im very new to Sp's and im trying to chase for flathead but i just cant get away from the bream. no matter what type of SP i use, im always catching bream. Any reccomendations on how to catch lizards? any reccomended fishing locations on the gold coast?
thanks
Hey Mate,
At least you can catch bream on the SP's, For a spot on the Gold Coast I would try my luck around Crab Island in the broadwater, It gets quite shallow in around there so make sure your in like a Tinny or something but there are definetly some nice flatties around there.
Hope that Helps!
"The two best times to fish is when it's rainin' and when it ain't."
Cheers, Dylan
PB's
Bream: 40cm - Whiting: 41cm - Flathead: 62cm
just target any sand flat systems. On the run out tide target the small drop offs next to sand banks, flathead sit here waiting for baitfish to be washed off the flat. Alternatively a flat with broken ground and weed..target the sand patches in between the weed.
cheers.
Live2fish is right, any channels in sand flats, or any sand banks would certainly be worth a go, or you can try using larger lures, cause bream shouldn't (except for monsters) eat 4 inch nuke chickens.
I Fish, I catch, I SNAG
Change over to about a 80mm - 100mm shad with a slightly heavier head and work the deep water beside sand / mud banks and reefs. I prefer to hit water around 1.5-3m deep for the bigger lizards. Up in the edges in less than a metre of water beside sand banks will produce lots of flathead for certain but the larger ladies are generally sitting a bit deeper still.
Jewfish are always a good 2nd bet bycatch for the larger flathead too.
Jack.
Just to raise another issue..... does anybody recon they can see flathead on a sounder?
cheers
no, they sit on the bottom half buried in sand.Originally Posted by oldboot
Just to raise another issue..... does anybody recon they can see flathead on a sounder?
cheers
I would think it impossible i think?
btw, if your only after pan sized lizards sometimes its best to keep the lure that little bit smaller. Using a smaller lure generally means you wont eliminate some of the smaller by catch like bream, trevally etc...and big flathead will definately still take little lures.
By all means squidgy fish and all those larger shads are great flatty lures but sometimes it pays to use smaller ones.. like 3" atomic prongs for example, when there is only smaller fish about.
Just the other week i was up the coast and we got a stack of pan sized flatties (40-60cm) wading the flats flicking little jackall chubbys and 3" powerbaits.
cheers.
3" shads will easily catch flathead & you won't be unhappy if you find a bream big enough to chomp on it either. I've been using 3" swim shad in blue black from tsunami pro - the holographic ones. superb for flatties 40cm+. Just note the 4" can be found all over but the 3" are hard to find in the tackle stores.
one tip on colour: look around the water you're on & workout what bait fish are plentiful. then match the colour. the blue black look a bit like tiny slimey mackeral or tailor. if there are loads of anchovies or hardyheads about use the silver ones.
Azzure
If i could only buy one type of plastic for Flatties it would be the Berkley Gulp 5" jerk shad. as far as color goes they all work pretty well but genrally natural colors in clear water & bright colors in the dirty stuff. 1/4 Jigheads on the flats & upto about 1/2 in the deeper water. Any of the good banks in the broadwater will hold fish at this time of year but lately the deeper water has fished better than the banks. look for areas where water is draining off the banks on a runout tide. if there is weed in this same area concentrate your casts around the edges of this weed. the other ingredient to look for is bait. if you find all these things together you shouldn't miss.
Oldboot
the closest you will come to finding Flathead with you sounder is to find bait schools. if youfind baitballs in deeper water around the tide change concentrate your efforts here & you will improve your chances of catching some good fish.
Hope this helps guys
When all else fails "stick it" on the bottom!
It was an intentionaly silly question.
People recon they can see all sorts of things on the sounder...I was wondering if anybody thaught they could see flathead
cheers
I've had good luck with Atomic 3" shads in Luminous Pink color for sand flatties. Used with a Squidgy round ball jighead. They seem to grab those lures more than any others for me.
just a word re technique. I know it is obvious, but flathead lie on the bottom. Slow your retrieve right down so lure spends more time 'dead' than moving. Give the fish the chance to come over and check it out and grab it when it moves again. I reckon an average cast should take 30 secs to a minute to 'work' the lure back to the shore or boat, but it is hard to have the patience to do this all the time.
I just got home from a weekend camping and fishing trip and had my best flatty sessions ever. A few around the 60 cm and one big girl at 85 cm. Great fishing from a canoe on very light gear. The canoe gets into shallow water.
The big one took a 3" New Penny shrimp, and they loved the 70mm squidgie fish in black and Gold and Silver Fox. Back home around Ballina they love 3" shad in Pumkin seed. I use 1/6 or 1/8 2'0.
As above, look for drops and weed and also little inlets.
Just amazing how these flatties will take such a huge variety of SPs. We all have our gun lures, but they are often so different to others! Shows the flatties are suckers for a well presented lure/plastic. They are indeed real guttses!
Maybe you should try fishing another area, as its strange you are not getting them, maybe the territory is wrong. I sometimes get a flatty when I am getting bream, but I dont often get bream where I get a lot of flatties..Im only new myself on SPs but Ive noticed that pattern for me.
Keep going, you will nail them for sure!
Barraboy7
" Fishing is not a hobby, a Hobby is something I do in my spare time! "
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