Flathead day at the Bluff

[re-tyred]

After spending 3 days at sea at Bermagui, for no fish in the freezer, I was fired up to go fishing when I got home. Monday I did my normal early morning swim and bike ride and was getting ready to go fishing when we had a coast guard call out. After heading offshore and providing fuel to a goose that didn't take enough , it seemed a bit late to be launching my tinny. Tuesday was forecast for warm weather and no wind so I decided I would forget the early morning swim and go early.
So today I crossed the bar in the half light and headed to red bluff. Two plans in my mind, try for a Kingfish if there was activity at the bluff and go flathead fishing if the first didn't work out.
Well there was plenty of fish jumping and splashing about at the bluff, but just couldn't get them to take a lure or a bait jig. I figured they were small salmon. Plan B came into effect and I moved out clear of the rocks baited up and dropped in , pretty soon had a small flathead that went back. Followed it up with a decent 45cm blue spot. Then it went a bit quiet so I tried several different depth out to 20 mtrs. Seemed like nothing much biting deeper than about 12mtrs. I moved east and in to 9mtrs ready to drift out on the light northerly wind. This paid dividends as I drift through 10mtrs I caught a couple of 45+cm blue spots then nothing as I went deeper. So I went back and anchored in 10mtrs. An hour later I had 10 large blue spot flatties in the esky. I had caught about another 10 that I threw back. I only kept 40cm plus.
I had another play chasing Kingies at the bluff but no go, just small salmon. Heading home there were vast patches of salmon along the beach, but with 10 good flatties in the esky I didn't bother with them.
So ends another day at sea, that made 5 in a row. I better get some work done around home now.

[re-tyred]

Well headed back to the Bluff area again on Sunday 1st march. Stopped at the rocks to see what was doing there and had a 36cm pinkie first drop. I spent about half an hour there for nothing else, so moved out a bit to the flathead areas. It was a bit slow with just one 45cm flatty in the first half an hour, so I moved up towards lakes tyers and out to 12mtrs on the 10-14mtr bank. Pretty quick and up came another flatty. Settled in for an hour of drift, drive back, drift and had 9 flatties in the 45-55cm range. I was just about to call it quits when a rod bent double and started spooling line. Felt like a gummy, bit of a battle, u comes..... a port jackson shark. damn it. It had swallowed the hook so I cut it off and headed in for early lunch.
Great flat calm day. Sounds like the last for a week or so.

[Sebb]

Me and you both, fooled by another shark species thought they were gummies.
You gotta be happy with the flatties though.