Which Soft Plastics for Flathead?

[Jaybe]

Hi all,

Just had a quick question about chasing flathead on soft plastics (SPs).

Have previously done OK using nippers & salted pilli's but wanted to give some SPs a try.

Would greatly appreciate any advice from the community on the brand/colour/type of SPs that have worked well for them in the past.

I'm planning to use them down at Patonga Creek over the next couple of weeks, some quick specs on the location are as follows:

• Water clarity's generally pretty good
• Can be a reasonable current between the tide turns
• Low chance of bottom snags but can be a bit of weed in the water

Thanks & best,

Jb

[Ryder]

To get started, and also to irritate the SP purists.

Berkley Gulp 5 inch Jerk Shad in Nuclear Chicken, or Satay Chicken.

Flathead love them, but so do toads and small tailor.

But it will give you a feel it.

[Blood Knot]

I don’t target flathead but catch a lot as by-catch when targeting bream so believe lure type or colour is not so critical for these fish, what works is keeping the lure in touch with the bottom (constant lift & drop retrieve) and fishing where the fish are. If pushed for a call on a lure I would use a single tail chartreuse coloured plastic.

Cheers Blood Knot

[Scratchie]

100mm bloody worm wriggler and 1/8 jig head. Also a squidgy fish silver fox 80-100mm. Heaps of current use a 1/4 jig. Next would be a 5inch jerk shad in pilchard.

[Camo1808]

Hey mate. Have chased flatties with quiet a bit of success at patonga so feel free to pm me for some more secrets.

I like to use the Zman grubz in the 3 inch in watermelon red. There my go to no matter where im targetting them but have had lots of success there.

Or also a berkley gulp bloodworm Wrigler if the tide is running.

Sometimes with the wriggler i can throw it on a 1/12 jig head and leave it out in the tide in a beeley trail while im throwing the grubz around. The extra long tail in the current does all the work.

Its a beautiful spot there. I caught my first ever fish on a sp there which was a flattie lol.

Cheers hope this helps

Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk

[will_l]

I would say any small curly tails (2.5" and smaller) will get you some flatties. The most important thing is to make sure you keep the lure always touching the bottom.

[big Neil]

You've pretty much got all the info you need Jb. The colour and type are less important than how it's presented. It needs to be where the fish are (they are partly covered, on the bottom, waiting to ambush their next meal). Use a jig head that will keep you in touch with the bottom...obviously heavier when current is running strong, and flick it up, let it sink, flick it up again. Move around regularly and look for drop offs into deeper water. It's actually a very leisurely type of fishing and the "whack" when a flattie jumps on is a great feeling. Hope you get some. Don't lose hope if it's a bit difficult at first...persist and you'll catch them. Good luck. Neil

[Razzell]

You could stick a bit of Plasticine on a jig head and a flattie will have a crack at it

The two main things I have found with flatties is:

1. Sometimes they like a slow roll, other times a jerk motion
2. Bigger plastics doesn't necessarily mean bigger fish

For the first point, I will use paddle tails or jerk shads. Paddle tails I typically use are the Zman minnows (Motor oil) or powerbait minnows (brown). Jerk shads, I like the gulp minnows in natural colours.

For the second point, my biggest fish have all been on smaller lures, particularly the powerbait minnows. I also have more luck with the smaller gulps than the bigger ones.

On flats, I also get a lot as by catch when using crusteaz for bream. VERY slow roll in short distances. They seem to like these too. I suspect it's the dual action of the 'claws'. The reason I don't use them more is because they can't cast far due to the small jigs required, and I typically like to cover a lot of ground quickly when targetting flathead.

Good luck!

[NaClH2OK9]

I think this has been covered already but in my experience Flatties are not very bright or cunning. They will ambush anything that moves the right way.

[daniel944]

I target flatties atleast every other time I go out, heres what I have learned:

- They will hit anything, soft plastics, hardbodies, bait whatever just put it infront of them and if there active they'll hit it.

- Specifically on plastics, length and color seems to matter very little. I often just buy the plastics no one else wants in the left over bin.

- As much as flatties are very aggressive and easily fooled you can spook them with a boat. I have spooked a school of flatties just by turning the electric on so be as quite and as cautious as you can.

- Sometimes it feels like you've picked up weed as they can be dumb and not realise there hooked until they see the boat. Anytime I feel weight, even a dead weight, I treat it as a fish. I have often said 'Bummer i've picked up a stick... oh wait the stick is now swimming up river!'.

[bluefin]

I target flatties in the river. There not overly particular most days. But you MUST be on the bottom between lifts. Almost every flattie a catch takes it on the way back down. when you lift again you hook up.I use 10 to 16 lb leader. A lot of what I catch is over 50 c/m and have a habit of engulfing the lure. I like the lift and drop retrieve. faster in summer ,slower in winter. My standout lure would be the Samaki Viblicous 70 m/m in whitebait . And the Z man 2.5 0r 3 inch Grub Z in Motoroil. Have Fun.

