yellow door 1

This was my only trip to the Leven River so far this season, it hasn't fished all that well over the past couple of seasons but i thought it was time to give it a go before the season closes.
cheers Adrian..
 

A great write up again...You certainly do your homework...and the results show that...Very nice indeed.

Fantastic post mate! This will be great reference and repeat reference for years to come.

For the Yellow Fin Whiting Lure fanatics it is time for the withdrawal symptoms to start setting in, as the water temperatures start dropping.
Fortunately there is some pain relief, in chasing a few Flathead on lures.
Autumn brings a transition for the sandflats lure fisherman. YFW surface lure fishing drops off. Flathead lure fishing picks up. The “Southern Blue Spotted Flathead” becomes more prolific on the sandflats of the Northern SA Gulfs.
.
And it is the large accumulation of SEAGRASS WRACKS at this time of the year, along with the change in temperature, that starts it all off. Unlike the claims of some armchair academic experts, the sandflats areas where large Seagrass Wracks accumulate, is where you will find the greatest concentration of Flathead at this time of the year.
.
SEASONAL CHANGES IN THE ECOSYSTEM
It is a season of change. And multiple factors come into play.
The most fundamental change is in water temperature. Daily air temperatures have a tighter range, fortunately without those cold mornings of winter. Water temperature, currently around 18c provides the ambient conditions for baitfish. The sandflat shallows hold a lot more baitfish in these temperatures. And they linger all day in the shallows. And where baitfish linger so to do Flathead.
Also and most importantly, large Seagrass Wracks form at this time of the year.
The annual shedding of seagrass leaves through Autumn and Winter along with the higher tides and prevailing breezes, causes the accumulation of seaweed wracks in the northern SA gulfs, over these cooler months.
In the ambient autumn temperature conditions the Wracks host an explosion of life in this ecosystem.
When the organic material decomposes and breaks down it contributes to the food web systems by supplying essential nutrients. The composting seagrass accumulations are the source of detritus and of particulate and dissolved nutrients which contribute to beach and inshore marine foodwebs. Starting from (micro) zooplanktons, amphipods, bivalves, worms, crabs, juvenile prawns, clickers and  … lots and lots of small baitfish. Seaweed Wracks are at the start of the food chain that delivers us the fish we catch.

   ~ Weed Wracks, the start of the food chain, so thick that getting onto the sandflats can be difficult
There are many other signs that the bait fish are around in greater numbers.
Their predators gather, both from above the water and under the water.
When the Bird watching groups start reporting some big numbers of bait fish eating bird varieties, you know the water borne bait fish feeders (Flathead) will also be about.

   ~  An abundance of Baitfish feeding Birds. A sure sign of Flathead around.
With all the indicators pointing to an abundance of Flathead, I decided to spend a couple days immersed in the northern St Vincent Gulf sandflats environment.

   ~  Catching fish is a bonus in this delightful environment
The best terrain is the weedy areas. The baitfish hold and shelter there and so do the Flathead chasing them.
Weed barren sand patches hold very few Flathead. However a few whiting are likely while traversing a Flathead barren sand patch.
.
LURE SELECTION & TECHNIQUES
I Don’t subscribe to a long held approach for lure fishing Flathead.
I don’t fish the bottom. I don’t bounce a lure across the bottom of the sand, puffing the sand.
Flathead have eyes on the top of their heads. Above their head is their main field of vision. The area that they will be concentrating on. Not so much the peripheral vision areas out  in front of them on the sand.
So position your lure on top of their heads … Simple!
For this my methods include fishing Soft Plastics under a float. These days, I am mainly using floating or suspending hardbody lures. All with retro fitted assists and single hooks to avoid fouling on and cleanly pulling through the weed adjacent to the Weed Wrack areas.
 

   ~  The successful lures on this outing. OSP Bent Minnows and Rapala Shadow Raps   ~  
 

   ~  Another victim of the OSP Bent Minnow 106mm - Colour: H09. Crystal Blue Shiner
 

 
   ~  One on the Rapala Shadow Rap 07 - 70mm Colour: Moss Back Shiner. It pays to cast over the same area with 2 size lure offerings. Sometimes they are not in the mood for a big feed.

 
   ~  Assist hooks at work. Flathead can be clumsy strikers of a lure due to a blind spot created from the setting of their eyes. Apart from pulling through weed easily, assist hooks also increase your hook up rate.
 
