A Guide To Fishing For Flathead With Lures

Flathead Fishing using lures

Want to learn how to catch flathead on lures? Well, you've come to the right place! In this fishing article you will find heaps of tips and techniques regarding flathead fishing using lures.

Flathead are one of the most common caught species by lure fishermen around eastern coast Australia with dusky flathead of 80cm and upwards to 110cm+ being regarded as 'trophy fish'. Flathead, at least the smaller ones, are relatively easy to catch most of the time, however I thought a basic guide based on answering the 5 most common questions we get asked would form a basic guide to catching flathead on lures. So here goes!

1) WHERE TO CATCH FLATHEAD?

Flathead are mainly found along the east coast of Australia, in the rivers, estuaries and bays that are abundant along the coastline. Furthermore, If you want to target Flathead on lures look no further than estuaries, river mouths and the beaches that lead off them, especially around weed edges, drop-offs, sand flats and any other obvious structure like rocks, trees and pontoons etc. A common depth we find flathead in is approximately 0.5 - 2.5 meters but they can be found in depths of up to and beyond 30m.

Another important factor to keep note of is the tide's movements, as it generally plays a critical roll in flathead feeding habits especially around beaches and at the front of estuary systems where the tide has a strong influence. This is where flathead can be very predictable as they are an ambush predator that lie and hide themselves in the sand and wait, using the tide to their advantage, feeding by ambushing bait fish that move in and out of the river mouths, on and off shallow sand flats along with moving around other structure as the tide rises and falls. Another great place to find flathead is along the edges of weed beds as the weed provides good cover for small bait fish and other aquatic life such as crustaceans like crabs and prawns.

Another helpful sign to look out for are 'flathead lies' which are the impressions flathead leave in the sand once they have moved off their ambush point, generally due to a dropping tide. This is a good indicator that flathead are in the vicinity.

2) WHAT ARE THE BEST FISHING LURES FOR FLATHEAD?

I've spent a lot of time fishing for dusky flathead in estuaries, beaches and river mouth's along the south east coast of Australia and, talking from my personal experience, i've found my best results catching flathead have been whilst using soft plastic lures. Having said that, theres other anglers that have had better results using vibes and hard body lures. Furthermore, and to truthfully answer the question, the best lure you can use is the one you have on your line at the time. There's no 'best' fishing lure to use for any fish and its an ill fated psychological rut you don't want to get stuck in, and that is thinking you need a particular lure when in actual fact you don't! Don't get me wrong, there are particular lures that better suit different situations but over all you'll find there's less time spent casting lures and more time directed toward your tackle box, doubting the lure your using and thinking of what one to use next which sort of manifests into a person thats forgotten where they parked their car in a parking lot, if you know what i mean. You have to pay attention! The most important tool you have is your confidence in knowing the fish live in the water and the rest simply comes from ones determination to catch the fish, which will see you cast more and doubt less. Its important to enjoy yourself out there regardless if fish are getting caught or not. Stay calm, be still and keep casting.

Below in the slide show you will find images of the types of lures we use to target Dusky Flathead. Click this link to go to the 'best' lures for flathead blog

3) WHATS THE BEST LURE TECHNIQUE FOR FLATHEAD?

Another question with a open ended answer! There is no 'right' way to use any lure however what we can do is look at the species in question and go from there. Flathead sit on the bottom and that is where you want your lure to be and its as simple as that. If your fishing deep water, you want to give the lure time to make its way to the bottom which will happen quicker with a heavier jig head or by using a vibe due to their quick sinking qualities, and from there simply raise it up with your rod tip, reel in the slack line and then let the lure sink back down to the bottom and repeat the process. Most of the time the fish will hit the lure when its free falling so be sure to keep your eye on you line for any irregular movements, and if you happen to see a twitch in the line, strike it! If your fishing shallow ground thats 1.5m or less you may continue to use soft plastics and vibes but you may also opt for using a hard body lure which can be retrieved in the same manner you would a soft plastic. To help you further we have put in a few videos at the bottom of the blog with tips and techniques to catching dusky flathead on lures.

*Watch this flathead fishing video for tips and techniques.

4) WHAT'S A GOOD ROD AND REEL COMBO FOR TARGETING FLATHEAD

This is a simple one. Ive always used either a 2000 or 2500 size spinning reel matched with a 7 foot 1-3 / 2-4kg fishing rod, generally with a soft tip that helps cushion those big flathead head knocks. As far as fishing line goes, lately i've been using 11lb Yamatoyo Resin Sheller braid with 15lb Harris Fighter fluorocarbon leader. This doesn't mean you cant go heavier or lighter but over the years of experience i've found that line class to be a great match for flathead fishing.

5) FISHING FOR FLATHEAD? MAKE IT SUSTAINABLE!

Fishing will only be fishing if there's fish to be caught. Keep in mind that as the techniques advance more fish get caught and if we care for the future of fishing you will see that all anglers need to be practicing catch and release, ie; releasing more and keeping less. Do you part in creating a sustainable future.

6) FLATHEAD FISHING VIDEOS

To wrap things up we thought we would leave you with a few flathead fishing videos to watch where you may be able to get some tips and techniques from.

1- Fishing for flathead with vibes

2- Fishing for flathead with lures

3- landbased fishing for flathead

Here's a list of relevant links.

Flathead Fishing Page

We Flick Fishing Online Tackle Shop

Fishing Videos

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