Quick flick, only one flattie - 16/09/08

[JT]

Well its my wife's Birthday today, so when I asked what she wanted to do, she replied "lets go fishing". Cool says I, so we hook the boat up and hit the waters of the Gold Coast at around midday (very civilized 8-)).

I hoped to get on to a few new spots for the upcoming Flathead Classic whilst getting Germana onto some bream and maybe a flattie or two. Well as is usual she's got a couple in the boat before I have wet a line :-X. A good start but things are very slow with the strong Northerlies and still a bit of snot weed about, so our expectations aren't high.

With only an hour or so to do some exploring we find ourselves moving about a bit, casting 70mm Sqidgy Poddies and 3" Gulp Shrimp at likely looking spots. A few taps and nothing to show for it I am getting the feeling it could be another donut for me :-[.

One last spot and as I put out the electric I notice a pelican activly feeding - always a good sign. Two casts later and I feel the tell tale hit of a big flattie engulfing the poddy. I set the hook and the little Tierra starts singing that tune that all fishoes love to hear ;D;D. I can feel each big tail beat and headshake through the 15lb Suffix braid & 12lb Sunline FC leader, slowly I gain some line and sight the big girl, I guess its in the mid 80's and then start worrying how we are going to net her with the net I usually use on bream :-/. Well I getthe fish pointing the right way and Germana slides the net around her head (the flatties not Germana's :P) , once she's half in (that's all that's going to fit :o) I throw down the rod and between use we lift her into the boat.

With knees trembling we put her on the brag mat and NEW PB FOR ME ;D;D;D she goes 94cm. A couple of quick pics and I swim her for a minute or so and she swims strongly away to terrorise just about anything.

Now If I can only find her again during the Flathead Classic.

A 94 seems like a good time to call it a day, so back to the ramp we head.

Gotta say though, even though it was Germana's Birthday, looks like I got the best present ;)

Cheers

John

[wags on the water]

Solid fish JT and birthday wishes to your wife.

[Creek Vermin]

That's a horse mate and on a pissy little 70mm plastic. How's the head on it. Would have won ya biggest fish last year at the classic. Well done mate. Was it around the pin or more broadwater area?
Cheers. Keith

[marty+jojo]

That is a monster, well done John.
Marty.

[slyman]

:o Bloody nora! Thats a big girl, well done mate!

Head like the proverbial council shovel indeed.

[ffejsmada]

Now that's a stud!!
With it's pec fins out it's as wide as the brag mat!:o

Great fish mate!

Would have been nice for your missus to get it on her birthday...............oh well, can't help bad (or good) luck.;D

Jeff.

[385EXPLORER]

Strewth, sick croc,happy b'day Mrs JT

[chief]

Cracker fish, I'm thinking about trying to catch one for my wifes birthday,Thanks for the heads up ;D Cheers

[weasel]

JT that is one great fish hope your luck continues for the flattie classic:o

dave

[marty_z]

What happened, it lost 2 cm from when you rang me at lunch???

Your the only fisho I now who's fish gets smaller the more often you tell the story ;D

Top fish mate - lets hope we find a few more during the Classic.

Marty

[Cammy]

Thats a stonker flatty there mate! and check out the head on the big girl it's reaching the 25cm mark:o Congrats!:)

Cammy

[MattChew]

Serious Flathead there JT ... I would say your Odds have just been cut for the Classic!!! Might just want to check that Brag Mat .. My mates was a full 6cm short!!!! Good work mate.

Ta
Matt

[abbot_86]

top fish mate. shes a fatty that one

[Pistol_P]

Mate thats a ripper lizard...:o

Well done.

Pete

[Kleyny]

WOW thats one big lizard.
I'm sure it will take a fare bit to top that as your new pb.

neil

[BAR UP]

JT congrats on a great fish. I am so pleased that the big girls are on the protected list far too valuable to only catch once. We had a good day down the pin this time last year & got 10 over 70cm & all up 20 on the day, Peter.

[TheSaint]

Awesome Flattie John!! Well done on the new PB!!

[Deadstick]

Thats a cracking fish JT you shore know how to upset your partners

On your wifes bithday you take the cake.
And after a few pre fish trips you smak a fish like this while Marty's at work.