This concept of fishing lures above the flathead’s eyes rather than in front of it, has in recent times gained a lot of acceptance with the enormous popularity and success of the floating glide baits now available. They hold and dance above the Flathead’s eyes.
Also bear in mind you are wading and fishing shallow water. Between knee to waist deep. So there is no need for any deep diving lures.
Currently my favourite lures are the OSP Bent Minnow and the Rapala Shadow Rap which were both successfully used on this outing
Your lure retrieval style is critical to your success rate with catching Flathead.
They do not behave like Salmon or Snook. Flathead are not morphologically evolved for chasing down bait fish like Snook or Salmon are. They lie in wait as an ambush predator with a explosive burst of speed. Often slowly stalking, following the baitfish. Then with an explosive burst lunge and seize the baitfish. Especially when the baitfish momentarily pauses.
There is plenty of drone video footage here at JC's Fishing Shenanigans of Flathead stalking baitfish … : https://www.facebook.com/JCsFishingShenanigans
As we most commonly chase Salmon & Snook with lures we have become accustomed to a fast retrieval rate. And the YFW surface lure fishers only know to retrieve fast and continuous!
The lure retrieval rate for Flathead is very slow … Extremely slow! A few erratic twitches now and then followed by a few seconds of dead pause. Should a Flathead strike and you miss the hook up. Pause again and it will most like pounce back on your lure. The stalking or hidden Flathead likes to strike when the baitfish pauses.

   ~   In knee deep shallow water they go hard. You need to play them out before gliding them into the net.
My arthritic wrists are certainly enjoying the change in retrieval tempo !
RESULTS
Over the two days of pleasant weather I covered a lot of ground, wading the sandflats, searching for and hunting down these beasts. This style of fishing does take some physical effort, but it is the most satisfying experience to successfully find your prey.
I kept 14 fish ranging from 45cm to 69cm. I even picked up a few whiting while traversing a Flathead barren, weed free sand patch.
 

   ~  My catch retained for the 2 day outing. I even managed a few whiting while traversing a Flathead barren sand patch.
 

   ~  these Flathead are high 60s. Size enhanced by photos taken from the “Anglers Angle” !! T
I also caught and released a couple of 70+cm Flathead.

   ~  75cm Blue Spot Flathead … Released
 

   ~  Taken close to the weed wracks. A 72cm Flathead … released.
 
So WRACK ON !!! It’s time to fish the weedy Sandflats.
Cheers and tight lines Des

I've started chucking 1/28th's in 9m of water, when conditions allow me to get them down to where the sounder says the fish are.

The same plastic will remain untouched (Almost😀) on 1/4er's or 1/8th's - but a plastic that doesnt plummet, will get smashed on the drop by the unstoppables that make this technique a bit ridiculous on my current tiny jigheads.

Sure you can grub heavy heads along the bottom and get hits and land the smaller dumber fish. But on the 1/28th's you barely need any skill at all. Just spot the fish on the sounder and count to 40 as the 1/28th sinks - then hang on until you get smoked by the bigger fish😀

Snapped my testing rig and punched myself in the face - but it got to about 18kg before the wire testing rig snapped -

The fishing hook glued into the jighead did not budge
 
 

If you want to add a tow point to a jighead. Just cut a hook - drill a hole and super glue it in
 
gives a surprisingly strong hold. I couldn’t pull it out with 2 sets of pliers 

Snapped my testing rig and punched myself in the face - but it got to about 18kg before the wire testing rig snapped -

The fishing hook glued into the jighead did not budge
 
 

Snapped my testing rig and punched myself in the face - but it got to about 18kg before the wire testing rig snapped -

The fishing hook glued into the jighead did not budge
 
 

p.s. extremely unsafe testing methods were used

If you want to add a tow point to a jighead. Just cut a hook - drill a hole and super glue it in
 
gives a surprisingly strong hold. I couldn’t pull it out with 2 sets of pliers 

I've started chucking 1/28th's in 9m of water, when conditions allow me to get them down to where the sounder says the fish are.

The same plastic will remain untouched (Almost😀) on 1/4er's or 1/8th's - but a plastic that doesnt plummet, will get smashed on the drop by the unstoppables that make this technique a bit ridiculous on my current tiny jigheads.

Sure you can grub heavy heads along the bottom and get hits and land the smaller dumber fish. But on the 1/28th's you barely need any skill at all. Just spot the fish on the sounder and count to 40 as the 1/28th sinks - then hang on until you get smoked by the bigger fish😀

I've started chucking 1/28th's in 9m of water, when conditions allow me to get them down to where the sounder says the fish are.

The same plastic will remain untouched (Almost😀) on 1/4er's or 1/8th's - but a plastic that doesnt plummet, will get smashed on the drop by the unstoppables that make this technique a bit ridiculous on my current tiny jigheads.

Sure you can grub heavy heads along the bottom and get hits and land the smaller dumber fish. But on the 1/28th's you barely need any skill at all. Just spot the fish on the sounder and count to 40 as the 1/28th sinks - then hang on until you get smoked by the bigger fish😀

I've started chucking 1/28th's in 9m of water, when conditions allow me to get them down to where the sounder says the fish are.

