Nice Flattie
- Ben
- Junior Member
- Posts: 853
- Joined: Tue Oct 04, 2005 10:00 am
- Location: Coffs Harbour, North Coast NSW
Nice Flattie
Well, the nice calmness forecast for today up here didn't eventuate as a stiff nor-easter whipped up the seas a bit too much for comfort.
So I put the boat into a local creek with thoughts of a jack on lures or maybe a bream on prawns..
Cruised on up the creek slowly (low tide) and found the spot, there is a nice rock bar with a couple of metres of water running past it. Nosed into the opposite bank and sat back and flicked a prawn out. A minute or so later I felt a nudge on the line and lifted the rod, felt some good weight and next thing it just went nuts!!!
The little 30 size Pinnacle Matrix with 4lb braid on a Shimano Bream Raider 2-4kg rod screamed as line peeled off - At this time I was starting to worry - figuring it was a good flathead or monster bream the concern was for the 6lb fluorocarbon leader. First sign of the fish was as it shot into the shallows near the boat before turning and straight back at the rock bar.
After a few minutes of back and forth and some tense moments of surface headshaking I slipped the net under the big flattie. I let out a sigh of relief as I had just boated my PB flattie. Weighing in at a smidge under 7lb enough time to take a quick mobile phone picture and slip her back into the water...
So I put the boat into a local creek with thoughts of a jack on lures or maybe a bream on prawns..
Cruised on up the creek slowly (low tide) and found the spot, there is a nice rock bar with a couple of metres of water running past it. Nosed into the opposite bank and sat back and flicked a prawn out. A minute or so later I felt a nudge on the line and lifted the rod, felt some good weight and next thing it just went nuts!!!
The little 30 size Pinnacle Matrix with 4lb braid on a Shimano Bream Raider 2-4kg rod screamed as line peeled off - At this time I was starting to worry - figuring it was a good flathead or monster bream the concern was for the 6lb fluorocarbon leader. First sign of the fish was as it shot into the shallows near the boat before turning and straight back at the rock bar.
After a few minutes of back and forth and some tense moments of surface headshaking I slipped the net under the big flattie. I let out a sigh of relief as I had just boated my PB flattie. Weighing in at a smidge under 7lb enough time to take a quick mobile phone picture and slip her back into the water...
- vincentvega
- Senior Member
- Posts: 2446
- Joined: Tue Oct 04, 2005 10:00 am
- Location: Brisvegas
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- Ben
- Junior Member
- Posts: 853
- Joined: Tue Oct 04, 2005 10:00 am
- Location: Coffs Harbour, North Coast NSW
stinky wrote:you didn't eat it?
No, flathead over 40cm are the breeding female population. I try to avoid keeping fish that are the breeders that keep my sport ongoing. It saddens me when I see pictures of people in the paper carrying massive dead flathead.
Here in Coffs we have a "Fish of the week" comp, flathead are one species and this would easily have taken this weeks top fish. There is a fella that lives at Urunga that has taken out two weeks of the comp with a 5.5kg fish that was weighed in LIVE and subsequently released.
Big flathead are a dry, strong flavoured fish that completely suck to prepare, hence I don't eat them. There are far nicer and easier to prepare fish than flathead.
I got a mudcrab on the weekend too ate that with salad, mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm