Tackle Tactics » Tips-Techniques » Saltwater-Estuary » How to Catch Flathead - Landbased

How to Catch Flathead - Landbased

By Sean Bekkers

There is nothing like catching quality fish whilst having your feet planted firmly in the salt water and sand. Sometimes, when I can't be bothered loading the kayak or hitching the boat up, heading down to the water's edge and flicking a plastic around is an excellent way to round out a weekend afternoon or break up weekday grind.

My favourite fish to chase landbased is the humble flathead and with these guys you never know if you're going to hook a 20cm pocket rocket or the mythical magic metre fish. How often do you hear the story of a young bloke down at the boat ramp hauling in a monster after you've spent hours out in the boat?

Gearing Up

When it comes to chasing flathead landbased on plastics there is probably two main things that you need to consider, your location and your gear selection. For example, if I'm cruising the flats chasing them, with no hard core structure around, I will opt to fish lighter lines, leader and presentation, while on the other hand, if I'm fishing hard in around mangrove edges and rocks, then I would definitely go heavier in terms of line and leader, while also maybe looking at some weedless style jigheads.

As mentioned earlier, I like the more relaxing approach to walking the bank with my feet in the water, so the gear that I'm usually running includes 10lb Platypus Stealth FC Fluorocarbon Leader attached to 10lb Platypus X4 Braid and matched up with either a 1-3kg or 2-4kg 7' rod and 30 size reel, with an Okuma Cerros spin rod and Epixor XT reel a favourite.

Presentation wise I'll be trying my best to match the hatch in the local area that I'm working, where bait such as hardy heads and other small bait fish, prawns, crabs and yabbies are all on the menu. Presentations that resemble these will be what I'll opt for. ZMan have a huge range of presentation that cover all of these.

To get you started on flathead, ZMan 2.5" and 3" Slim SwimZ, 3" MinnowZ and even 3.75" StreakZ are all good patterns. Colours, like with every other style of fishing, will depend on the day and water clarity. On the clear water, bright days I'll opt for a more natural colour like Baby Bass, while on the cloudier, darker days and when the water is murky I'll choose a colour that's going to contrast well like Gold Rush or Pinfish.

Next up is jighead selection and for most of my landbased sessions the TT Lures HeadlockZ has me covered. If you want to style up your presentation further, then the TT Lures DemonZ painted jigheads are a good option. If you're keen to work that tougher structure, such as mangroves, timber and heavy weed, then I would definitely look at throwing a couple of TT Lures SnakelockZ jigheads into your kit.

Depth wise on my landbased adventures I'll be casting in as little as 10cm and probably no deeper that three metres of water, so I find that 1/4oz to 3/8oz jighead weights cover these situations perfectly, even when the wind or tide isn't exactly in your favour. Some anglers will opt for lighter, 1/8oz and 1/6oz in super shallow water, when the tidal movement and winds are favourable. As most of you are aware flathead, and especially big ones, have no problem sitting in very, very, skinny water, in fact less than 10cm even, and with this in mind you're able to fish a lot of the water column by being land based.

Location & Technique

There is probably two ways for me to categorise the banks that I like to fish landbased for flathead, the first being an edge with a drop off and the second being a big flat with minimal structure.

Edge Bite

When fishing a bank with a deeper edge or drop off I will look to fish it on the last two hours of a run out tide. This is because at this stage of the tide most of the bait will be coming off the bank and congregating in areas along the edge of the deeper water that provide cover, such as little rock bars or weed edges. During the last two hours of run out there is more than likely going to be a bit of run left in the tide, so for this style of fishing I'll generally throw a 3/8oz 3/0 TT jighead, matched with a ZMan 3" MinnowZ as a starting presentation.

Although walking an entire edge of the bank and throwing heaps of cast is an effective way to catch flathead, I tend to look for those areas that are likely holding bait. This includes areas where you can see the baitfish stacked up and also where you believe the bait is likely to be holding. A favourite area of mine for targeting flathead is the drains. Drains are where the remaining water off the flat is running out and these areas are flathead hot spots as the food comes to them and the strike will often come right at your feet.

To effectively cover these hot spots get as close to the water's edge as possible, without spooking anything in the process. Plan to send your first cast up current of your position and the tide will work the lure back naturally with your retrieve. Allow the lure to hit the bottom on the retrieve and on this edge bite technique I'll be opting for a hopping style retrieve.

For the following cast I will do the same, however I will aim to fan all of my remaining casts in the area to ensure that I have covered as much ground as possible in that spot, before moving on. If you are convinced that there should be flathead holding in an area that you are fishing and yet haven't had any luck, you can either add some more Pro-Cure scent to try and entice a bite or look to change your presentation, either by changing the colour or the pattern of the plastic itself.

Flats Fishing

Fishing the skinny water flats is probably the most exciting way to fish for flathead. Basically, almost any hook up you get will result in a flathead getting airborne or skimming across the surface, with your drag screaming in the process. These types of flats can often appear quite barren at first glance, however by wearing a quality set polarised glasses you can identify the areas to focus your casts. When scanning the flats for likely areas, look for the edges of the weed or any structure such as rocks or logs, as these areas will likely be holding bait. Also keep an eye out for slightly deeper sections of water, like the ruts in the bottom as you'll be surprised what lurks in these areas.

In these areas I will be looking to fish as the tide is coming in and the bait is pushing up onto the flats. Flathead don't mind pushing right up in the skinny water in search of a feed either. As I am only fishing the skinny water in these areas, I'll opt for a 1/4oz 1/0 TT Lures jighead and have it matched up with a ZMan 2.5" Slim SwimZ. A 1/4oz may seem a little heavy, however I am more interested in covering ground on each cast, so a little extra weight is welcome.

Retrieve wise I'll opt for a slow roll (slow wind) back, keeping my rod tip nice and high, maybe adding a little hop occasionally. There is no hard and fast rules, it just comes down to what fires the fish up on the day. On a recent trip out with my dad the water that we were fishing was knee deep and we could watch the flathead come flying up behind the lure to inhale it. Super exciting fishing!

I hope you enjoyed the read and that you're finding some fish. Keep landbased flathead in mind next time you have a short window of time or the weather is hampering any bigger adventures. Thanks for reading. 

Screaming Dragz, Sean

Sean's Tackle Box:

Okuma Cerros Spinning Rods - CER-S-701L 7' 1-3kg or CER-S-701ML 7' 2-4kg
Okuma Epixor XT Spin Reels - EPXT-30
Platypus Pulse X4 Braid - 10lb
Platypus Stealth FC Fluorocarbon Leader - 10lb
ZMan 2.5" Slim SwimZ
ZMan 3" Slim SwimZ
ZMan 3" MinnowZ
ZMan 3.75" StreakZ
TT Lures HeadlockZ Jigheads
TT Lures DemonZ Jigheads
Pro-Cure Mullet Super Gel Scent
Pro-Cure Sardine / Pilchard Super Gel Scent