Fishing Australia

Last week I looked at what flathead are, how they attack and why lures are a great way to cover water and locate these wonderful fish.

One of the best ways to detail lure fishing for flathead is to explain some of the typical scenarios, and any similar scenario can be fished the same way.

WADING THE FAST FLOWING ESTUARY ENTRANCES

The main channel of Wagonga inlet at Narooma is the place where I had a ball learning about catching flattys on lure many moons ago.

It is pristine inlet that’s a joy to fish, and is a classic example of the fast flowing entrances that you can find in many other places in NSW. The entrance at Burrill, Conjola, Sussex Inlet, Lake Illawarra and North Haven all spring to mind, and there many more examples both north and south.

Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the lower reaches of WA also have plenty of entrances like this where flathead are easily caught.

In this scenario fast sinking plastics and bib less minnows are best because they cast a long way and sink straight to the bottom.

The idea here is to fan cast a spot; ie try in half a dozen casts in different directions, and then move 50 meters and do the same.

If you find a good spot and the water is deep, murky or particularly fast, you will need more casts to cover the immediate area.

Bear in mind that while flathead will chase a lure up current, they will much more readily take a lure that flows to them, just like their real prey does, so work your lure down or across the current where possible.

Soft plastics are the cheapest and most versatile lure to start with. The real trick is to pick a jig head with enough weight to reach the bottom, but not so fast that it looks un natural. The sinking speed of an injured fish or descending prawn is ideal.

Note that things like deeper water, thicker line or leader, faster current, a belly in the line and larger plastic bodies or tails all slow the sink rate down. You can use your rod tip/line pressure to fine tune the sink rate once you have roughly the right softie/jig head tied on.

Some of my favourite plastics for this scenario include 3 to 5 inch long ‘Slam’ Minnows or Slam Jerk Shads rigged on jig head between 3 and 15 grams (sometimes more if needed.) Pick a jig head with as small and as light a gauge hook as suitable-this will result in many more hook ups.

The ‘Great White’ Slam is my favourite colour, but take at least a few distinctly different colours for example Black Pearl, and Sparkling Lime so you can experiment to see what works best on the day.

Whatever colour lure you pick, a good smear of ultrabite snapper/bream gel every 10 casts can make a world of difference, so pack a tube for when the bite is slow.

In this scenario fish the softies with large hops across the bottom using a quick lift of the rod, and importantly make sure you wind up the slack and ‘feel’ the lure drop back to the bottom after each lift becuase flatties usually bite on the drop. Slack line on the drop will at least half the amount of fish you catch.

Once you find a spot with a few flatties in residence you can slow the hop right down and add lots of jiggles to imitate the spasms of a dying baitfish. This is particularly effective in getting a flatty to come back for a second go, if not you can usually ‘jiggle up’ a second bite on the next cast.

A good option if you need to reach further out is to use the 6 inch long Slam Worm on a heavier jig head and jiggle this across the bottom giving a following flathead plenty of time to make its mind up.

If you prefer pre rigged softies then Storm has some ripper ‘shad’ tails, eg the Wildeye Swim Shads that work great and come in the suitable sizes and weights mentioned above.

As far as bib less minnows go, the 6 and 8 cm Rapala Clacking Rap have a mega loud rattle that really helps attract flatties in discoloured, deep or fast flowing water and with experience you can get some brilliant catches on these lures. I am also finding flathead (and bream) will pick often these lures up off the bottom

if you simply click them slowly across the sand or mud like a noisy crab. But start with the softies as they are cheaper and more forgiving. They also ride hook up which means less snags.

See you on the water.

Rob Paxevanos.