Poddy Mullet And Flatheads

[Justin]

hey everyone

this is not just (another) poddy mullet thread, as i am posing a poddy mullet related question, as i do not fish with other fishermen who use poddy mullet all that regularly.

I catch live poddy mullet with a small hook and light line and they are generally about the 12-14cm mark.

I throw these out live (single hook through the back nearer the tail end) and have caught large and small sole, large and very small bream, all size tailor but never a flathead.

my question is what size poddy mullet do you use to catch flathead?

(as my poddies are on the large side) has it just been bad luck so far or is a 14cm poddy too large for a toothless flatty to tackle?

all the breams have gone for the tail end of the poddy which is y i place my hook there.

I cant manage to catch smaller poddies cos they are scared of freaken everything! including the bread i throw at them. next time i go im going to use a bait trap (which they are scared of too) but catch a poddy on line first and put him in the bait trap. maybe this will entice the smaller ones in!

Thanks

Edited June 23, 2009 by Pinkus

[slinkymalinky]

No problem at all catching Flatties on 14cm live baits. It sounds like from your rig that you're fishing at anchor. If you want to target Flatties, pin the mullet through the nose instead of the back (so they face into the 'current' and don't drown) and drift them on the bottom over any likely areas. The South face of Lion Island just off the reef onto the sand is a great drift for Lizards.

Flatties are ambush predators and rather than actively foraging, they'll set themselves up in the best possie to smack their prey as it comes to them. It's much better to try to take the bait to them rather than wait for them to come to a bait.

Cheers, Slinky

[Welster]

Hi pinkus,

Last summer was my first attempt at catching and using poddies. Recently caught a 15cm flattie on a 12 cm poddy it had swallowed about half, head first so no probs with bait size. Have been hooking behind the head or through the lip.

The last couple of trips I was using about 1.5m trace with a ball sinker above swivel. I noticed in the shallows the poddy swam up quite high so will be going back to a 50cm trace or thereabouts as I think he may of been getting out of ambush zone.

They stay alive for months with just an aireator in a plastic bucket if you change the water regularly I just use day old tap water.

Jason

Edited June 23, 2009 by welst

[Welster]

If you catch them in salt water can you put them into a freshwater fish tank?

What would you feed them?

I caught them in salt water took them home and put them in the garage. I use one of those plastic storage containers about 50lts but with only about 6 to 8 inches of water in it with aerator. Had about 15 to 20 mullet at the start. I use a fish net to scoop out the crap and have a bucket of tap water beside it every day or two i replace about 1/2 to 1 litre of water. Every other day I feed them usually goldfish food, sometimes bread, cheese, biscuit or nippers broken up small.

When I go out fishing I throw them in the bait tank, so once out they change straight to saltwater and whatever comes back goes back into the container. They survived about 1 month between trips. Only have 2 now the first death was last week. Now it is winter they dont see as much light so I dont know if thats why but I threw in a little bit of pool salt to see if that helps. It entertains me and the kids.

Funny story I was setting up a live bait tank and had the pump recirculating water into a container in the garage which has a painted floor. There was other full buckets of water on the tressels also. I stepped over the mullet container slipping and knocked over the mullet and all the other buckets hurting my foot in the process. We then had 20 mullet jumping around in about 100 litres of water on the floor. I yelled out and my six year old came out her first comment was oh s##t. She helped me pick them up (they were under the boat and amoungst the rubbish) before we had a talk about the swearing.

Would of one funny home videos. Good thing no mates or my wife were there to see it.

[Justin]

Hi

I dont know where Anchor is sorry, i catch all my poddies at Hunters Hill High school pretty much on the sand banks right where the oval is.

I cast them out from the sand banks under the burns bay road bridge, usually walk out to the sand bar in the middle there. I used to fish from under the bridge on the Hunters hill side but theres just too much rubbish in the water like old bricks, too many snags.

Ive tried through the nose but ive lost too many from castin them too hard haha. my rig will go one way and the poddy will go the other! if i do it through the tail they stay on the hook after a strong cast and stay alive for a fair while. Maybe i gotta practise some more with that.

as for keeping them, i never keep them alive. just roll them in some salt and into the freezer at home. Ive caught flathead around that area with butterflied half poddies just never on a live poddy.

I got a PM about a different style poddy trap to catch smaller poddies so im gonna give that one a go soon!

Just finished my final semester of exams so if your around Hunters Hill youll be seeing me soon!

[damos]

Hey Pinkus,

I too just started using poddies for bait and have been catching most on small hook and line. Mine are also quite big and I have only been getting flatties. I like your idea about placing some poddies in a bait trap to attract others, might try that myself because the trap hasn't been working at all lately.

Cheers

[Welster]

I have tried a few different places originally with orange juice bottle type trap and now use a different version with a tupperware type container with a modified lid using chicken wire and fiberglass flywire and it works well. Yet to master them around my area (Holsworthy). I havent tried around here with new trap, but can get them pretty quickly if I drive 25min.

Damos had attempted in the deepwater area but you need to be careful what you attract. I thought I was chasing bait not the bait if you know what I mean.

Pinkus I didn't realise you were landbased, I generally fish from a boat so casting isnt an issue and drift rather than anchor if chasing flatties.

[SimJ]

I dont know where Anchor is sorry, i catch all my poddies at Hunters Hill High school pretty much on the sand banks right where the oval is.

He means anchor as in sits still on the bottom. Use a float or light ball sinker to let the bait move.

Nice to meet u the other day btw.

Cheers,

Simmo