South west rocks

[alleycat]

just back today from a glorious 5 days down south west rocks, its been a pretty dry last few months down that way so the flathead have moved right up the macleay river to regions usually fished for bass, we put in at smithtown to fish from smithtown upstream towards kempsey and what a beautifull setting, the banks were grass down to the water with cattle grazing and wild ducks and swans galore a setting you would surely associate with bass fishing but because of the dry the flathead were there in good numbers, i had my uncle 80 and aunty 71 and my wife on the boat and oh the joys of being the deck boy to elderly folks who have never used braid before, oh the tangles and knots lol, we were drifting bouncing prawns, this method is nothing new and is how people targeted flathead, you just drift with a decent sinker and a short trace with a prawn and every ten seconds or so you lift it half a metre off the bottom and let it fall back, any flathead seeing this jumping prawn will be right onto it, i barely lifted a rod as i was busy tying rigs and getting fish off but we managed 33 flathead in 3 trips only fishing for a few hours due to the wind, had a bit of drama when i went to net a fish that spat the hook and i lunged to get it tipping the boat and my wife who was sitting on the front of the boat slid off into 15 foot of water, what a delema!, do i take a photo and risk a divource or do i help pull her in?, i chose to pull her in but now im wondering how cool that photo would have been lol, she also got spiked in the foot by a flathead so she had a bad run accident wise.
Anybody who has not been to the region would do well to one day plan a trip to the mighty macleay a truly beautifull spot..

[thelump]

Yeah it is a great area down there. Used to make quite a few trips up there when i lived in Newcastle. Only a 4hr run so easy for a weekend to chase spotties or snook as the locals call them. Caught a couple of Marlin there as well.Also some stonking big tailor at the mouth of the macleay. Great pub in town as well!

[Aussie123]

When I call them snook everyone says WTF are you talking about.
I lived there for over 17 years,not a bad spot.

[Agrav8_and_Lulu]

Thanks for the report Al, looks and sounds like a great place to visit. Those flatties are attracted like a magnet to use two.

Darren

[Goodoo haven]

Thanks for the report buddy. It looks like a really lovely place. I might have to plan a trip there with a couple of mate.

[astro66]

aww wwww....love my old home....went to school at Kinchela ....lived at hat head for 11 years....awsome fishing all around the area