[Adsy91]

Might be worth mentioning that you can get flattys on the surface as well. My two biggest flathead were out of terrigal lagoon and avoca lagoon on the flats with a walk the dog style minnow. Great way to catch them too as it is awesome to watch them leave their dug outs and breach the surface with a big boof. This also means they will fight harder though as the shallows make them take longer harder runs instead of trying to run deep.

[Cargo05]

Jaybe

A lot of good advise here.

[Jaybe]

Thanks so much for all the info guys (as always)... this is a goldmine & I can't wait to give it a crack!

[jgrant666]

Just curious if burley is still useful if you're flicking SPs and moving round a bit? Just bought a couple of different types to try this weekend (one pack came with scent) but not sure whether it's worth cutting up some pillies for burley if I'm landbased and targeting flatties

Sent from my D6653 using Tapatalk

[big Neil]

Berley really isn't any benefit because you will be targeting the areas where Flatties are likely to be hanging round...like drop offs from sandbanks and weed beds, etc. Using berley is somewhat random and may only succeed in drawing other species to the "berley trail". Just flick the sps out and vary the type of retrieve. Good luck.

[jgrant666]

Berley really isn't any benefit because you will be targeting the areas where Flatties are likely to be hanging round...like drop offs from sandbanks and weed beds, etc. Using berley is somewhat random and may only succeed in drawing other species to the "berley trail". Just flick the sps out and vary the type of retrieve. Good luck.

That's what I figured, thanks Neil!

Sent from my D6653 using Tapatalk

[Adsy91]

Just curious if burley is still useful if you're flicking SPs and moving round a bit? Just bought a couple of different types to try this weekend (one pack came with scent) but not sure whether it's worth cutting up some pillies for burley if I'm landbased and targeting flatties

Sent from my D6653 using Tapatalk

Neil is right, when you are targetting the drop offs and weed beds you will have no benefit from burley and this is mainly due to the way they hunt. When they bury into the sand they generally stay there for quite some time.

Here's a little tip though, if you are land based let's say for example you were at Terrigal Haven, the first place to cast an s.p should be directly behind the run off from the clean off tables. Areas like this have charters, tourists and locals dumping fish frames and guts into one place and this is bound to bring them in. It's definitely worked for me in the past when the pelagics were too slow to bother with.

[jgrant666]

Neil is right, when you are targetting the drop offs and weed beds you will have no benefit from burley and this is mainly due to the way they hunt. When they bury into the sand they generally stay there for quite some time.

Here's a little tip though, if you are land based let's say for example you were at Terrigal Haven, the first place to cast an s.p should be directly behind the run off from the clean off tables. Areas like this have charters, tourists and locals dumping fish frames and guts into one place and this is bound to bring them in. It's definitely worked for me in the past when the pelagics were too slow to bother with.

Thanks mate, gonna be at Patonga this time but that's a good tip anyway till I get the boat back!

Sent from my D6653 using Tapatalk

[Adsy91]

Thanks mate, gonna be at Patonga this time but that's a good tip anyway till I get the boat back!

Sent from my D6653 using Tapatalk

No worries mate, you should get a few there this time of year.

[jgrant666]

So I bought myself some 2.5" grubz in watermelon red, some 1/4oz jig heads with 1/0 hooks, and a pack of these pre-rigged red and white minnow type plastics about 3" in size and headed down to Patonga yesterday. Highway was pretty foggy so it took me longer than I expected to get up there, but I still managed to arrive and have a rod in the water by 7:30am, about an hour before the top of the tide. Started off just up from the little boat rmp near the camping ground and slowly worked my way upriver from there. second spot I stoped at I managed to hook what felt like a pan sized flatty, but I mist have tied a crappy not as it busted me off after a couple of runs (was using 12lb braid and a 20lb flouro leader so I doubt it cut through....)

I worked a good section of the bank up and back again but unfortunately other than that one decent hook up I had no other takes. Could feel (and see) plenty of little pickers having a go at my plastics but no other takers unfortunately, except for one poor unfortunate little poddy mullet that I somehow managed to foul hook just behind the gills (I think it was more embarrased than I was!) - if only I'd had my normal tackle with me I would've sent it out as a livey, but I was on a mission to try these SPs that everyone raves about so it wasn't to be. by 10:30 the rest of the fam had arrived and it was time for a swim and a muck around on the beach so I had to pack it in. Anyways it was good to get a morning to myself in a beautiful part of the world, fish or no fish. I'm thinking though if I head there again I should probably park the car on that little road that runs to the back of the town so I can get further up river away from the boat ramp and all the houses as I might have more luck there, a couple of yak fishos managed some nice flatties a bit further up where it was quieter

Also, do they make jig heads with smaller hooks on them? the 1/4oz seems to be a good weight for casting a good distance then getting to the bottom in the current, but the 1/0 hook especially on a little 2.5 grub seemed a tad big to me in hindsight - maybe I would have had more luck with a slightly smaller hook, but they were the smallest ones I could see when I was at BCF on friday (I'd prefer a local place but I've got one 5mins away from my work and didn't have much spare time)

Either way still al ovely day, and thank to everyone for their tips so far. persistance might have to be the key here

Oh and @Jaybe - did you have any luck at all?

Edited February 21, 2016 by jgrant666