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My Friday afternoon drift

Alby

By Alby
in Saltwater

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Alby Newbie

Alby

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What a sensational experience I've had this afternoon. I set of in my kayak for a drift flicking lures...yes; I'm one of the lucky ones who gets to finish early on a Friday. The secret spot...Bribie Passage, on a falling tide. It was beatutiful afternoon with a light southerly puffing away. I used my favourite crawdad which, colourwise looks so much like a real yabby. Second largest available...it dives to about 1.5m.

The epxerience....well...unfortunately I don't have a fish photo to show for it, but this is how it went.

I was retrieving along a drop-off next to a seagrass bank. As the lure got close to the kayak, I saw what I intially thought to be a whaler shark about 1m long appear behind it. Immediately i stopped winding, and the tide carried the lure backwards. In an instant I'd hooked the biggest flathead I've ever seen. Easy as big as anything I've ever seen in magazines.....Yes they do exist other than in the mags.

I was completely blown away because only two weeks ago I was paddling with my wife when her kayak spooked a big flatty that swam under my kayak. It was about 90cm long and I stated at the time it was the biggest I'd ever seen.

Well.....this one was significantly bigger...Holy crap!

It took the lure just below the surface, and due to the \"stealth factor\" of the drfiting kayak, it hadn't spotted me at all.When I struck, it turned its head towards the kayak and I couldn't see the lure, just the line disappearing into its mouth.It had taken the lure completely. That's when it realised what was going on and next thing I knew it had its head half out of the water thrashing from side to side right next to the kayak. I was sure it'd shred the line and I'd lose fish and lure. It then turned down to run, and i saw the last ring of the snap swivel where the line was tied on protruding from its mouth. That's all...about 3mm of ring was all that was stopping it from ripping the line to bits! I knew if i gave it any slack at all it would shred the line and be gone. Aaarghh!

This monster just took off. She (I guess) had so much power! Bent the rod double and stripped line off the reel even though my drag was set fairly tight.

I'd never experienced this sort of power in a flatty before.

I was doing my best to ensure it got no slack, and the drag was ensuring the 5kg line didn't snap.

I had it on for about ten minutes...thoughts rushing through my mind like \"I'll never get this on board without injuring it!\".....\"Angus wants photos!\"....\"where can I beach the kayak....sandbank...I need a sandbank!\"The water was fairly clear and I saw it clearly a few times beneath me.

\"What a monster!\" was all I could say to myself...What a beautiful fish...It had such a thick muscular body, and so wide!

Ok, the heart was pounding, it had another run, and I managed to stop it.....coudln't gain anything, but I was holding it. .....Then the line went slack! Damn!!! I thought I'd lost the lure and all.

Wound in and still had the lure. The line above it was quite damaged, and one hook on the rear treble was straightened....Could you imagine that. She'd gulped the whole lure down, and only one hook of one treble had lodged in her mouth.

I just sat there for a while soaking up the sights I'd seen of this huge lizard.

Phew...that was fun!

So......I've discovered a shortcoming of kayak fishing on your own......no one to take pics or video...Damn!!

Still grinning though!

Alby [img size=307]http://www.australianfishing.com.au/media/kunena/attachments/legacy/images/Where_Monsters_live_1-d0f9976834dd5aa5345c5e1c9a52fda2.JPG

Post edited by: Alby, at: 2006/08/11 21:52

Post edited by: Alby, at: 2006/08/11 22:10

My_Friday_afternoon_drift.doc

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blue_mako Newbie

blue_mako

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thats such a shame!... i hate it when you get something big and you dont get to land or see it... today i got somehting decent at manly that took the plastics off the jighead!... had some nice weight for the 3 or 4 seconds of fighting...grrr... and its happened with a shark we got on a whole luderick... it threw the hooks half a meter beloiw the surface....grrr...

but still awesome fun none the less... my yak comes this week!!!! :D:D:D:D cant wait!

troy

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blue_mako Newbie

blue_mako

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reff raider: i got a cayman toyboy... fully decked for fishing with a well, lots of storage space 2 flush mount rod holders for trolling and a swivel mounted rod holder for dropping baits over the side and resting your rod...

gus: yeh if you can get it to hinze that wud be awesome! remember i owe you a half day ride! :P

troy

p.s. yes i am a lucky prick! :P

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Brian D Newbie

Brian D

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Hey Alby - goodah - thanks for the read - good stuff. My thought was \"now that's what fishing is all about\" win some loose some but most of all you get the buzz of doing it. Mate if we landed evry fish every time we casted our lures we would soon get sick of it. I bet you go again and get her next time. My money's on you mate.

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Alby Newbie

Alby

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Thanks Brian.

I'm not holding my breath, but it's certainly motivated me. I got another this afternoon, 60cm, only a baby compared to her. This one took the whole lure as well. I played it a bit cooler with this one. Gave it some, got my spike proof glove on, and then gradually braought it up near the kayak. Grabbed the line, and in one swift motion yanked it on board across the skirt, and grabbed its head. The good thing about the skirt is that it's soft, and they don't bounce and skate off. This one destined for the dinner table.

I got back to the boat ramp, and a guy was there with his two young sons. One of them kindly agreed to pose for the photo.

My reel was playing up, otherwise I'd have been there till dark. Such a gorgeoous afternoon on the water.

Good fishing all.

Alby

PS..can't work out how to put the photos in when in edit mode, so will do another post.

Post edited by: Alby, at: 2006/08/14 19:08

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Alby Newbie

Alby

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Yeah, me too! I was so looking forward to releasing that big girl....after her photo shoot, that is! hehe

I got two at 60cm the other day, and said to myself that I'd release any more that i got that day...two's is more than enough. In fact I did get another about 45cm, and he was destined to be released, but he threw the lure just short of the kayak, so justice was served.....and I didn't even get spiked!:P

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Alby Newbie

Alby

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Wish I'd got the 45cm one first, then one of the others would still be swimming around. I felt bad when I cleaned them beacuse they came out of a small creek system, and they were both females full of rowe. Damn!

At least the one i got yesterday was a boy!

Post edited by: Alby, at: 2006/08/15 12:08

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