Page 22 - Bush 'n Beach Fishing mag

Bryce Parker with a nice flathead caught by trolling a hard-body minnow lure.
Flathead prints at low tide – this would be a great place to cast lures.
Finding bait schools on the bottom is vital for deepwater jigging for flatties lying underneath.
Page 22 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, July 2020
I believe the sand or mud that kicks up when the trolled lures hit the bottom is a major at- traction and stimulates the fish to smash the lure.
This nice flathead was caught by jigging a lure in a deep hole and happily released.
GThe humble flathead a winter favourite
’DAY everyone, at this time of year we have
Gold Coast Guide
by BRAD SMITH
cool nights and chilly winter mornings, but it is worth rugging up for because this is my favourite time to target flathead.
Flathead will attack anything that comes past them such as fish, crabs, prawns and yab- bies, which means the bait fisherman can use a variety of baits to tar- get them.
ing is your lures must be continually tapping the bottom.
The humble flattie is often referred to as be- ing a lazy fish, but I consider them to be a master predator in that they can change colour to suit the bottom and have eyes on the top of their heads for bilateral vision.
For myself and many others, lures are the way to go because they are very effective and allow you to be mobile in different locations, and they provide flex- ibility in being able to use a variety of differ- ent techniques.
Fishing the bottom of deep holes also works well with soft plastics, metal and soft vibe lures.
They also have big mouths and explosive bursts of speed which they use to perfection when it comes to am- bushing any unsuspect- ing prey.
This species feed on both the run-in and run-out tides but over- all, I find the run-out tide to be the best.
It is important that be- fore you start jigging the lures off the bot- tom of these holes, you must find bait holding near the sand on your sounder.
Flatties love to posi- tion themselves at the bottom of deep holes and trenches as well as off the edges of sand- banks, knowing the draining tide will bring food to them.
When you find good schools of bait on the bottom, there is every chance flatties will be lying underneath and feeding on the bait.
Trolling hard-bodied lures is a fantastic and reliable technique for targeting flathead be- cause you can cover a lot of ground to find them, but the thing to remember when troll-
Drifting along, or walking along casting lures and retrieving them, from shallow wa- ter back into deep water is also a very produc- tive method.
Well, everyone stay safe, stay warm and en- joy some great flathead
fishing this month.
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