has anyone been catching flatties at the seaway lately? i do alot of snorkeling and lately ive seen 100's of flatties some are atleast 90cm long or bigger with smaller males around them, how do you recon you would fish for these fellows there is to many rocks for plastic i wonder how a livie under a float would go, any thoughts?
If you can see them as you snorkel, then they must be easy to catch. A livey under a float sounds good, just hope you don't hook a massive tuna on flattie gear
I Fish, I catch, I SNAG
You'd be surprised at just how far the humble old lizard will rise to strike.
Roughly how deep was the water they are in Justjack?
Maybe poppers if shallow, a diver if a little deeper, or even a lightly weighted soft plastic that you work through the water column above the rocks. I had a 50cm version hit a 2" Prong when I was working it across the surface to get a few pike for bait, in about 4-5 metres of water. Larger plastics would produce larger Flatties.
well you can get up to a metre from them before they move, i never realised how many there is until i dived there i need an underwater camera to show you guys i was amazed there would be 1metre models down there, yeah i know about those tuna there not scared of you either when your in the water, would a flaty rise to a livie? the fish are in about 1 metre to 3 metres of water, ive also noticed the size of the luderic down there ive never fished for them would they be worth a target?
snorkling the seaway? shit your keen!
.......Ash
yeah i say that to the guys that paddle there boards across there hahaha i dont swim out to far haha i mainly go for interest and to catch a cray or 2, but i must admit the fish that i see down there inspire me it makes me laugh watching the fish swim straight past peoples baits
would a flaty rise to a livie? quote]
Yes. Watched them one night with my Bro-in-law off the RSL jetty at Ballina one night. They were ambushing little poddy mullet about 75mm long in about 1.5m of water. Quite a sight to see. They can really manouvre, especially from lying dead still on the bottom, then sweeping up vertically to strike, and continuing the roll back down to the bottom. Sort of like when a roller coaster does a loop-the-loop, but in fish form.
My son dives there quite often and the number and size of the fish he see's there is unbelievable.
He has actually taken a bait down there for me and they (mainly Jew and Trevors) will not touch it
He says there are monster Lizards there sitting shoulder to shoulder but they are not interested in baits,
Another interesting sideline...Have a mate who is a pro fisherman at Iluka and when they come in with the catch the fish that rise to the surface in the boat harbour have to be seen to believe. Throw in a line with anything for bait and it will be crash hit. ONLY ONCE and then they are gone. Just disappear.
cheers
that would be cool to see, well there is alot of flatties there and alot of bait i guess they will see a struggeling fish and would go for that, i was actually going to take a livie down on a hand line for a try hahaha they have to eat at some stage so i guess a poddy on a light line might work, ive seen 100's of jacks, jew, trevs and mass schools of 100's of whitting
Hey Justjack,Originally Posted by justjack
that would be cool to see, well there is alot of flatties there and alot of bait i guess they will see a struggeling fish and would go for that, i was actually going to take a livie down on a hand line for a try hahaha they have to eat at some stage so i guess a poddy on a light line might work, ive seen 100's of jacks, jew, trevs and mass schools of 100's of whitting
You have to get an underwater camera so you can share these images with the rest of us that are to sensible to go swimming around there
Years ago i used to paddle across the seaway on a body board, but i sh#tting myself everytime
Marty.
Keen, why is that?
Ashh, you should try it yourself... I take my 9yo son snorkeling at the Seaway, it is awesome. A total out off world experiance..... The amont off fish in that seaway is incredable...
Sharks and boats do not pose a problem, The sharks are very well fed, and I have never seen a shark in the seaway in the 20 years I have paddled accros (to surf s/straddie), and snorkeled there.... Not to say they dont exist in the seaway.
It is very safe and many people snorkel and scuba there...
If you ever decide to have ago... Time the tide right... Get there 2hrs before the top off the tide... Dont bother going while the tide is running out as the visability is greatly reduced....
I snorkel there heaps as well. Never had any trouble with grey suits and no-one I know has either.
It's a great place to swim and you see all sorts of wildlife - massive mullet, luderick schools as big as my house, black drummer, bream, flatties, jacks, jews - you name it. Sea turtles come into the seaway too towards the ends of the walls.
If you like a snorkel, go the seaway.
Have caught flatties on plastics around the bend - ie: in port from the short pipe. And snags aplenty.
yeah i snorkel it atleast once a week so i thought someone would know how to catch something there, if you havent snorkeled it it will amaze you
And snags aplenty
I wouldn't worry tooo much about the sharks........ paddleing accross for a wave at straddie I would worry more about getting propeller scars accross my back,
At the deep hole near seaworld I had a couple of bullies on the line and both snapped off, around 800-900 mm . but boated 2 giant giant !! green sea toads, watched one of em chew on my gang hook then.. " PING " the ugly thing snapped it ! ! ! then it got away
Yeah I have snorkelled in there with mates when I was younger, great fun and we use to collect heaps of tackle, agree with the diversity of marine life, its another world down there. Its the ones you dont see that you gotta worry about!
Personally I have seen some very big fish in there, like paddling across for a surf this one time, we got to the dirt line in the middle and the water all around us just exploded with hundreds of baitfish jumping all over us, 2 or 3 BIG shadows went under us numerous times and not once did one surface, which ruled out dolphins. Its amazing how fast one can paddle a surfboard pumped up on adrenaline lol.
It must have looked quite comical from the rockwall with 3 blokes trying to paddle as close as possible and as fast as possible across the seaway lol, Still paddle across there , but for me, just knowing what IS in there, you gotta be keen.
.......Ash
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote