# Pine PB 16/6/13



## GaryD (Apr 7, 2012)

I had a brilliant day on the water on Sunday morning. The sun was nice and bright and the cool air had disappeared by the time I launched from Dohlies at around 9AM.

I dropped a new SX40 out one side of the yak and launched a zman curly tail in motor oil out the other. BAM straight away the rod with the plastic buckles over and I pull in a juvenile flathead at around 35cm.









I was thinking this was going to be a magic day, when next cast on the plastic saw it snagged. It takes a special fisherman to snag on mud/sand banks. Thankfully I got it off without too many dramas.

I start my troll along the flats with the tide starting to come in and then the sx40 gets a nudge and after a spirited fight a 25cm bream pokes his head out of the water and gets scooped up in my net. He went back to fatten up for next time









Another 5 minutes or so and then the same rod goes over and the bream's twin comes on board and gets released also.









I decided to try a section of water I don't normally use. Unfortunately it was a bit too shallow for the hardbody to work up its motion and it kept just banging into the bottom. Luckily the zman proved the goods and a slightly bigger flathead came on board. With my superior skills in handling fish I managed to get a nice little prick from his side spines ouch.









Things started to quieten down on the flats so I went for a pedal upstream and worked a location which has paid off before. My mate dropped an alleged 80cm lizard here the other week so I was hoping to outdo him and pick up "his fish." The water was a bit deeper here so I switched up to a new lure the tackleshop but me onto. It's a Micro Mullet in white and pink and dives to around 2-2.5m. Looks very similar to my trusty old Tilsan Minnow which I lost a while back and haven't been able to find in the right colour.

Anyway, less infomerical more fishing...

I kept my plastic out the other side and just slowly pedaled with the tide. As I was passing a friendly boaty who was anchored up my plastic rod bent over sharply. First thoughts were snag, but then it started moving. I was pretty excited and even the boaties were taking a keen look and pointing at me, while I tried on my best imitation of knowing what I was doing. As I was skulldragging the fish to the yak I managed to get my second line caught up, fortunately the fish dove down at that point and separated the lines for me 8) After a reasonable battle, many head shakes, me thinking it was going to spit the hook and a couple of failed net attempts, I loosened the drag off a touch and let it wear itself out a bit more. Once it settled down I scooped her up and started taking some happy snaps. No monster compared to some of the other I see here, but I was still stoked to pull in a fish at 60cm (prev best was 55cm). In trying to release the fish, I managed to drop it out of the net, it spiked me in the legs :lol: , then hid down behind my mirage drive. It took some coaxing but some foul language did the trick and eventually she went back to spawn me some dinner down the track.

























By now it was 11AM and I was thinking I should have kept one of the bream for dinner. I kept my troll upstream and after getting my hardbody fouled I reeled it in and got smacked by a large bream about 2m from the yak. Unfortunately after a little fight he didn't stick and got away.

At this point I turned for home and as I passed the spot where I missed the bream my hardbody got hit again. The heavy feel on the line meant I had another flatty on and this one felt like dinner. I pulled him in without much fuss and got a nice eating sized one of 41cm. Perfect way to end a perfect day.


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## captaincoochin (Nov 11, 2012)

Good you got a feed mate. And I wouldn't be too worried about your hardbody not swimming correctly and banging on the bottom. I've caught plenty of good lizards this way. I think it may even excite them. I like to give a crank then let your lure of choice float a little then crank again. Also lessens the amount of snags cos no body likes loosing pricey lures.
Tristan.


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## Scott (Aug 29, 2005)

Nice one mate. Unfortunately for you, you sound a bit like me. As soon as a flat chap is boated, the claret starts flowing. That last one was a top fish, well done.


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## Beekeeper (Aug 20, 2011)

You had an interesting Pine trip, Gary... loved the "With my superior skills in handling fish I managed to get a nice little prick from his side spines ouch." humour.

Great to see the Pine coming good... pity the front at Scarby wasn't so fisho-friendly this morning.

Jimbo


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## Bretto (May 23, 2010)

Nice report Gary. You did far far better than me on Sunday. I launched a little further upstream. I've got bigger bream lures than the flathead I caught.


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## bruus (Aug 27, 2010)

Nice to see the Pine firing for you, love those days.


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## Buck (Jan 4, 2012)

Great report. Just a few questions. 
How light is the line your using? I'm guessing the lighter the better??
Also what size & weight jig head? I'm new to soft plastics and after a couple of trips still to find where all these fish are hiding. I did manage to find a snag and lost a new koolie but that's life.


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## wayneedden (May 19, 2012)

Nice report on the pine. Been out there a couple times.
Has'nt been too fruitful for me, ;-) 
But always enjoy the paddle.
Good work mate, 
Wayne


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## Pilch (May 26, 2013)

GaryD said:


> while I tried on my best imitation of knowing what I was doing.


Classic stuff Mate, well done.


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## GaryD (Apr 7, 2012)

Buck said:


> Great report. Just a few questions.
> How light is the line your using? I'm guessing the lighter the better??
> Also what size & weight jig head? I'm new to soft plastics and after a couple of trips still to find where all these fish are hiding. I did manage to find a snag and lost a new koolie but that's life.


Actually I'm running a bit of a mixed bag. On the plastics reel I have 5lb PowerPro braid with 8lb flurocarbon. On the hardbody reel I have 12lb fins braid with 8lb leader. Once the 12lb wears out I'll probably go something lighter. For trolling I always use a 1/4 oz jig head as I am chasing flathead and want the jig head on or near the bottom as I troll along. I find with this setup the lure only seems to hit the bottom at around 1-1.5m of water depending on tides and the like. Going with the tide seems to make it sit lower in the water. Sorry not sure of the hook size but fairly large hooks as the flathead have a big mouth. If you ask your tackle shop you should be able to get something that suits.

To be honest I have much better success with trolling vs casting. But the most important thing is location location location. Once you get a few you'll start to know what depths they hide at and what locations. For me in the Pine, run in tide is a must. So I will normally start at the bottom of the tide or the last of the run out then just troll around hoping for something to jump on my line. Keep an eye on your rods to see when the lure is hitting the bottom, it will usually bend over slightly and twitch. Having a sounder helps a lot too as you can quickly find the optimal depth for running your lure at.


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## Buck (Jan 4, 2012)

GaryD thanks for the reply. There is some good info in that. Cheers


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