Page 18 - Bush 'n Beach Fishing mag

Drifting the flats, gasbagging and fanning casts for flathead.
Not a monster flathead but good fun on light gear and Barry christened his new kayak.
Sheri with a nice eating size flathead kept for a meal of fresh fish.
Ronny with a flathead landed fishing a weed edge in a creek using a 1/4oz, 1/0 jig head and Z-Man 2.5” Slim SwimZ.
Page 18 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, July 2020
Key structure includes drains that hold a metre or so of water through- out the tide, mangrove edges, weed edges on the drop-offs of flats, rubbly sand patches in large weed flats, pres- sure points and eddies impacted even by the smaller tides and small weed and rubble flats that hold at least half a metre of water through- out the tide.
I generally carry curl tails and paddle tails in the 2.5”-4” size range, along with my mix of crustacean-style Ned Rig baits and can usu- ally work out a feeding pattern for the session with a few changes.
It’s not just flathead though, as you will al- so find a mixed bag of estuary and even reef and pelagic spe- cies further up the creeks, depending on the amount of rain that has fallen.
Tactics for targeting flathead in winter
* from P16
ture in the area along
of the feeding fish and a hot bite may come on a tiny 2.5” plastic or 5” plastic, while on the other hand the fish may not even look at the larger or smaller presentations you are throwing.
ter, I also find flathead often tend to push fur- ther up the creeks than in summer, when more frequent rainfall push- es fresh water and fish out of the creeks and into the larger rivers and bays.
with areas that have been productive in pre- vious sessions.
I often fish a 7’, 3-6kg rod, 30 size reel, 10lb braid and 10lb leader when fishing my heav- ier, deeper edge-bite plastics on 3/8oz jig heads.
I will generally start by throwing a 2.5” Slim SwimZ on a 1/4oz 1/0 TT Lures jig head when fishing the flats and shallower areas under 2m, or a 3” MinnowZ on a 1/4oz 3/0 jig head when fishing deeper edges and drains.
This is a good option to keep in mind, es- pecially if the wind is blowing, because these sheltered creeks and back waters provide a good mix of spe- cies and their winding series of bends and straights means there are generally plenty of places to get out of the wind.
However, to get a long cast out of the Ned Rig, I switch to a 7’, 1-3kg or 2-4kg rod, 20 size reel, 6lb braid and 10lb leader.
If the area looks good, there’s bait movement, it feels like I should be getting fish and it’s not happening, I’ll switch things up every 15-30 minutes until I crack a pattern.
Key structure to fo- cus on includes drains, rocks, deeper holes, timber snags and un- dercut mangrove edges.
Note the leader re- mains 10lb because I have had flathead to 80cm inhale this little snack size presentation.
Having multiple rods rigged makes this pro- cess simpler and I will often have a smaller plastic, larger plas- tic and Ned Rig setup rigged to try to work out what they want.
Flathead, along with most other species, will stick tight to this structure, especially if the structure is hold- ing bait.
This lighter combo al- lows long casts, subtle hops and shakes that make the plastics come to life.
In really snaggy sec- tions, the addition of a TT Lures SnakelockZ weedless jig head will reduce lure losses and allow you to make that cast right in among the snags.
It is more fun when dealing with Ned Rig-eating by-catch such as bream and grunter, and is more forgiving on the leader should a flat- head inhale the bite-size presentation.
If you find a colour that works well for you in your area or when the water is a particu- lar colour, it can pay to look at what other models come in that colour.
Flathead are fun fish to target, love eating lures and a trophy fish could be landed on your next cast.
Match the hatch
For example, the clear, fleck-filled Opening Night colour is often in my winter kit in 2.5”, 3” and 4” paddle tails along with 4” curl tails, as it is a proven clear water colour.
Remember to keep an eye out for bait flicking and moving in the area as, in winter especially, the bait size can vary dramatically from tiny ‘eyes’ to larger species such as yellowtail pike.
Set the alarm and get the warm gear on because winter is a perfect time to target them.
At times this can in- fluence the behaviour
Up the creek
See you on the wa- ter...
With less rain in win-
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