Georges River - Part 2 - 6/4/13

As mentioned in Part 1, we were moving over to the boats, jetties and flats as Luke and Chris were targeting bream while I was determined to take a few Flathead home with me. One of the lures I'd picked up from GLADIATOR (www.gladiatortackle.com.au) was the Elfin Shrimp. The Elfin lures are made by Tackle House in Japan and the colours I had on hand were designed and chosen by GLADIATOR and are exclusive to the Australian market.

I'd briefly given these a run over Easter when Danielle and I picked up a very chunky 32cm fork bream. We'd been casting these over the weed beds and sandy patches near Bundeena and slowly rolled them just above the weed. They're a suspending lure so pauses and twitches were our method of attack. With minimal structure around, I was using light gear and had them rigged up to a main line of 7lb Gosen Braid (which feels and casts like 4lb!) and a 4m leader of Asso High Stretch 2kg SuperFluorocarbon. The extra long leader was due to the very clear water and its length would help minimise the spooking of any fish.

We'd landed a couple of undersize fish which Danielle handled effortlessly but you should have seen her face when this guy latched on. A big run had her holding the rod tightly with both hands and eventually she says 'You can have a turn now!' which I was more than happy to oblige. He was a great fish and if you're lucky you may catch him next time as he went back to fight another day.

For the flatties on the Georges River, I'd selected the two natural brown colours, one with brown stripes and one with black. While the other guys hit the boats, I moved into the shallows and ran the lures down the length of the jetties. This is a favourite haunt of Bream but it's also a great place to target Flatthead as they lay in wait in the shadows, ready to pounce on anything swimming by.

It didn't take long before the lure starts working and I land a few smaller bream that are seeking shelter around the pylons. Nothing huge and this size seems to be consistent as Luke and Chris are getting small fish from the boats as well. The hits are coming pretty quick and I don't think the Flathead are getting a chance! I decide to work the weed edges instead. And it was a good choice, too! Flathead number one zips off with the lure and he's quickly brought under control and led into the waiting net. At 45 cms he's the perfect size to join the Jewfish in the live well. One more and that'll be plenty for me and the in-laws. Gotta stay on the good side, you know.

The water depth I'm working is only a meter or so and I'm winding quickly to get the lure down and then I'm twitching it along so it bumps into the bottom and kicks up puffs of sand and dirt. This method gets the attention of any fish in the vicinity and works well for Bream, Flathead or Whiting. Another Flathead jumps on the lure and he's just a bit smaller at 43 cms but he's still big enough, so there's my quota for the day.

The boys are still hitting the boat hulls so I leave them to it and continue around the corner. There's a nice little stretch that quickly changes depth from 1m to 1.5m and this is a prime ambush point for bigger Flathead. The extra depth gives them added protection now that the sun is up and I'm hoping they've read the manual. The lures easily get down to this depth and now I'm continuously slow-rolling them and soon I'm connected to a much better fish. I can let the fish run and as long as he hasn't completely swallowed the lure, there shouldn't be much chance of a bust off.
He glides towards me and ooh, he looks about 55-60 cms, so he's a beauty. And then I see that only one point of the back treble has just lipped him and he only needs one glimpse of the kayak for him to turn and shake his head and he throws the hook. Yeeearrrgghhh! He would've been released anyway but a photo would've been nice. No point crying over lost fish though and my time is running out.

I turn and start to head back and figure I'll get another half a dozen casts in. The wind has picked up slightly and now I'm casting with the wind and getting some good distance with these lures. I've altered my retrieve again (it's always good to mix things up a bit) and I'm back to the twitch-pause retrieve. Whack! But no hook up. I pause and give the lure the slightest twitch and then I feel a heavy weight pull on my line. I set the hooks and woah, this is heavy! This thing bolts and line zings off the reel. This is quickly followed by a few head shakes and then nothing. I wind in the slack line and find a very frayed length of leader without a lure on the end of it. This unfortunately  can happen with big flatties. They take the whole lure and their serrated teeth can make short work of light leaders, especially 4lb. And I was really starting to take a shine to that lure, too.

No more time for me though and it's back to the ramp with a good haul of fish. Well I'm sold on these Elfin Shrimps and their next mission will be extracting bream from racks and the oyster covered rocks in Woolooware Bay. Next time you're in your local tackle shop, look for these and add them to your arsenal of lures. I'm sure you wont be disappointed. Now, what are the tides for this weekend...? Happy yakkin', everyone!

Cheers,
Cid