First topwater flathead

[Little_Flatty]

On the weekend I did a bit of a long-awaited tackle bag tidy up. Part of this involved clearing out a whole side of my tackle box for DIY lures:

A lot of what makes lures work is having faith in them and I find that reducing my lure stash on the water helps drive this discipline. The stickbaits in this photo have been pretty good performers, especially with a bit of tungsten putty to enhance the vertical orientation at rest. I will need to add an extra split shot in the tail when I make my next batch. The poppers were a fail in a traditional popper sense, as the weighting turns them into floater/divers! Still, may work!

This morning I popped down to Tarban Creek again to see if I could find any of the pelagics that were about. I had my home made stick bait tied on. There were none to be found, but over the shallow mud flats, I saw a swirl on the surface and hooked up on a spirited fish that zipped over the flats. Halfway into the fight, the line briefly went loose. Uh-oh...has the curse continued? As those thoughts crossed my mind, the line tightened up again and to my relief the fish was still on.

Whilst not a particularly big fish, I wasn't taking any chances on this one, and it was definitely a net job this time. One shot at the net and up comes my first top water flathead!

Pretty happy with that.

I burned up a lot of luck landing that fish. Examining the leader after the fight, I worked out what happened. It turns out the fish engulfed the whole stickbait, rasping the leader, then mid-fight one of the hooks let go, causing the brief loss of tension. It was also lucky I netted the fish because as I was getting it out of the net, the hooks fell out! Lucky my drag was set lighter and maybe my longer leader helped (thanks to the advice of my fellow Deckee community members on the weekend).

Nothing more for the rest of the session, although the glass-out conditions did make me wish that I could stay there all day.

Edited May 7 by Little_Flatty

[bobthelob2341]

Beautiful fish and must be awesome catching it on a lure you made yourself! 

[Robbo from Sydney]

Well done with your flattie. As they say, 'the proof of the pudding is in the eating' - so your lures are on the money!!

I can't wait to see the next iteration.

[XD351]

Nice flattie on your diy lures Mike! Gotta be stoked with that !

[sashkello]

Oh man, just proves that expensive good-looking lures which mimic prey with scientific precision are absolutely not necessary to catch some decent fish. Well done! And I'll be honest, I would throw that stuff in trash without a second thought. Which shows that I'm just a know-nothing beginner when it comes to lure fishing. Minimizing the amount of stuff to buy is kind of one of my goals, so I must say what you're doing is really inspirational!

[Green Hornet]

Well done Mike, what a thrill to catch your first topwater flatly on a lure you made yourself. I bet you won’t be forgetting that for quite some time.

[Mike Sydney]

Surely there’s no going back to buying lures now. Next up, selling them!

Congrats Mike !

*edit - “Little Flatty” would be a great name for a lure!

Edited May 8 by Mike Sydney

[Little_Flatty]

3 hours ago, bobthelob2341 said:

Beautiful fish and must be awesome catching it on a lure you made yourself! 

Thanks Bob it was very satisfying.

3 hours ago, Robbo from Sydney said:

Well done with your flattie. As they say, 'the proof of the pudding is in the eating' - so your lures are on the money!!

I can't wait to see the next iteration.

Thanks Robbo, yes plenty more on the way, including some experiments with paddle pop sticks! (Google ‘popsicle stick engineered angler’ if you want to fall down a very deep rabbit hole).

2 hours ago, XD351 said:

Nice flattie on your diy lures Mike! Gotta be stoked with that !

Certainly am Ian!

2 hours ago, sashkello said:

Oh man, just proves that expensive good-looking lures which mimic prey with scientific precision are absolutely not necessary to catch some decent fish. Well done! And I'll be honest, I would throw that stuff in trash without a second thought. Which shows that I'm just a know-nothing beginner when it comes to lure fishing. Minimizing the amount of stuff to buy is kind of one of my goals, so I must say what you're doing is really inspirational!

Thanks @sashkello.

You’d be surprised how basic a lure you can catch fish on. It’s about getting the right size, profile and action first, and then only after that, considering other factors that can help you.

I have learned over the years that the finish on lures is only the last mile. When you pay decent money for a good lure, most of what you are paying for is all the R&D that goes into it, like all the rejects, the fine tuning, measuring/weighing, reshaping and so on. The real scientific precision in those lures is in those aspects of the process. The finish may well reduce a fish’s reluctance to hit a lure, but more likely it's main purpose is to stand out from the rest of the pack and catch the angler browsing in the shop or online.

It’s real good fun making your own lures but I’m not saving any money or storage space! Even before I start painting, there’s always another tool or material that I ‘need’🤣.

5 minutes ago, Green Hornet said:

Well done Mike, what a thrill to catch your first topwater flatly on a lure you made yourself. I bet you won’t be forgetting that for quite some time.

Cheers Pete, yes it is one to remember for sure! I’ve wanted a topwater flatty for ages and came close a couple of times but was not lucky enough until now. Just the paradox of a bottom dwelling fish attacking a surface lure is very entertaining to me🙂

[Little_Flatty]

16 minutes ago, Mike Sydney said:

Surely there’s no going back to buying lures now. Next up, selling them!

