WAY back in the mid-1970s I recall a fishing trip I had with Ted Crozier and his son Warren.

We launched at Little Beach and motored out through the heads before turning left and heading north before cutting the motor midway between Hawks Nest Beach and Cabbage Tree Island.

The plan was to drift with pilchards for bait and the target was sand flathead.

After a couple of hours we had a heap of fish, cracker flathead and a beautiful catch of thumping, plate sized flounder. I never took the time to count them, but I reckon that there would have been about 30 flounder – all big.

I haven’t caught a bag of quality flounder since and I have not heard from anyone who has.

Could they have been trawled out or is there another answer?

Does anyone have a theory or a flounder story that they are willing to share?

The other notable absentees are squid.

I well remember how simple it was to catch 20 big green eyed monsters, one after the other.

All the quiet water in the rocky bays between Rocky Point and Fingal held squid.

Inside the Port, the sea grass meadows in Shoal Bay were the go-to squid spots along with the Little Beach jetty and inside the Nelson Bay Marina.

All gone!

I spoke with Craig McGill who conducts a Charter Fishing business inside Sydney Harbour and he agrees that the squid numbers have plummeted to rock bottom as it has in Lake Macquarie.

My question is why?

No one has been able to answer that simple question.

I even contacted Rob Gauta, a local boy who manages the Newcastle Fishermen’s Co-op.

Rob had no answer.

The good news is that the flathead stocks inside the Port are in great condition with quality lizards cruising the warm shallows from Shoal Bay to the Karuah River.

Father and son team Len and Troy Stead bagged a couple of crackers on plastics just west of Soldiers Point.

This has been and continues to be a really good flathead season and I think that is a result of good management on behalf of NSW Fisheries and responsible local fishers.

By John ‘Stinker’ CLARKE