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Any tips on where to fish and what to target? I'll be taking my 4.5m tinny up with me. cheers

all the advice payed off today, landed my first flatty on SP. a 45cm one that will be in beer batter shortly! I was very stoked! now a couple more questions, if you catch one flatty should you continue to target the same area or move on, ie do they hang in groups close together or do they spread out? and whats the best way to kill them quickly?

Thanks for your time guys, seems like i am basically on the right track, just need to fine tune my techniques i guess. for those having success on SPs, what kind of retreive techniques have you found work best for you? i'm also curious about what kind of depths i should be targetting for deep water flatties as well as SP techniques for deep water. Cheers

thats exactly how i lost it, but it snapped the leader. I was using 6lb leader at the time, and have since changed to 10lb. cheers

So i'm pretty new to fishing and have recently decided to improve my (non existant) catch rate by trying to target certain fish rather than just dangling a line and hoping for the best. I have decided to target the humble flathead as my first fish to master, seeing as they are meant to be pretty easy to catch (and taste good as well)! So I am asking for some pointers from the raiders in my quest to start landing some of these lizards. I will write down my ideas that i have learnt from reading so far, please feel free to correct them if i'm wrong and add any other advice! The main areas i fish are the port hacking and lower georges river, and woronora river too. Shallow Water/ Flats Bait: drift live nippers or poddy mullet around the high tide, or on the edges of drop offs on the dropping tide SPs: target the flats around high tide and target any structure or features, dont be afraid to 'target very shallow areas. for the retreive a mix of slow retrieve with constant jigs, or the double whip technique. target the edge of drop offs using similar techniques on the outgoing tide. try different SPs if no results with one. I am using 6lb braid with a 10lb mono leader and jig heads from 6-10g for this, does this seem suitable? Deep Water bait: Drift baits such as poddy mullet, squid strips and pilchards on a paternoster rig? SPs: what techniques do you use in deeper water? I'm not too familar with where to find flatties in deeper water yet, like how deep should i be drifting etc etc. (info for depths off cronulla and in botany bay would help a lot) Locations: as above, i fish mainly port hacking and georges river/botany bay, any help with locations would be great also (although i dont expect you to all give up your hot secret spots) I have only been trying specifically for flatties for a few outings and so far only hooked one on SP but didnt land it', based on the info above am i missing something obvious, or just not getting lucky yet? The other morning i was out and got zilch, then i come back and read a report from someone else who got a few around the exact area i was fishing at the same time! doh! haha cheers

in that case we probably crossed paths! glad you had better fortune than myself!

I can recomend a sanyo Xacti CA8 ... it's basically a small digi video cam with 8mp camera as well. fully waterproof. mines taken a beating in the surf and snow and is still 100%. can pick one up on ebay with an 8gb card for around $400.

nice catch. where were you fishing? I was out sunday morning and hardly got a bite on both bait and SPs. didn't really see anyone else getting much action either. I did a couple of drifts around the entrance to wooloware bay and into the leases on the north side, then a couple of drifts around towra point.

thanks for the tips guys, i didn't end up going out on the hacking because the southerly was up, went land based in wooloware bay and hooked a decent 50cm + flatty in about half a metre of water. got busted off though trying to land him without a net! would have been my first on SPs ... might try the hacko next weekend

OK guys i'm desperate, I haven't caught a decent fish i way too long. I am planning on targetting some flathead, drifting and flicking sps (only new to sps) around the high tide on the hacking tomorrow. Anybody got any locations worth a shot to help out a struggler? i am thinking along the south side of the bar next to main channel (ie just west of the ballast heap). any opinions? you can PM me if you don;t want to divulge any info over the net

for stripeys cut into long slab fillets ... roll liberally in cajun spices... sear edges on hotplate (don't cook the fish through, you just want to sear the edge). slice into sashimi slices. tastes beautiful

i've got a place in berridale that i stay at for the ski season. pretty keen to get down there over summer with the boat and go trout fishing. I have spun lake jindy before from the shore with no success... hopefully trolling will give me better results.

nice effort. I've also seen people having success off gunnamatta boat ramp in the dark, not sure at the moment with the pylon works happening though.

camelia gardens

cheers hodgey, that helps a bit. I was actually bait fishing the channel mentioned in the hacking thread last weekend.. with no luck on live nippers and fresh squid! hopefully the SPs can rattle something up this weekend.

Basically what kind of knots work best for soft plastic jigs. Is it best to go for a loop knot like when tieing off a hard body lure so that the jig can move freely, or a normal fixed style knot that you would tie a hook with. cheers

any tips at all? am i at least on the right track for location??

i went on a charter out there back in may and had a great day also. We got a stripey on the way out, then bottom bashed/drifted and got a couple of small snapper, a pig fish and about 80 leather jackets. made for a good feed. leather jackets may be boring to fish for but one of my favourites to eat!

stay off the beers the night before and have a sea sickness tablet (what ever kind) the night before as well as in the morning before you go. Also avoid acidic foods such as oranges and fatty/oily foods the night before and on the day. This has worked for me.

Got myself a new (2nd hand) 4.5 tinny last weekend and am keen to go and drift some bait and throw some SP's around for flatties this weekend. I am thinking of going along the edge of the sandbar just west of como bridge on the run out tide as i have heard this is a good spot. anyone had success around that area? Also interested on where the better spots for finding flathead on the hacking are? as that is closest to where i keep the boat. basically if anyone has any suggestions and tips for fishing flatheads around the shire it would help a lot! I haven't caught a decent fish in yonks! cheers

thanks for the help guys, am going to keep my eyes open and see what poly's show up!

ok i'm pretty much after an open style boat with tiller steering and probably 30-50hp engine for my first boat. Plan is to fish bays, estuaries and outside occaisonally on very calm days. would i be best to go for a 4.5 polycraft or a similar sized tinny? what would be better value for money? Any suggestions on good deals going at the moment? Cheers

just had a quick search. the triumph do look very nice, but a bit out of my price range. Looking for an open 4.1 or 4.5, or maybe a centre console for the right price ... just something very basic really.

cheers mate, i'll have to give those spots a try!

Hi, just wondering if anyone knows any other boat brands apart from polycraft making plastic hulls? Are there any others that are as good or compete with polycraft? cheers