Pine River flatties beat me again

First post. Here goes.

Took my brother out yesterday to try and find where the flatties hide in this river in summer. This has always been a challenge for me but I keep trying to crack the code. I can usually get my bag (and stay for more releasing the extras) in winter on softies in the piney but come summer.... I'm stumped. I have a theory that they're too full of prawns. It couldn't possibly be my gentlemans hours start times.

We had a late (for some) start around 9.30am and finished about 4, fishing nearly all of the runout.

We fished from the back of Bald Hills right down to the Ted Smout bridge. We tried everywhere and everything using soft plastics. Banks, dropoffs, creek mouths, channel edges, drifting, anchored. Did the lot. Even tried my secret winter honey holes that always fire for me.

After 6 hours of flogging the water to foam we ended up with 3 throwbacks, a legal bream (released), and 2 keeper flat ones (45 and 51) that just weren't worth a photo. The best one was a bartail and not a dusky. I don't catch too many of those in the piney.

I also caught a resonably sized fat shouldered trevally which I'm told don't cook up all that well, so I've been releasing all that I catch. But this one was a good size and is destined for the smoker for a test. Don't they go well for their size!

Anyway, I got my wife and I a feed for tea tonight and my brother got squat coz the only thing he caught was a bad case of sunburn. And I didn't bag him about that at all. Well... maybe just a tad. Like all day.

Cheers
Reg

Keep looking as a New moon does it every time. Went out with a mate this morning northern end of Pumicestone Pasaage, same thing, slow as a wet wick. Several hours later I finally got a couple of rats and a small cod. An hour later pinned a 50cm then a 51 cm, my mate finally got his first and only bite, a 43cm dusky.

The trevor also works well in curries due to the firm flesh

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Thegurn

First post. Here goes.

Took my brother out yesterday to try and find where the flatties hide in this river in summer. This has always been a challenge for me but I keep trying to crack the code. I can usually get my bag (and stay for more releasing the extras) in winter on softies in the piney but come summer.... I'm stumped. I have a theory that they're too full of prawns. It couldn't possibly be my gentlemans hours start times.

We had a late (for some) start around 9.30am and finished about 4, fishing nearly all of the runout.

We fished from the back of Bald Hills right down to the Ted Smout bridge. We tried everywhere and everything using soft plastics. Banks, dropoffs, creek mouths, channel edges, drifting, anchored. Did the lot. Even tried my secret winter honey holes that always fire for me.

After 6 hours of flogging the water to foam we ended up with 3 throwbacks, a legal bream (released), and 2 keeper flat ones (45 and 51) that just weren't worth a photo. The best one was a bartail and not a dusky. I don't catch too many of those in the piney.

I also caught a resonably sized fat shouldered trevally which I'm told don't cook up all that well, so I've been releasing all that I catch. But this one was a good size and is destined for the smoker for a test. Don't they go well for their size!

Anyway, I got my wife and I a feed for tea tonight and my brother got squat coz the only thing he caught was a bad case of sunburn. And I didn't bag him about that at all. Well... maybe just a tad. Like all day.

Cheers
Reg

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Don't be afraid to keep those trevally gurn, bleed them as soon as you catch them, put them on an ice slurry and as Dignity said , beautiful firm white flesh, perfect for curries or on the bbq, 99% of fish are good to eat if they are treated correctly when caught, bleeding and ice slurry is the go, works on crabs and prawns a treat as well, good post by the way
MSB

Great report Reg, as for the Trevally, if it was a Brassy I recon they cook up well. GT certainly not as good but bled and looked after still pretty acceptable.
Both go into a Curry.

Trevors do go good in a curry. Last one we had was fresh straight on the BBQ grill and that was good too. I've never got much of a clue what species they are though.

Great first report Reg. As for trevors and their eating qualities, I have no idea. Summer time in the Pine, I used to fish plastics from the Bruce highway bridge down to Deepwater Bend on the northern side for great results. That was until the river was gutted in the 2011 floods. Haven't found a consistent area since then. Gave up trying a long time ago. I mainly fish the Donnybrook area of Pummy Passage now for better results.

Good darts Reg

I hope to get out this weekend for the first time in a while because of this bloody wind :bigthumb:

Thanks for the replies guys. Hmm... curried fish. I haven't had that since I was a kid when the family used to catch cricket scores of winter whiting. Curries and fish pie and battered fillets. A lifetime ago.

And yes, all my fish go into an ice slurry and bled if required. I can't understand why some people don't do this. Like my son who told me the trevs aren't worth keeping. In my eyes he treats fish that he's going to eat with contempt. Thought I taught him better than that. A bit of a rough cut diamond, that one.

After all these years trying to figure out the Pine in summer I might follow Gazzas lead and start looking elsewhere. Look out people. I'll be picking your brains until you all feel lobotomised.

Cheers
Reg

Good first post mate, welcome to AA.
I struggle a bit in the Pine for consistency during summer as well, those autumn days are my go to for flat ones
Cheers

Hello Reg. I fish the Pine and Reddy reefs also..well i used to when i had something called time. I too love chasing the flatties in winter and find them really stacked in some places, yet i cannot find or rarely try to even over summer. Right now is a great time to net some of those prawns you say they are filling up on and take them out to those shallow reefs. Some really good snapper off Woody Pt and Margate around Feb and March and they cant resist those big live prawns

Thanks Kingcray. I'm sorry to say that I'm glad to hear others also struggle there in summer.

I've had very limited success chasing snapper around reddy since the woody point green zone was introduced. We had great little sessions in that corner early in the night.

I had plans this summer to get out the front and seriously target some cod. I got a few the first couple of times I tried in autumn with live pike but now this damn wind won't go away except for the days I can't go. I'm itching to try some prawn and crab softies on them.

Cheers