queensland Surprise Catch - Cabbage Tree Creek 4/8/2010

[Rocket75]

I was lucky enough to sneak in a quick arvo session today down at Cabbage Tree Creek, Sandgate.

Since the birth of our little girl some 7 weeks ago, I have been gazing longingly at any body of water larger than the toilet bowl.

My poor Hobie CEDRIC has been high and dry for far too long, but today we got together and got wet!

3.00pm saw me peddeling with the incoming tide, trolling my way up the creek toward an area that just about always holds some fish for those in the know.

Knowing that Flathead are FOTM is set aside the bream lures I normally troll and put on some deeper diving, large profile lures.

As I worked my way past the silent trawlers, the wind had dropped off leaving lovely glassy conditions, best enjoyed at water level in a yak

No nasty fish interrupted my lazy troll to my destination, and the sounder lit up when I got there, so off with the hard body lures and on with some jig heads and SPs.

I had been planning this assault for many a day, and I'd imagined it just like this:

position myself down current from the fish holding structure, nose into the current, holding position with my peddles, lobbing tasty Gulps! into the tide and hopping it slowly back to the hungry waiting hordes of starving fish.

So, first cast, plan executed perfectly, and I'm on!

Woohoo, though not a big fish by any means, it was a fish, and I was happy.

Yak-side a solid pike releases itself saving me the trouble and I'm safe from the dreaded donut :laugh:

Repositioning myself, I alternate between 2" Gulp! shrimp on my light outfit and a 3" swimming mullet on my heavier gear.

Not more than 5 minutes later the heavier outfit gets a solid whack on a slow retrieve and the drag makes that lovely noise that is like music to a fishing starved desperado. :woohoo:

This fish starts with a slow but heavy run, that quickly becomes a hectic series of quick hard dashes amongst the nearby moored boats. This is what I've been missing, oh it's good to be back on the water.

Working the rudder and peddeling whilst fighting a decent fish is not easy at the best of times, but the pressure I felt to land this fish after waiting so long for the opportunity was enough to get the blood pumping and the hands shaking.

Can you feel my excitement? Imagine how I felt living it!

After a couple of minutes I was rewarded with a largish flash of silver, bigger than any bream I normally encounter at this locale and the pulse lifts a notch higher.

I start thinking Jewfish, as I have caught a few here before, but a quick glimpse was all I got as the unknown Gulp! eater headed for another boat in and effort to rid itself of that pesky jighead.

I change my call from Jewie to Kingy, then with a few more lift and winds it then becomes evident that I am attached to a very angry Tailor.

Worried that my 10lb flurocarbon leader was in danger of meeting the razor gang at the front end of this speedster, I backed off the drag allowing a few more smaller runs till I slipped the net under my foe.

Bail arm open, fish safely enmeshed, I take a small moment to just enjoy the moment.

Looking at the business end of my catch, I realise how lucky I was to get a lip hook up despite the fact the little beast could have easily inhaled the jig-head and SP entirely.

Lip grips activated, I let him have a swim yakside while I got myself organised with brag mat and camera. This part of the dance is a real challenge in a yak, and here I am, out of practice, trying to nurse this angry, toothy critter for a happy snap.

Wet brag mat + wet slimey fish = danger to further reproduction efficiency :ohmy:

Picture taken (PB of 43cm!), gonads still attached, I set him free to harrass bait fish for years to come.

I could go home a happy man, but there is always one more cast, always!

So I peddle back to the scene of my most recent success and lob the smaller lure into the same area. Two hops and I'm up tight again :woohoo:

Now this is fighting differently, I'm thinking flathead...FOTM here I come :cheer: .

After the traditional flathead boatside surge, the net is yet again called to arms and a healthy flattie joins the party. 4lb braid and leader, not bad.

No record setter at about 46cm, I do the same photographical dance to get a momento, and then try to get a self portrait (fail) for the FOTM entry, and then he's back on his way to grow bigger and become a She.

Well, the smile on my face was just about reaching my ears.

I try for the next hour or so to duplicate my efforts, but alas the tide has turned and luck has deserted me. With 2 bite offs and numerous missed hits I troll my way back to the launch site in the failing light.

I leave a happy fisherman, both because I have two lovely girls to go home to, and because my much anticipated session was every bit as enjoyable as I'd have hoped for.

Sorry for the flowery descriptive report, but it's been a while for me, and I wanted to share my excitement.

Hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.

rocket

[taib]

great report mate, nice fish!

Cheers

ty

[Rocket75]

Here's my flatty, not gunna be FOTM, but it's the right species :laugh:

[Joel Eadie]

thats awesome, nice report. gread read

[Rocket75]

and here's my self portrait.

I'm both a dentist and in witness-protection, hence the picture

it's me, trust me :blush:

[ellicat]

Sounds like a bit of pent up desire was released today, Rod :woohoo: :laugh:

You have a nice tailor, but only an average flat head but you still got the girls. :laugh: :laugh:

May I suggest you invest in a cricket box to assist with future photography :pinch:

[fergie]

top report rod, i love hearing reports from my stomping ground. i'll have to join you there one day

[Angus]

Nice one Rod!

Angus

[wesfish]

great report rod!!! well worth the read nice tailor and flatty.