Congrats Mike !

*edit - “Little Flatty” would be a great name for a lure!

Haha nah I’m keeping the day job for now. I’m still buying lures, albeit I’m trying to increase my make:buy ratio. There just some I can’t make myself, like bent minnows.

[faker]

Nice Mike, it took months of messing around before I caught first

[Yowie]

Nice work there Mike. A flattie for your efforts on a home made one.

[Little_Flatty]

4 hours ago, faker said:

Nice Mike, it took months of messing around before I caught first

Cheers Faker, yeah a topwater flatty has eluded many of us for years. You did well to get yours.

17 minutes ago, Yowie said:

Nice work there Mike. A flattie for your efforts on a home made one.

Cheers Dave, different experience catching one off the surface.

[wazatherfisherman]

Good work Mike, the lures look like the 'nudes' they use for Tuna in the USA! Re the bent style minnows, you can buy bibs etc from the USA. I'll message you where from. Great satisfaction when you see your own designs work

[Little_Flatty]

43 minutes ago, wazatherfisherman said:

Good work Mike, the lures look like the 'nudes' they use for Tuna in the USA! Re the bent style minnows, you can buy bibs etc from the USA. I'll message you where from. Great satisfaction when you see your own designs work

Thanks Waza. I've just discovered drafting curves and graph paper and am in the process of doodling up a couple of designs that may work. Key criteria is 3inches approx, enough volume in the tail to accommodate decent casting weight, floats, hook placement enough to accommodate assist hooks without tangling and finally a good walk-the-dog action.

I'm now noticing things about the lures I own and am taking a keen interest in why they are built that way. For instance, would you know that a lot of lures have a flat bottom side? I'm guessing that that makes for easy top pouring of resin but I wonder if it has an effect on the action?  Making lures is a good way to learn about them!

That shop you mention is very dangerous! I have some in oz that are half as dangerous as that and it is still treacherous for me  

[bessell1955]

Your luck certainly held out there.

[big Neil]

You certainly were a bit lucky but creativity and determination are the winners again. Top idea to make, test and use your own crafted lures Mike. Well done, keep up the good work.

bn

[Yowie]

On 5/8/2024 at 8:12 PM, Little_Flatty said:

 

Cheers Dave, different experience catching one off the surface.

Shallow water, the flatties eyes look up, and the flattie will shoot up to grab something, including anything splashing on the surface. I have had a couple of flatties swim up fast, grab a bait and continue out of the water. 

[jenno64]

Congrats Mike, must be very satisfying to catch a flatty top water on your home made lure🙏🏻

[Niall]

Nice work mate. I actually caught my first topwater flatty on that same mudflat at Tarben Creek. Probably about the same size too. 
Wait till you get a big one - I had one come up and scare the shit out of me at BW bay once. Thought it was a huge tailor but ended up being an 80cm flathead. 
Definitely something about a big surface lure that entices the XL ones. 

[Pickles]

Well done Mike, great to catch fish on home made lure. I like the foam poppers - they work really well on Bass. I’ve made some from black thongs and did the job.

[Little_Flatty]

On 5/9/2024 at 6:41 AM, bessell1955 said:

Your luck certainly held out there.

Sure did Bessell

On 5/9/2024 at 9:24 AM, big Neil said:

You certainly were a bit lucky but creativity and determination are the winners again. Top idea to make, test and use your own crafted lures Mike. Well done, keep up the good work.

bn

Cheers Neil, I’ve been fishing for the same fish in the same areas for decades so it’s good to mix things up from time to time!

On 5/9/2024 at 8:35 PM, Yowie said:

Shallow water, the flatties eyes look up, and the flattie will shoot up to grab something, including anything splashing on the surface. I have had a couple of flatties swim up fast, grab a bait and continue out of the water. 

Makes sense Dave, their upwards facing eyes is why I like subsurface lures with good hover time over the bottom.

10 hours ago, jenno64 said:

Congrats Mike, must be very satisfying to catch a flatty top water on your home made lure🙏🏻

Cheers Rob. It certainly is. I have a preposterous creation I made the other day that I’m now ready to test. At a minimum it will give everyone a laugh. If it works, I’ll have a dead easy to make lure to fish with 😎

2 hours ago, Niall said:

Nice work mate. I actually caught my first topwater flatty on that same mudflat at Tarben Creek. Probably about the same size too. 
Wait till you get a big one - I had one come up and scare the shit out of me at BW bay once. Thought it was a huge tailor but ended up being an 80cm flathead. 
Definitely something about a big surface lure that entices the XL ones. 

Cheers Niall, that mudflat has been very productive for me, but oddly it has only been since I started fishing it with topwater.

A big lizard on top water would be a holy grail catch. I actually have some bigger top waters that I really should give a swim.

1 hour ago, Pickles said:

Well done Mike, great to catch fish on home made lure. I like the foam poppers - they work really well on Bass. I’ve made some from black thongs and did the job.

Cheers Bob, yes those thong things are cheap, effective and fast to make.