Tuesday

Monday’s session had not been very promising – there had been a distinct lack of Flathead in the usual locations at Bribie. Perhaps they were all in 1770.

So, on Tuesday I decided to fish the mainland side of the Passage, by the old oyster jetty. Low tide was around 5.30 am and at 0.3m it was a reasonably low, low tide. It is always good to see the areas you fish on a low tide as all of the fish holding structures, such as; banks, drains, gutters and holes, are revealed. The difficulty is remembering where they are once the tide comes in.

It was a cold morning with an overcast sky, the wind was in the process of switching from a south westerly to a northerly and was forecast to drop to nothing midway through the morning. Conditions were calm and I waded through the mud and exposed weed beds until I reached the water’s edge.

I was using my light rod and reel – G.Loomis GL2 4-8lb Fast Action 6’6” Spin Rod and a Shimano Stella 2500FE reel, 6lb braid, 10lb fluorocarbon leader. This set up has almost become an extension of my arm and I reckon it is difficult to beat as a combination for light fishing. Still, if you are reading this Mr. Loomis, I would be happy to give any of you models a try – just pop them in the post.

It was hard work. The tide had passed low but the water was not really moving yet. There was a fair amount of algae weed floating around that kept clogging the jighead. I started with a big GULP Lime Tiger Jerkshad on a 1/8th 1/0 jighead bit after no hits for 45 minutes I decided to try something different.

As you know I am a sucker for anything new in the Tackle Store and the GULP Swimmow caught my eye the other day. This is a welcome addition to the arsenal and GULP has been missing this profile. It is basically a Fry or Worm shape with a small thumping paddle tail. It is four inches long but unlike the various other shads on offer it is still fairly small and light. I picked up the Pumpkinseed, Peppered Prawn and Emerald Shine colours. I decided to try the Emerald Shine first. I watched the lure in the clear water and it has an excellent action. The paddle tail thumps furiously on the drop and whenever you jerk the lure through the water.

I moved further along the edge of the weed beds towards the green channel marker. About 10 cast after the lure change I felt the unmistakable thump of a Flathead bite just a few metres from my feet. I paused and then struck – I was on. After a few runs I had a dark, speckled, weed dwelling Flathead on the mud flats. Quite a colour contrast to those I had been catching the week before. It was 48cm long. A few casts later I caught another – just under 40 cm. I made it to the channel marker then turned back. The tide was coming in and it soon forced me back from the edge of the weed beds. I felt a few rapid bites and almost hooked something – Bream , Pike – not sure.

I had one good fish but needed at least one more to feed my mob. I decided to try White Patch and drove up there. The water was up to the tree line when I arrived, so I decided to concentrate on a few of the rocky/ sandy drain areas about 10 metres out. I could not cast over the edge of the drop off as it was now too far out. I was still fishing with the GULP Swimmow and the Pike were the first takers – I caught three in quick succession.

Calm conditions

Fishing spectators

GULP Swimmow – my new favorite

A Flathead from the weed beds

Another smaller one

Pike like GULP Swimmows

Plenty of Flathead food in the shallows

Swimmow gets another at White Patch

I moved along in the shallows, walking south and casting in front of me. It was now just after 11.00am. After about 30 minutes, a fish hit the plastic on the drop and took off. It was hooked straight away and after a few solid runs, I had it in the keeper bag. It was another Flathead, just under 50cm. I spread casts over the whole area and after another ten minutes I had another good bite and though the fish was hooked, but it got off.

Just after noon, with six hours of fishing under my belt, but only two fish in the bag – I gave up.