[faulked]

Rocket75 wrote:

and here's my self portrait.

I'm both a dentist and in witness-protection, hence the picture

it's me, trust me :blush:

bullshit thats captain hook id recognise him anywhere

ps good tailor

[Do$tylz]

haha.. Good report Rod

I bet you've been twitching reading all the SOO reports too. Thats a good sized tailor mate and would been great fun... I haven't caught a decent fish in a while... hopefully I can break that this weekend.

[batman]

Go Rocket...Go!

I just showed the pic of the Tailor to Milo and he gave two barks of appreciation and Congrats to Uncle Rod!

[Sparksie]

:laugh:

Good read Rocket.

[Nickers]

You've never looked so good!

Pity there were no trevs to play with, I didn't log in yesterday 'til it was too late, otherwise I would have joined you! Text me next time.

oops, I'm on Nickers log in!

[Dinodadog]

Some good fun there Rod

[sunnydays]

Hahaha!

I enjoyed reading that alot

Thanks!

[tacklebox]

great read rocket! kingy was a bit optimistic wasn't it? :laugh:

[Keen-as-fisho]

Good going mate

[Kieran Moore]

Well done

a great surprise for you

glad to see u back in the water

Kiz

[Old Scaley]

Nice read, Rod. Amazing how as the family grows, your appreciation of the time spent fishing grows as well!

[yoyo]

Well done mate, i havent wet a line in ages as well...itching for my next scheduled trip with smithy next monday..............

[Rocket75]

thanks for the replies guys and gals.

knowing that people are reading and enjoying makes it worth the effort of writing

I might have to nominate myself for ROTM as it could be the only decent fish and report I get in for the next 3 months as I go in for my knee reconstruction late Aug

rod

[Rocket75]

As a postscript to this report:

I thought that perhaps I had a spool of dodgy braid on one of my reels as the line kept fraying and breaking with only very light pressure. Luckily it wasn't evident all the time as this was the reel that I hooked my tailor on, but it was happening enough to be a concern.

I had made a note to myself to check my rod eyelets and reel components for damage that may be the cause of my problems.

Under close examination, the rods were fine, but the roller bearing in the bail arm assembly of my Revros had seized at some stage and the braid had worn a groove into the metal that was doing the damage to the braid.

Really was a miracle that it held together for the fight as it did pull quite a bit of drag.

I have since pulled the offending part out and sent it away to Daiwa for a replacement (not covered under warranty as it is a mainainance issue, fair enough too, but they are expensice little suckers:( ).

I then went through my other reels and made sure they were all working and gave them a good lube up.

The moral of the story...keep your roller bearing well oiled and make sure it is moving freely before and after each session.

Not doing so could cost you both in dollars and lost fish...learn from my mistake.

rocket

[Mr FeLiX]

Rocket75 wrote:

As a postscript to this report:

I thought that perhaps I had a spool of dodgy braid on one of my reels as the line kept fraying and breaking with only very light pressure. Luckily it wasn't evident all the time as this was the reel that I hooked my tailor on, but it was happening enough to be a concern.

I had made a note to myself to check my rod eyelets and reel components for damage that may be the cause of my problems.

Under close examination, the rods were fine, but the roller bearing in the bail arm assembly of my Revros had seized at some stage and the braid had worn a groove into the metal that was doing the damage to the braid.

Really was a miracle that it held together for the fight as it did pull quite a bit of drag.

I have since pulled the offending part out and sent it away to Daiwa for a replacement (not covered under warranty as it is a mainainance issue, fair enough too, but they are expensice little suckers:( ).

I then went through my other reels and made sure they were all working and gave them a good lube up.

The moral of the story...keep your roller bearing well oiled and make sure it is moving freely before and after each session.

Not doing so could cost you both in dollars and lost fish...learn from my mistake.

rocket

Spoken like a legend

Maintenance is important kiddies, Mmkay? How much are Daiwa planning to sting you?

Great report there mate, congrats, would of been great fun on light gear

[ryanyoung]

That was a fantastic report Rod!!! Had me in stitches.

Well done on the tailor and lil Flattie.

Cheers,

Ryan.

[Rocket75]

Mr FeLiX wrote:

How much are Daiwa planning to sting you?

the fellas at the parts department were very helpful and gave me some tips on maintainance, the cost of a replacement bearing was approx $40.00.

[rayke1938]

Rocket75 wrote:

the fellas at the parts department were very helpful and gave me some tips on maintainance, the cost of a replacement bearing was approx $40.00.

Shees nearly as expensive as kids.

What is the babys first word going to be ?

halco

daiwa

or shimano?

Cheers

Ray

[Rocket75]

Yes Ray,I am preparing for the extra costs of having kids...I stocked up on lures before the event

Dunno what the first word will be, but she's already good at "gulp"...on the milk

[rayke1938]

Rod I will be thinking when I am up at 4am getting ready to go to the dam while you are also up changing yellow nappies.

Cheers

Ray

[Rocket75]

sounds about right!

Actually might be able to get a morning off nappies if you've got a spare deckie spot. My lovely wife has taken pity on me and told me to go fishing, knowing that I will be out of action for quite some time when I get my knee done in a couple of weeks.