The same plastic will remain untouched (Almost😀) on 1/4er's or 1/8th's - but a plastic that doesnt plummet, will get smashed on the drop by the unstoppables that make this technique a bit ridiculous on my current tiny jigheads.

Sure you can grub heavy heads along the bottom and get hits and land the smaller dumber fish. But on the 1/28th's you barely need any skill at all. Just spot the fish on the sounder and count to 40 as the 1/28th sinks - then hang on until you get smoked by the bigger fish😀

I've started chucking 1/28th's in 9m of water, when conditions allow me to get them down to where the sounder says the fish are.

The same plastic will remain untouched (Almost😀) on 1/4er's or 1/8th's - but a plastic that doesnt plummet, will get smashed on the drop by the unstoppables that make this technique a bit ridiculous on my current tiny jigheads.

Sure you can grub heavy heads along the bottom and get hits and land the smaller dumber fish. But on the 1/28th's you barely need any skill at all. Just spot the fish on the sounder and count to 40 as the 1/28th sinks - then hang on until you get smoked by the bigger fish😀

I've started chucking 1/28th's in 9m of water, when conditions allow me to get them down to where the sounder says the fish are.

The same plastic will remain untouched (Almost😀) on 1/4er's or 1/8th's - but a plastic that doesnt plummet, will get smashed on the drop by the unstoppables that make this technique a bit ridiculous on my current tiny jigheads.

Sure you can grub heavy heads along the bottom and get hits and land the smaller dumber fish. But on the 1/28th's you barely need any skill at all. Just spot the fish on the sounder and count to 40 as the 1/28th sinks - then hang on until you get smoked by the bigger fish😀

You can get anything printed on a reel in China😁
 
These are the same as almost all the other silver sub $50 reels and likely from the same OEM factories with just minor cosmetic changes. One of the clues is the Daiwa air rotor style design.
BEARKING Brand LT series Stainless steel bearing 5.5:1 Fishing Reel Drag System 15Kg Max Power Spinning Wheel Fishing Coil - AliExpress
Johncoo Anti Corrosion Treatment Spinning Fishing Reel Carbon Washer Drag 10Bb Saltwater Spinning Reel Metal Body - AliExpress
MEREDITH VANPES Series Rust Free And Smooth Bearing 5.0:1 Fishing Reel Drag System 8Kg Max Power Spinning Wheel Fishing Coil - AliExpress
EXIST Same Spinning Reel Full Metal Body Saltwater or Freshwater Fishing reels Ice fishing reel Ultralight surf Reel Best Reel - AliExpress
 
They are actually not bad reels if you buy then cheap. Instant anti-reverse, reasonable smoothness but probably 50g or more heavier than the same sized Shimano and Daiwa. 
I've got 4 and am buying more.

A sunny Cup day meant getting out for a fish rather than be stuck home watching the races.
.
The flats were very crowded on race day. There were hordes and hordes of legal but smaller sizes Yellow Fin Whiting in the 25 to 29cm mark. They were a fish a cast for much of the day.  But …  Not the kind of horses I wanted to back.
With so many little mugs about it was inevitable that the sly and the opportunistic would be out there ready to prey on them.
.
A sunny day on the sandflats is such a delight. The clear visibility and water clarity makes watching the passing parade a pleasure. Such an array of different species that cohabit this shallow water ecosystem. Amongst all the delightful sights on a sunny race day, are the diverse collection of Rays cruising around mooching in the sand. But amongst the happy crowd a few seedy characters lurk.
Yup, “Bronzy Bob” turns up just when you least expect it. While you are distracted.  Intensely concentrating on a big Whiting chasing your surface lure, one of only a few on a lean day, your wading tub suddenly lurches left!
.
“Bob the Bag Snatcher Bronzy”   was at it again. He snuck up from behind and latched onto my catch-keeper bag that I have dangling in the water.
Shooing him off did not work. He was persistent.
When he made one too many swipes at my catch bag of whiting, I thought I should teach him a lesson.
I allowed him to feel comfortable for yet another swipe. When he was just about to launch into my keeper bag I scooped him up with my landing net.
It was a bit of a heavier load for the landing net.
He was a healthy looking 3 foot specimen.
I gave him a stern talking too, a slap on the snoot, took a couple of mug shots for the “Crim files”, and sent him on his way.
 

 
I am told they are very good eating at this size if they are prepared properly after they are caught.
However there is just not enough room in my wading tub to handle the job.
Lucky for the Bronzies!
These guys are frequent but annoying visitors on the sandflats.
Mostly in the 3 to 4 foot range.
They are not a threat, just disturbing. I can assure you they are discerning feeders and far prefer the whiting to the revolting taste of your waders and leg within!

 
On the occasional dull session I have targeted them with a whiting fillet on ganged hooks. Good fun landing them on your whiting gear, whilst wading the shallows !!!
 

