Over the Christmas break I managed to hit the estuaries on the South Coast of NSW pretty hard for Flathead and Bream and noticed a particular trend with many of the other guys out there targeting these fish on plastics.
I think sometimes if we know that the Flathead are on the chew we seem fish accordingly and forget about anything else. For example, if we are fishing an area that produces both Flathead and Bream but seem to be catching more Flathead we may up the size of our plastic or fish it more aggressively to stir them up. Unfortunately, this can then make that session very one dimensional and rule out any potential by catch of Bream.
One of my favourite places to fish on the south coast of NSW is Lake Conjola. On one particular session with a new mate of mine (met him on my show) we noticed heaps of white bait in the water and decided to match our plastics in size and colour.
First cast I nailed a nice Flathead of around 64cm’s that spat out a stack of white bait. The lure was a 3’ Slam Minnow in white. After this nice fish I could only think Flathead and started to fish that way. A 3 inch bait will catch both Flathead and Bream but you need to find a technique that will work on both species. It wasn’t until that night that we stopped and thought about the way we had been fishing. That spot normally produces big Bream too but we didn’t see one.
Rather than just work the lure off the bottom for Flathead with a couple of quick whips it helps to slow things down. Reduce the size of your jig head so your lure sinks at a more natural rate. You can get away with a heavier jig head on flathead because you want it on the bottom but most Bream will hit your bait as it sinks. That’s the key right there – we fished in 2-6 metres of water so you may have to wait a little longer for your bait to hit the bottom but if you watch for that little Bream tap on the drop and strike up hard on it you are now fishing for both Bream and Flathead.
So my tip is this – fish a little smaller and a little slower. Concentrate on the drop for that Bream tap and try fish with the tip of your rod up to make the lure sink more naturally through the water towards you. It also keeps your line a little tighter and easier to recognise those little touches.
In terms of lures I wanted to try everything on the market to see what worked best for me and my techniques. To be honest all the leading brands worked fine. The only thing that made the Slams better is that they are a little tougher than most and on flathead we could catch 4 or 5 fish without having to change baits which I guess equates to a few bucks in your pocket.
The best Flathead went to Joe at 84cm on a pink 3’ minnow Slam using an Okuma Flame combo.
See you on the water –
Mark Berg
G’day Mark,
For yonks now every fishing report, be it in mags or on shows like your own, have always commented on the necessity to release all large flatheads because they are all females and are the breeders and by releasing them you are helping to ensure that stocks of flathead are not diminished. I was recently talking to a friend who is a marine biologist who has studied flatties and he tells me that the females do in fact tend to live longer and therefore grow to a larger size and although they do have lots of eggs, the eggs are weaker and the offspring are not of the highest genetic makeup.
Maybe you could look into this and be the first fishing commentator to correct this myth.
Having said that I strongly believe in C&R and the big flatties aren’t the best to eat anyway however releasing them to continue breeding into ‘old age’ may not be achieving the ideal end result.
PS: Mark, I’m a huge fan of yours and have you to thank for introducing me to Rapala lures. I have hundreds of lures now that never come out of their boxes because I’m wrapped in my X-Raps. When I lose one I actually get a tear in my eye.
Keep up the great work digger.
g day mark i have never been sucsessfull with plastics but hopefully i will after the info you have provided on flatty & bream thanks.
Thanks for the tips on flathead.2 words to describe flathead. Fascinating & frustrating. My goal is to catch a big one. Always encouraging to see whats coming out of the fishes mouth.
Cheers Andrew.