You only have to spend five minutes on social media perusing fishing related content to realise that the Dusky Flathead has captured the love of our country – Australia. With the dusky flathead sporting a visually appealing camouflage pattern which contains splotchy patches of sandy brown with white spots resembling a galaxy of stars, it is no wonder at all the dusky flathead gets as much love as it does.
When you add to the mix that the dusky flathead can grow to sizes well over the metre mark, it will not come as a shock that most anglers in Australia want to catch one, and at that, most anglers want to catch a good-sized flathead. In my circles, a good dusky flathead is one well over the 70cm mark.
The flathead is often the first species junior recreational anglers catch when they decide to take up our passion of fishing due to their accessibility, spanning from as far North as Cairns in Queensland, to as far South as the Gippsland Lakes of Victoria.
With the popularity of targeting dusky flathead, there are often many questions put on social media channels requesting information on how best to target them. With soaking up some valuable knowledge about the dusky flathead, one day, you might be able to catch the flathead of your dreams!!
"You only have to spend five minutes on social media perusing fishing related content to realise that the Dusky Flathead has captured the love of our country – Australia."
The Dusky Flathead’s Feeding Patterns:
You do not need a fancy boat to get out and catch dusky flathead which is what makes them so accessible to the Australian recreational angler. What you do need when targeting dusky flathead, is to know how the dusky flathead feeds, and importantly, what it eats.
The dusky flathead has a flat and slim-lined body, which when coupled with its spectacular camouflage, makes it the perfect ambush predator. To feed, the dusky flathead will bury itself just below the sand or mud on the bottom of the river or ocean floor, hiding from its prey awaiting a target to ambush.
"The dusky flathead has a flat and slim-lined body, which when coupled with its spectacular camouflage, makes it the perfect ambush predator."
The important take away from the dusky flathead’s feeding pattern is that it is an ambush predator which strikes upwards from the bottom. With that in mind, the most important way to increase your catch rate is to make sure your lure offerings are on the bottom where the fish are waiting in ambush. If your lure offerings are sitting high up in the water column, it is not as likely you will convince a dusky flathead to give up their camouflaged ambush position to eat your lure. So, get your lure down to where the flathead lay – the bottom.
Of course, there are exceptions to the rule, and flathead can even be targeted using surface lures which makes for some exhilarating fishing.
Another hot tip is that flathead will bury themselves and lay in ambush with their head facing into the direction of tidal flow/current, so they can ambush any prey being washed through by the heavy tidal flow. With this in mind, it is always the best option to cast your lure upstream of the tidal flow and then hop it back down towards the way the flathead is laying – this will make your lure present more naturally, and you will reap the rewards.
"It is always the best option to cast your lure upstream of the tidal flow and then hop it back down towards the way the flathead is laying – this will make your lure present more naturally, and you will reap the rewards."
What Do Dusky Flathead EAT?:
The top likely prey items for the dusky flathead are:
1. Small baitfish such as poddy mullet, herring, whiting, and any other juvenile fish they can fit in their mouth;
2. Prawns – every fish eats a prawn;
3. Nippers (saltwater yabbies); and
4. Their own kind – flathead are not picky and sometimes have a cannibalistic nature.
Huge flathead have very large mouths so nothing is truly off the menu for a big flathead. It is good to keep this in mind when targeting them, but at the same time, you need to imitate what they most often feed on. Take note of what bait you see in the systems you fish and imitate this in your lure presentations.
Tips And Tricks On How To Catch Dusky Flathead:
- Flathead can be targeted year-round with lots of success. The old timers might tell you Flathead only fire up in the summer months, but I am here to tell you they are wrong. I have caught several solid fish in the colder months and so you can target this species year-round. Do not get sucked into the “flathead are only a summer species” mindset.
- Flathead will usually position themselves with their head into tidal flow on an incoming or outgoing tide so they can ambush their prey. This can be used to your advantage. Fishing an hour and a half either side of a tide change, will ensure you are fishing at the times flathead are looking to ambush something to eat. I find fishing an hour and a half before the run-out tide to be the most productive.
"Fishing an hour and a half either side of a tide change, will ensure you are fishing at the times flathead are looking to ambush something to eat."
