drift with a 2 hook paternoster for flatties. Top hook is bated with an SP, bottom hook with bait (usually salted pillie half , slated tailor or squid). Depending on drift speed (current+wind), I use enough lead to maintain a 30-45deg line angle off perpendicular, I find any more angle than that I have a too much line out acting as a sail in the water that just lifts the lead. I drop, maintaining finger pressure on the line coming off the spool so that I can feel it hit bottom, give a meter or two and close bail, if I get a strike but no hook up, I let out some line to maintain contact with that bottom position, this usually leads to a hit and hook up, if not I let out a bit more line and drift a bit more, when line exceeds 45deg I reel in and start all over. My wife prefers to let out heaps of line and sit and wait. Last outing I had 6 flattie keepers in the bag and she had zero. Cheers Zoran 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoingFishing Posted October 7, 2019 Share Posted October 7, 2019 (edited) Great report Jim. Must have been very refreshing for the body soul and mind to get back on the water !! I usually bottom bash with four rods out. Two a bit further out and two closer to the boat. This stops most tangles. I prefer a minimalist approach to flathead fishing and will leave the rod in the holder until the fish is ON. I rarely strike at a fish. Edited October 7, 2019 by GoingFishing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big Neil Posted October 7, 2019 Share Posted October 7, 2019 Cheers for the reports Jim. Really glad that your foot is on the mend, hope it continues to do so and causes you no problems from fishing. Only 7 weeks till Cod opening, if there's enough water LOL bn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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