With spring in the air, some large flathead are 'on the chew' and local angler Roberta Pearce has been getting amongst it.
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Recently she hauled in a 77cm flathead from her pedal kayak on Wallis Lake at Forster.
“I've been spotting quite a few bigger flatties recently - they tend to come 'really on the chew' as the weather warms up - so spring is definitely coming.”
She promptly released the fish as the larger ones are most likely to be breeding females.
Watch the release video below:
“When catching flatties on a regular basis, there comes a responsibility to make sure you release the bigger ones as they are usually the big breeding females - particularly those over 70 cm.”
While her recent catch was certainly impressive it’s not the biggest one she has landed.
”My personal best landed flattie is 84cm - though I have hooked ones over 1 metre and been busted off,” she explains.
“I have 'spooked' a heap of bigger ones in recent weeks - and a friend yesterday drifted over a whopper, and it was not scared at all and didn't even move off after numerous drifts over her. The big ones aren't afraid of many other creatures in the sea.”
If you have fishing photos and stories you’d like to share, email janine.watson@fairfaxmedia.com.au
“When catching flatties on a regular basis, there comes a responsibility to make sure you release the bigger ones as they are usually the big breeding females."
- Roberta Pearce