First Flatty Session 2012

Well between work, visiting relatives and really poor weather I have not managed to get out much and put a paddle in the water.  Thus I was ecstatic when the stars aligned last Saturday to not only give me perfect weather but also perfect tides to target some flathead.

I arrived at my launch spot early to find a perfect blue sky and absolutely no wind.  The tide was also high making for a non-muddy launch that was a pleasant surprise as the mud in this creek is ultra-sticky and adheres to everything and I hate dragging it into the kayak at the beginning of a session.

Launching the yak it was not long before I began casting. I hadn’t been fishing for flathead for over 6 months and was unsure whether I would  manage to get the technique perfected on my first foray in 2012.  I stuck to my tried and tested technique of targeting the mouths of creeks and drains that emptied into the river hoping a flattie would be sitting below it waiting for any bait that had attempted to hide up the drains on high tide.

The first few drains yielded no action but eventually my 80mm Squidgie Fish in Black Gold was picked up and I netted my first flathead for the session.  It only went 39cm but that first fish is always an important one to give the confidence a boost.  I continued to drift out with the tide but the fishing was really slow.  The tides were not quite right yet as I prefer to fish two hours either side of the low and the tide had only just began to ebb.

The fishing continued to be dead and it wasn’t until I saw a boat downstream that I decided to head upstream and try my luck at some other tried and tested drains.  On one of these casts I managed to hook up on a better flathead  that was again sitting below a large creek mouth and this time was a little better measuring 46cm on the brag mat.

Continuing up the creek against the tide I really had to pinch myself as to how lucky I was.  It was an absolutely glorious day and it was great to be back on the water!

Moving upstream I passed  another boat drifting with the tide who had managed a bream and a tailor on SP’s.  As I passed them I moved up the bank and my SP was picked up by another flathead.  This one went 42cm and was caught on a bank that for whatever reason always seems to hold good numbers of flathead.  20 metres further along the bank I was on again to another flathead and this one went 48cm.  These fish were below average for this system and I was hoping that the bigger fish would soon show themselves.

I eventually arrived at a bend in the river that was one of my favourite flattie locations and had produced some good fish in the past.  The inside of the bend had a large amount of sand deposited on it unlike the rest of the river that was covered in mud.  Making my way around the band I cast a series of three casts at 2 metre intervals from the bank.  Making sure I covered as much territory as possible.  Eventually I was rewarded with another flathead of 47cm but was still frustrated I could not find a bigger model.

Moving around the bend I managed another rat that self-released next to the kayak before I moved into a part of the creek that was more bream country than flathead country.  I switched to a Z Man  Streakz which some average bream took a liking to but as I was using a 1/0 jighead they couldn’t pick it up easily.  I did manage to hook up on good bream but he dropped the SP early in the fight and then I managed another and this time the hook was nicely set and he was netted  after a short tussle.

I continued upstream and the bream continued to play without hooking up.  Eventually I decided to head back to the launch with a few random casts along the way.  The trip downstream yielded another average bream and a 37cm flathead before I stowed the rods and headed for home.

It had been such a relaxing day on the water that I wished I had brought a couple of beers to drink as I floated back to the car as it was really a perfect day!  Sigh!