Are you still liking the Squidgy Pro range & would you take them over the Gulps?

Hope we see some of them in the Classic good luck on the repeat.

[leelee]

Well done John.

Thats a awsome fish there mate;D

94cm is a cracker:D

Cheers

Lee

[plaztix]

Very nice croc mate, so close to the magic metre.:o

Its obviously that time of year again.

[coucho]

Nice fish JT you should have let your missus play it for her birthday but lol

[JT]

Cheers for the replies guys :D

Keith - she was caught down the Southern End of the Broadwater.

Marty - Yeah, must have still been on an adrenalin high, don't worry though as I tell the story from here on I'll be sure to add a couple of cm like any good fisho should :P.

MattChew - I would say that with the fish just coming on now, the Flathead Classic could see record numbers of fish caught - I wonder if that magic metre fish might be caught this year - be nice to see that. Oh - I threw a tape on the brag mat, must have been one of the good batch as it all good :)

Dave (Deadstick) - mate just happy to have a wife who wants to go fishing on her Birthday :iloveyou:. Although one year the Flathead Classic fell on the 16th and I fished it. I Will NEVER, EVER make that mistake again :devil:. At the moment the Pro Range is my prefered SP, but I always have a Gulp on one of my rigs.

Coucho - would have had no troubles letting her land it - last season she boated a 76cm.

Before the Classic lets hope the Northerlies and the snot weed disappear.

Cheers

John

[sweresy]

Very nice flathead mate, the pics probably wouldn't do it justice.

[Dodgy_Back]

Very Nice flathead John, even I'm impressed and you know what I think about Flathead.
Hope you get a good turnout for your flatty comp.
Steve W and Matty F asked me to be the 3rd man in thier team, I alsmost weakened and then remembered that it was a FLATTY comp and politely declined the invite.
Steve has since told me that they wanted me just to write the scores and take photos.!!!!!

He's a cheeky boy !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cheers

Mick

[jim_bream]

Good one John!
I also used to get my missus birthday presents that I liked more ;-)
Cracking effort there mate! How many times did you go over your knots and rig in your head while you were playing the big girl???
And Happy Birthday to the missus!
Jimbo

[the gecko]

nice flatty JT, thats a monster pb.....
You musta been worried about 12lb leader at the netting stage.

Im sure there be a bit of competition between you and marty now.

Andrew

[JT]

WOW Mick - I would never have believed it, I can now go to my grave knowing that I impressed you with a flathead :laola: and knowing how much you despise flathead I know how hard it was for you to say that. But that's only step one, next time you see one I would like you to try & touch it - just once. Who knows if you follow the 12 step program in 12 months we might see you on a team fishing the Classic :o:o.

Jimbo - mate, have had some leader knot problems of late so I must say that I a little bit worried. But it looks like those probelms are behind me since I changed by leader from 14lb Berkley Vanish to 12lb Sunline Basic FC.

Andrew - when you see a fish like that you always worry about your leader, although that worry eased a little when I saw that she was pinned nicely in the top jaw and the leader wasn't anywhere near her teeth. There always a bit of friendly competition between Marty & myself, but now that I am beating him by 3 cm I am sure that he'll come back with somthing a little bigger - he always does 8-)8-).

Cheers

John

[marty_z]

...who said the competition was friendly!!! ;D

[timor 2]

Nice fish mate, was ther much weed about?

Cheers Sean

[JT]

Sean - there was still quite a bit of snot weed about, but it had changed colour, instead of being green it was brown, hopefully that means its all dieing off now and it'll all be gone before the Classic

[breamnut]

cracker fish john!
and what better way can you spend your wifes b,day hen to go fishing!;D
hope you get something like that in the classic

[Saltdoggy]

That's a dinosaur mate! Good fish and good luck in the comp!

[kingtin]

Good fish, nice report, and bloody good pics.....well done John.

kev

[splashy]

Nice work John. See, I told you. "Donuts are just paying your dues!!!!" I said. "There's a cracker coming up," that's wot I said to you.
I rest my case!!!!!!
Seriously nice fish, my friend. Well done, and well earned. 8-)

[BAT]

That's one big Mumma well done on hooking Her. As a catch and release fisho I often wonder the survival rate let alone the breeding capability of these breeding fish when they are Released.

Cheer's BAT.