   ~ One hooked up on a previous session.
The biggest I have come across on the shallow sandflats is a 6 footer, maybe 7 feet. I didn’t hang around for a closer inspection and accurate measurement!
.
My luck had abandoned me today as the weather factors negated each other to provide difficult conditions for stimulating the YFW bite. The wind speed and direction up the gulf, negated the small natural tide movement and the resultant actual tide was virtually at a standstill all day.
Even if only small, Some tide movement is a great stimulant for the YFW to feed.
It was hard work catching and releasing dozens and dozens of smaller fish.
But I still managed to back in a few good horses on cup day.
I finished with four fish around 40 to 41cm. And kept 10 of the better ones, that were mostly around 35cm.
.

   ~ "Bob" took a chomp on this one! 
Regardless of the fishing, it is always an interesting and enjoyable day wading the sandflats.
Cheers, Des

For all of the Vegemite lovers like me and have been since I was a kid, here's a photo that I took this morning of a jar of Vegemite out of the kitchen cupboard and did a bit of photo shop work on it. I can remember as a kid having Vegemite on toast for breakfast, Vegemite broth with bread in it, then when I was older and a little hungover in the mornings, a Vegemite & tomato sandwich did the trick. I still have a Vegemite broth from time to time too...
cheers Adrian

Here's a couple of photos of what has become a common catch here in Tasmania nowadays, not only that, they are big fish as well..
They now have a bag limit of 5 fish per person & a 10 fish possession (house) limit placed on them which is good, minimum legal size 35 cm.

Regular post readers will know I like to fish the dodge tides for Yellow Fin Whiting .
I cover a variety of reasons in detail, in this previous post:
.
One very good reason, is that you will regularly find better quality fish on the dodge tide.
YFW movements and feeding are highly influenced by the tide. Revolving around the largest tide of the day, they tend to have a 24 hour digestive and feeding cycles.
So even when the tides do not move much on the dodge, they will still have a need to feed within their cycles. The larger YFW have greater food needs and will generally preference a bigger meal such as juvenile prawns or clickers.
With the small dodge tide their feeding will be concentrated to the smaller area, covered by little water flooding in. They will be easier to find.
The terrain/substrate that holds their preferred food will naturally attract a higher concentration of larger YFW.
That terrain you can feel under foot. The softer food holding substrate.
The small tide movement, along with a deeper low tide, holds water over these prime feeding grounds longer. It provides for prolonged access to this zone for both fish and fisher person.
A better explanation of productive terrain is in this post :
.
The dodge tide on Monday with a High of 1.77 mt @ 8.15am  and a Low of 0.97 mt @ 11.36pm provided a long drawn out, run off tide. With a prolonged spell under water, of some prime food holding areas. It looked like an ideal tide and I set off fishing.
YFW are always stimulated by tide movement to feed. These tides do not provide much of that stimulus. However there are other factors that come into play.
.
The day started slowly without a strike for the first hour. The warmth of the day gradually started to take effect and the first to stir were some small Whiting.
With the warming arvo came an arvo seabreeze, as well as a predicted strengthening southerly wind. YFW love a heavy rippled surface to take cover under and lose their feeding inhibitions. The bite picked up strongly and catches were now steady. In the constrictions of the upper gulfs any lower gulf southerly wind can force water up. A wind tide pushes in. It further stimulated the YFW and kept the feeding grounds covered with a perfect level of water for a wading fisherman.
.
I caught my bag of 20 in good time. This situation regularly provides quality fish, with10 of the fish ranging from 38 to 41cm. Most of the remaining 10 fish were around 35cm.
Sugapen 95 was the most successful lure. Then again I did not need to use a lot of variety.
The new Sugapen Splash caught it’s share when the afternoon breeze picked up. This is shaping up as the perfect lure for that strong summer afternoon breeze that kicks up a bit of chop.
A few were also taken on the Ecogear ZX, when I was forced to go subsurface as a pack of persistent juvenile seagulls are yet to learn lures don’t taste good.
.
Hopefully we have some more fine weather for the next dodge tide.
Tight lines all.
Cheers, Des

Thanks YD, the scenery in and around the rivers I fish are great that's for sure. As for the spinners, the fish can run hot and cold on the blade spinners, especially trout, they can be on one minute and off the next and all one can do is to continue to chop and change spinners. Eventually there's one they'll take a liking to for a while then go of it, then it's back to chopping and changing lures again. Then I've had many days during the trout season when I've never had to change the spinner at all.  Spin fishing for trout with blade spinners fishing (or any fish) is certainly challenging most times, in the end that's what it's all about isn't it.. 
cheers Adrian 

couldnt find my old hand paddle so it was time for a new one - Finished with cooking oil varnish