Anyway enough politics I need to talk fishing! Our plan was to ditch bait and focus on the fantastic plastic approach. We arrived just on sunrise and the tide was two hours from being fully drained. The cars were parked at the bootom of the old jetty and it seemed we had enough water left on the flats to scoot straight across to the end of the jetty. We did so but it's fair to say Shooneze was riding low and felt the going tough as I moved freely like a Welspool skate in six inches of moving water.
The sounders showed we still had 8m of water on the north side of the jetty end which was still allowing us at least 20m width across to the flats. A nice little area to flick some plastics. It seemed there was quite the eddy occurring here as the surrounding water drained hard and fast towards the channel. This helped to maintain position as we began our flicks. I started with a 3inch pumpkin seed and got the jghead right to about 1/6th of an ounce to reach bottom. It wasn't long before our friend the flathead appeared. A comfortable 30cm and a nice start. Shooneze was working close on the pylons of the structure and had simialr hits but he was yet to even land a snag! Much to my disappointment! There were a few more hits and misses but it was fair to say the sounder showed a lot of activity in this area constantly.
It wasn't long before the flats had completely drained and we beached the yaks for a bit of a look. Interestingly a lot of stink boats pop arond this corner of the jetty and hold anchor on the run out to get some fresh bait for a gummy attack out deep. This made our drift approach difficult and we decided to beach on the flats for a session. Just as I pulled up a friendly octopus was retreating to the edges and I couldn't resist but to grab some fresh bait and change over for a bait session. Warning - Flick sticks don't like skates!!! It wasn't long before my fresh bait approach attracted the wrong kind of specimen on the end of my road and squealed away with disgust! We collected some of the many clams/pipis/molluscs (not sure what they were) and used those thinking the whiting may come on at the turn of the tide but to no evail as yet.
We grabbed the sand pump and went looking for old mate the one armed bandit! aka nippers! I know the whiting love these critters and the ones we found were the smallest I have ever seen but nonetheless we grabbed around twenty for an assualt back at the jetty on the incoming tide. The flats were soaked quite quickly on the turn and before we knew it Shooneze was having trouble remounting in his yak. His persistence paid off though as he returned to the jetty with his whiting rig in hand and several more nippers at his disposal. I persisted with the pipis and it didn't quite take off. Shooneze was onto a beautiful 35-40cm whiting within seconds of dropping down the bandits. He landed three before I could reluctantly change my rig and as the tide changed into full gear so did my luck as I pulled from the depths a Wrasse! (Think it was a Wrasse, big teeth, coloured sides, gold fish looking!) Shooneze was busy landing some beautiful whiting for the dinner table and I couldn't seem to get in on the action. Then we ran out of bandits!!!!
The tide rose quickly and we tied up to the jetty with a few more stink boats returning to our special spot! It was amazing to look through the jetty and see how hard the current was pulling. Glad we had found our eddy and tied up for now. Really have to look at a proper anchor system and anyone who can give some advice I am willing to listen. We retreated back across the flats but only when Shooneze felt like the water was high enough!!!!!!
Overall a great day had exploring and learning about a new spot. The tides run very hard here and that made the going tough but by no means impossible to fish. I would definitely return for a similar session.
Yellow Dagger out.
P.S How do I attach some pics???
This is where it gets interesting, it's not hard once you figure it out
