Flathead drought

[starvin_marvin]

Hi Guys,

I guess this is my first real post here hope I got it in the right category. I am pretty keen on catching flathead the only problem is I have caught 1 in about the last 3 years funny story actually pm if ya want to hear it it's kinda longish, but I digress, anyway I have the tackle and baits/plastics sorted as I have done alot of searching forums for what seems to work for people who catch them I guess the missing link is where to find them, now don't get me wrong I dont want people to give p secret spots and I am not asking GPS marks or anything like that I find half the fun is in finding your own spots. What I am looking for is advice on what sort of areas flathead tend to feed or live in. Now I dont want to appear stupid and hope I dont gain any disrespect for this but a good example of what I am on about is I have been told that you can catch good flathead in weedbeds say now how would I find a weedbed, how would one tell if there was a weedbed underneath themas opposed to say sand or mud. Well sorry or the long post but as you can see I like to explain myself thoroughly :laugh: anyways if anyone would like to help out a desperate fisherman please feel free to post here or pm me or I will even respond to smoke signals

thnaks in advance

Jason

[pinkey]

hey mate, Most sandbanks and alot of mudbanks in S.E Qld will hold flatties, just a matter of covering alot of ground.

[Cowfish13]

Shultz Canal has a healthy population of Flathead. As does Jumpinpin and the Broadwater. The weed banks are easily identified as a dark patch in clear water. Flathead can live in very shallow water so if you can see the weed patches, cast into the gaps as Flathead like to live there. On the Broadwater, we waded out in 40cm deep water and caught a couple just by slowely working HB's along the banks.

[kevinchen19870316]

if u had been fish shultz canal for 3 yrs, it's hard not to have caught over 100 flatties. lol

[ellicat]

Cowfish13 wrote:

Shultz Canal has a healthy population of Flathead. As does Jumpinpin and the Broadwater. The weed banks are easily identified as a dark patch in clear water. Flathead can live in very shallow water so if you can see the weed patches, cast into the gaps as Flathead like to live there. On the Broadwater, we waded out in 40cm deep water and caught a couple just by slowely working HB's along the banks.

Cowfish13, You're either shorter than I remember or you must have been young then to have to wade lol:P :laugh:

[Dan23]

Mate, once you start getting onto a few flatties you'll be amazed at how common they are. I spent years flatty fishing on plastics but now I never target them but almost always catch at least one when I go fishing as a by catch.

That's basically because they live pretty much anywhere there's bait fish and that's where I target bream etc. If you are targeting them, look for areas of water where the tide might push bait fish into a certain spot. Especially on a run out anywhere where there's a sand flat that is becoming exposed, look for the drop offs and hop your lure off the flat down into them. Really though, I'v caught flatties in 10cm of water up on rocks or up against steep rock walls. The really big ones often old in the deepest part of estuaries but will also move up onto the flats with the high tide.

The trick with flatties is to get your lure down near the bottom. In shallow water diving minnows will work but for deeper water, unless trolling, you'll probably have more success casting a plastic with a reasonable weight jig head (start at 1/8 ounce). when you cast out make sure you wait until your lure has reached the bottom. You can tell by watching your line and you'll see it suddenly go slack. Then there's two common retrieves. Either a strong whip of the rod tip followed by allowing the lure to sink back down tacking up the slack and repeating. Or if that doesn't work a super slow retrieve with baby hops is also effective.

Like Kev and Cowfish said. Schultz canal is flattie central. Some of us consider them a pest even because they are so prolific and make it difficult to fish with light leaders. An example is Faulked's nephew came fishing with us using lures for his fist time ever and caught 3 flatties all ranging from approx 50-60cm.

Good luck and once you get it sussed you'll be surprised how easy flattie fishing can be.

[reef_raider]

i would say hit up shultz canal and use 3" nuclear chicken gulp minnows on a 1/12 or 1/16 head and you should pick up a few

[Angus]

I concur with the Shultz Canal theory. Its one fish i have managed to catch nearly everyone time i have been trolling lures in my kayak.

Other fantastic places include most creeks off the Bribie passage.

If you have a boat the Pin is also a gem. Its a cliched location and no secret, but its seems to produce good fish time and time again. The Brisbane River also has a fantastic flathead population. Many good speciments were caught during the classic and they turn up regularly when targeting other fish on plastic. Around Pinkenba and Boggy creek is prob a good starting point.

Angus

[reef_raider]

yeh ive caught a fair few around pinkenba and boggy creek when fishing the pipeline for bream

[Cowfish13]

ellicat wrote:

Cowfish13 wrote:

Shultz Canal has a healthy population of Flathead. As does Jumpinpin and the Broadwater. The weed banks are easily identified as a dark patch in clear water. Flathead can live in very shallow water so if you can see the weed patches, cast into the gaps as Flathead like to live there. On the Broadwater, we waded out in 40cm deep water and caught a couple just by slowely working HB's along the banks.

Cowfish13, You're either shorter than I remember or you must have been young then to have to wade lol:P :laugh:

When I say wade I mean "walk slowely". If I walked faster, water would have splashed onto my shiny new reel and nobody wants that to happen:silly:. And if you walked quickly, you had a very good chance of cutting your feet open on the many Razor Clams that covered the bank. They hurt alot:side:

Forgot about the Brisbane River. like everyone has said, Boggy Ck and Pinkenbar have a few Flathead (we got a 60cm one at the mouth of Boggy Ck during the BRC). As does the Pummicestone Passage. Forgot about that one too:blush:

[MichaelJ]

i lost a 60cm flattioe at shultz today

[starvin_marvin]

Awesome repies,I think there is enough info there to get me going in the right direction thanks heaps everyone and by the way where is Shultz Canal I've never heard of it

[Angus]

Near the airport at Nudgee.

Check in the forum under All Brisbane River & Creeks.

There is no shortage of Shultz reports.

Angus

[Cowfish13]

Have a look at this thread. There is a map and directions on how to get there. And some Bream we caught once;)

http://www.australianfishing.com.au/index.php?option=com_kunena&Itemid=237&func=view&id=40056&catid=10&limit=20&limitstart=0

[kevinchen19870316]

there's just another shultz flattie report titled "more shultz breaming by catch"