fishingworld.com.au | September 2019 | 29Five of the best flathead outfits and methods
to use them for consistent results.
FIVE RODS
FOR FLATTIES
By David Green
E
very trip starts with a plan. When we chase
f lathead, it's often difficult to work out
where to start fishing but in general the
tide is the major consideration when it
comes to working out where you are going to
start fishing and where you are going to finish
the day. In the decades I’ve been chasing these
fish on lures I’ve seen constant and unrelenting
change when it comes to lures, technology, rods
and line. It seems every year we adapt our
methods in attempts to improve our catch rates.
Over time however, the major learnings are all
about learning to read the water and work out
where the fish are. It is no longer a simple
business! Things can get very complicated when
you stare into a box of 200 plus lures trying to
work out which one will bring you joy.
Yesterday was windy and stormy. The plan
was to head north and work a series of sand
banks with broken weed near Jumpinpin. This
area has been kind to us in the past, and is well
sheltered from strong southerly winds. We
arrived at the spot about an hour into the run
out tide. Despite a few days of steady rain, the
water remained quite clear, enough to be able to
make out the weed beds that were interspersed
with pockets of clean sand. These particular
weed beds are quite high, rising in distinct
clumps with edges that provide great ambush
spots. The area also seems to hold a lot of bait
and the water f lows between the weed beds
rather than across them which provides plenty
of ambush points for f lathead as the tide drops
out. The trip was a bit compromised as both my
echo sounders were out of action and we
couldn’t get any depth reading which meant it
would be a day of casting rather than trolling.
After many years of reliability, both sounders
died within a week of each other! But there is
no point getting upset by such things, so it
forced us to use our eyes and prior knowledge.
The spot we were fishing produces a lot of
good fish, and I was keen to put a few meals
away in the esky as I love eating f lathead. I was
fishing with Mark Frendin and his son Connor.
While I was immersed in the wiring looms
trying to sort out busted fuses and get a
functional echo sounder Connor caught a small
f lathead on his first cast. Somehow this once
little kid has grown into a 190cm kid with size
12 feet and his fishing skills have also grown
with his feet. He was casting a Gulp Nemesis in
a purple colour on a 3/8 ounce football head jig
head. The Nemesis has become one of our