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Broadwater Flathead from Kayak - Gold Coast

Panther

By Panther
in Saltwater

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Panther Newbie

Panther

Posted
Posted

I have been reading this forum long enough without contributing so I thought it best I make more of an effort...

My wife organized a weeks camping (16th -24th Jan) on the Broadwater, Gold Coast so I decided to take the kayak and light spin stick with me. I wanted to try out some soft plastics as the place is well known for flathead. The wind was not playing the game most days but I managed two early morning sessions before the jet ski's and other annoying boat traffic started up. I wanted to fish the run out tide in 5 knots or less.

To put it simply the flathead numbers were pretty thick and they were hungry, especially on the first morning. You could see baitfish in the 1-4m of water and the fish weren't hesitating to chomp at the plastics I put before them. I kept 3 the first morning and returned about 4, all within about 90mins. Of those I kept two were in the high 50's and one was mid 40's as you can see in the pics.

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The next morning I tried to replicate the previous day's catch as the fillets went down a treat at the camp site. In fact we didn't finish them all so I wanted to top up the catch for a second nights dinner. A strange thing happened as I was using the same jig head and plastics but only managed one fish from more than 10 hook ups. The fish were managing to spit the hook or simply come loose early in the fight. I guess they weren't chomping down as firmly as the previous day?? The wind had changed to a light northerly which usually spells the end of bites in my experience so I was happy to top up the remaining fillets with one more legal flatty.

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Old Scaley Mentor

Old Scaley

Posted
Posted

Nice feed and thanks for posting. Look forward to hearing more from you.  With the missed hook ups, maybe your jig head has lost some edge after all those strikes?  Also, it helps if you really strike hard on the flathead to make sure the hook has penetrated.  A bit scary at first, but you will get the feel for it after a while. Of course, I could be telling you stuff you already know so apologies in advance if that is the case.

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samsteele115 Newbie

samsteele115

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2 hours ago, Fishaman said:

Good write up and nice feed mate

 

I find if I am dropping flattys because they are more timid on the bite. I count slowly to 5 after I feel that 'tic" in the line that indicates a flatty bite then strike. I gives them time to actual take the entire SP. 

So you give them time to spit it out? They chomp down so hard that they are either hooked or they are not in my opinion. If you have seen fish eating lures on youtube you will see that as soon as they eat it they spit it out straight away because it is not food. By not striking you're just giving the chance for the fish to spit it out or shake out the hook because there is no tension on the line to keep the hook set.

Flatties have massive mouths too so there isn't any 'nibbling', they just swallow the whole thing in one go. If you get nibbles then I guess whatever fish is doing that isn't worth catching because it is too small.

Also you don't want them to swallow the lure because their teeth will rub on the leader. A hookup in the corner of the mouth is what to aim for and to do that a moderate strike of the rod when you feel the hit will give you the best chance of that in my opinion.

But hey, whatever works :)

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Fishaman Rookie

Fishaman

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Posted
On 3/11/2016 at 2:11 PM, samsteele115 said:

So you give them time to spit it out? They chomp down so hard that they are either hooked or they are not in my opinion. If you have seen fish eating lures on youtube you will see that as soon as they eat it they spit it out straight away because it is not food. By not striking you're just giving the chance for the fish to spit it out or shake out the hook because there is no tension on the line to keep the hook set.

Flatties have massive mouths too so there isn't any 'nibbling', they just swallow the whole thing in one go. If you get nibbles then I guess whatever fish is doing that isn't worth catching because it is too small.

Also you don't want them to swallow the lure because their teeth will rub on the leader. A hookup in the corner of the mouth is what to aim for and to do that a moderate strike of the rod when you feel the hit will give you the best chance of that in my opinion.

But hey, whatever works :)

Like you say, whatever works. I have caught plenty of flatty's in my time and know the technique works for me. I can give a flatty slack line after I feel the "tic" of a bite then strike after 5 seconds to still hookup in the corner of the mouth. ;-) :-P

 

 

 

 

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Fishaman Rookie

Fishaman

Posted
Posted
31 minutes ago, samsteele115 said:

Nice fish @Fishaman. Yep, whatever works for you. Still don't not sure on that technique though haha 

One thing I have learnt over time is to have an open mind when it comes to improving my technique and trying new things. Hell a few years ago you wouldn't have got me to put my old Alvey down and would have looked at you with disain about these plastic jiggly things.

 I remember reading a blog by a well known landbased fisherman a while back and he always wrote about feeling the tap of a flatty take and then how he would pause, count to 5 and then strike. To me it sounded counter intuitive however I couldn't help but see via all his trip reports and pics how he consistently landed good fish so I started giving it a go. What do you know, more hookups and better fish.

 

One windy day when you cant get out have a read through some of these old trip reports (around 2011 and 2012) and he talks of it often.http://landangler.net/

 

PM me if you ever want to catch up for a kayak fishing trip up Caloundra way and I'll prove it to ya hahahahaaa!!!! 

 

Cheers

Funchy

 

 

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See...... Now I'm just showing off hahahahaaaa

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fifis101 Newbie

fifis101

Posted
Posted

A lot of the time flatties just smash the plastic or the rod suddenly loads up on the next jerk of the plastic but if I ever see that small flick in the line when it's sitting there with slack line between jerks I will always give it a couple of seconds before setting the hook. Seems to work every time and so much so that every time it happens I make the call to whoever I'm fishing with to "watch this", then I set the hook.

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Fishaman Rookie

Fishaman

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Posted
14 minutes ago, fifis101 said:

A lot of the time flatties just smash the plastic or the rod suddenly loads up on the next jerk of the plastic but if I ever see that small flick in the line when it's sitting there with slack line between jerks I will always give it a couple of seconds before setting the hook. Seems to work every time and so much so that every time it happens I make the call to whoever I'm fishing with to "watch this", then I set the hook.

Preeeeeeeeeeecisely..... I do the same :D

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Fishaman Rookie

Fishaman

Posted
Posted
On 3/15/2016 at 6:58 PM, Panther said:

Nice pics fishaman!! Didn't realise crocodiles came down this far south ;)

Is that kayaking in Caloundra invite is open to me too...? My brother lives there and I get up every now and then. Be good to hunt some lizards some time...

Sure thing mate. PM me some time after easter 

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