- On high tides, flathead will usually head into water they cannot get to on a low tide, so keep this in mind when thinking about fishing the flats. If the water pushes up onto sand flats, this might be a prime location to cast a lure. Hot tip: walk sand flats on low tide in search of flathead lies (indentation in sand from where the flathead has been laying) and it will confirm if flathead are holding on those flats. The direction of the head in the flathead lie will also tell you what point in the tide the flathead are holding on the flats. If the head of the flathead lie is pointing towards the estuary mouth, they are holding on those flats on the incoming tide, and if the head of the flathead lie is pointing away from the estuary mouth, the flathead are holding in that position on the run-out tide.
"If the head of the flathead lie is pointing towards the estuary mouth, they are holding on those flats on the incoming tide, and if the head of the flathead lie is pointing away from the estuary mouth, the flathead are holding in that position on the run-out tide."
- Fan your casts in a 180-degree arch. Imagine a 180-degree protractor is in front of you. Your first cast should be in the direction of 10 degrees, your second in the direction of 20 degrees, and your third in the direction of 30 degrees – you get the point. Work your casts all the way around to 180 degrees and then if you do not catch a fish, move on and walk up or down to fish new water, starting this whole process again. This is the best way to cover all the water in front of you.
- If you just want to catch large numbers of fish, the Berkeley Gulp Swimming Mullet (curly tailed grub) is the soft plastic for you. The standout lure colours in the Swimming Mullet range are camo, pumpkinseed, and nuclear chicken glow (yes that’s right, that is an actual colour). These plastics will see you land the most fish using a hop style retrieve. We call this retrieval technique the “long lift”. The long lift requires you to lift the rod tip slowly and rhythmically before winding the slack in on the pause, before repeating.
- Gear your jig head size and hook to the style of fishing. If fishing shallow water, use lighter jig heads. If you are fishing deeper water with more tidal flow, fish a heavier jig head.
"If fishing shallow water, use lighter jig heads. If you are fishing deeper water with more tidal flow, fish a heavier jig head."
- If you do fish with bigger lures and soft plastics which have thicker gauge hooks, you do not want to be fishing these on light tapered rods because you may not be able to get a good hookset into the flathead’s thick raspy mouth. Lighter rods make setting bigger hooks more difficult because they have more ‘give’ and do not have the required muscle power to drive the bigger gauge hooks into the fish’s mouth. So, remember, if you upsize your hook gauge, upsize your rod too. You do not want to miss the fish of your dreams because you did not have the right gear. When upsizing your lure offerings, a 2500 sized spinning reel paired with a 2-4kg rod will be the perfect bit of kit (if fishing swimbaits, we recommend going even heavier than this).
"Remember, if you upsize your hook gauge, upsize your rod too."
- Mix things up and find the pattern. This rule applies for chasing most species of fish, but for flathead, I find it best to cycle through lures and soft plastics until you find what the fish are willing to eat on the day. Once you find the pattern, keep repeating it.
- If you are not getting any bites on soft plastics, this might be because your jig head is either too heavy or too light. If your jig head is too heavy, it will hit the bottom too quickly and either not give the flathead enough time to see the soft plastic, or it will hit the bottom too aggressively and in turn, not look natural in its presentation. If your jig head is too light, your soft plastic will not be able to hit the bottom where the flathead are laying. Experiment with jig head weights to get the perfect combination for the conditions. In water with no flow, we recommend an 1/8 ounce jig head and in deeper water with a bit more flow, we recommend using a 1/6 ounce jig head or sometimes even heavier.
"If you are not getting any bites on soft plastics, this might be because your jig head is either too heavy or too light."
Best Lures For Catching High Numbers Of Flathead:
1. Berkley Minnow Grub/Swimming Mullet, Berkley Powerbait Grub, or the Daiwa Bait Junkie Grub – all these plastics work wonders to catch huge numbers of dusky flathead. A slow hop of the plastic will see you convert the most fish. We call this the “long lift” which is a simple and effective technique. All you must do is lift the rod tip up, and wind down the slack of the line, before repeating the process. Remember to pause when letting the lure sink to ensure the plastic makes its way to the bottom where it can settle and give the flathead enough time to ambush it. Our standout colour in this range is the Berkley Camo colour and anything Pumpkinseed coloured, but in saying that, any colour will usually get the job done.
2. Pro Lure Grub Tail Soft Plastic 60mm – I have only recently discovered these soft plastics and I find they are the perfect downsizing option for the days where the bite is tough. These soft plastics have a slightly more slim-lined body than typical 3” plastics and are the perfect option for the days where the larger offerings are not getting eaten. My favourite colour here is the pumpkinseed colour.
