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A member of ‘The Massive’ turned 32 on the weekend and invited close friends and family to a celebration at an Eco Resort (Murramarang). The area is infamously populated by decent water so in between enjoying good food, drink and babysitting duties we all snuck out to our old haunt, Durras Lake.
The lake itself is still closed to the ocean but I heard a rumour that its to be opened soon. Being so full and not visiting it much in the last year or two it was a really different arena to what many of us were used to. Saturday and Sunday morning saw members gather from near and far to scour the water for some epic fish.
The two days couldn’t have been any different. Saturday was hot and blew up a gale come lunch while Sunday was still, overcast and wet. On paper it would seem the latter day would produce better results but this wasn’t the case, particularly when it came to monster Flathead sightings (And in my fortunate case, catching).
I spooked about 3 that would have been pushing a metre, either moving on after smashing some baitfish or sinking away as the kayak shadow approached. These were just the ones I saw, there were probably dozens about. The fact I spied a few while targeting them with bottom bouncing lures made it all the better.
After chatting with Craig about his mixed fortunes I entered a drop off and loaded up. At first it felt like a medium sized Flathead but eventually it loaded up and took line like no tomorrow. It towed the Pro Angler, sideways. By the time I had managed to get Craig’s attention I had felt hooks pull and the Lizard was under the yak.
As it tired I got my first sighting, this was every bit as close to a metre as I will ever get. The Suji Shrimp patterned Jackal Chubby hardly ever gets a run these days but was deemed perfect for its depth dive and bib profile (Skipping mud off the bottom). The fish started to suspend vertically and landing options severely dwindled.
It definitely wouldn’t fit in the net and with two of the three barbs on the rear treble pulled was hanging by a thread. All I could do was slowly use the load of the rod to bring it to the surface and address the situation; I was going to lose this fish. Enter Craig ’450‘Coughlan, birthday boy and my hero for the day (Thanks again mate).
Craig got a lip grip shot just as the hook pulled completely while I dipped my environet under its tail and lifted free of the water. Immediately we went over to the nearest bank to get a few safe shots, just so we could release the fish as fast as possible. She was a heavy specimen and if I was to hazard a guess I would have said 4-5kg easily.
She swam away with no revival required; omitting the need for a brag mat or actual measurement. Craig and I both guessed about high 80’s, maybe even 90cm’s long which eclipsed my previous PB. I saw a couple more after this that were even bigger, god knows what would have happened if I had hooked one of those instead.
The fishing grew tougher as the Saturday wore on with Patwah landing the only other decent Flathead for the day. Squidder and Luke played with the mega Tailor (Jason landing a legal) whilst I managed a 34cm fork length Bream on the same Chubby (Yep, trolling again). Not sure how Ado and Craig went though?
Sunday was Stu’s first trip to Durras and we all hoped he would smash it, while the Bream were striking the hook ratio was at an all time low of 0% (This goes for almost everyone). Patrick landed numerous Flathead but with a campground due for disassembly and the rain teeming down it was time to leave.
Happy 32nd Birthday Craig (The Original Durras King)