3. Paddle tail soft plastics are another great option to use when targeting flathead. All the major brands offer a paddle tail soft plastic. Zman do the MinnowZ and the Slim SwimZ, Daiwa do the Bait Junkie Minnow, and Berkley do the PaddleShad. All these paddle tail soft plastics will catch fish if you choose options ranging in size from 2.5” to 4.2”. Paddle tail soft plastics can be fished by using the long lift technique or by dead rolling them along the bottom with a slightly heavier jig head.
4. The Daiwa Double Clutch (95mm or the 75mm) – this lure works best with a rip rip pause style retrieve. It is worth covering, that some anglers will talk about the trebles on these lures not being heavy enough for the fight of a giant dusky flathead, but I have caught a 90cm dusky on a Daiwa Double Clutch and I did not bend out the hooks. Managing your drag settings and ensuring your drag is not set too tight will allow the fish to run when it feels like it, which will hopefully keep enough pressure off your trebles, so they do not bend out.
Daiwa Australia have even upgraded the hooks on the Daiwa Double Clutch (75mm and 95mm), and they now run Owner ST 36BC trebles, which will be more than up to the fight of a giant flathead if the angler fights the fish correctly.
When fishing the Daiwa Double Clutch, we recommend using a “rip rip pause” retrieve with lots of pauses – do not be scared to pause the lure for upwards of ten seconds because most eats will come on the pause.
"Do not be scared to pause a Daiwa Double Clutch for upwards of ten seconds because most eats will come on the pause."
For more information on how to retrieve soft plastics and lures, check out our blog titled, “The Beginners Guide to Soft Plastics, Lures, and Retrievals”.
5. Holt Production SwimPrawn 3”– I find the Saltwater Yabby colour imitates both a prawn and a saltwater yabby perfectly, making this lure the standout choice to cover both bases when you think the flathead are feeding on saltwater yabbies or prawns.
Holt Production plastics are also extremely hardy and multiple fish can be caught on the one plastic without needing to change the plastic too often, which gets my thumbs up!!! An honourable mention also goes to the Holt Production Swim Crab rigged on the custom-made Holt Production Swimcrab Jig Head – these are perfect to fish amongst rocky ledges and undercuts because they are pretty snag resistant, and the fish love them.
Best Lures For Catching Big Flathead:
Fishing for bigger flathead by using soft plastics or swim baits is something you can get very creative with by adding chin weights, stinger hooks, or extra trebles. You can rig swimbaits and soft plastics in so many different configurations to make their swimming action uniquely their own.
You name it, and you can do it when it comes to lure customisation for large dusky flathead. Creativity in what you can catch big flathead on, is why so many anglers find themselves heavily addicted to chasing huge dusky flathead.
Our biggest tip to catch bigger dusky flathead is to fish bigger lures and soft plastics to entice bigger fish. Elephants eat peanuts and all that, but I believe to convince a big flathead to eat your lure or soft plastic, you truly must upsize your offerings. Fish soft plastics 4” to 5” and up, and lures 90mm and up. Remember, nothing is truly off the menu for a big dusky flathead.
"Elephants eat peanuts and all that, but I believe to convince a big flathead to eat your lure or soft plastic, you truly must upsize your offerings."
If you want to catch bigger flathead, use bigger profiled soft plastics and hard bodied lures. Even the use of big swim baits will see you catch big fish. For years, I was trapped in the mindset of using smaller lures and soft plastics that I knew caught fish, in the hopes that someday a big one will come along, but I think that is the wrong mentality to have.
In my experience, upsizing your lure offerings will see bigger fish commit to expending the energy to chase your lure down and eat it. The very first time I ever threw a five-inch paddle tailed plastic for flathead, I smacked a good quality fish in the high 70’s, so I believe upsizing your offerings truly works at convincing the bigger fish to eat. Since upgrading the sizes of my lure offerings, my catch rate has well and truly gone down, but the quality of my captures has vastly improved.
"Since upgrading the sizes of my lure offerings, my catch rate has well and truly gone down, but the quality of my captures has vastly improved."
Something I learned from Mark Berg’s YouTube Channel, is to use a lure with lots of white on the underside of the belly or along the flanks of the lure because this may convince the bigger flathead that a juvenile flathead is ready for the picking. This technique plays on the fact flathead can be cannibalistic in nature – your lure in this instance, mimicking a small dusky flathead’s white underbelly.
With all that in mind, our lure recommendations will keep it simple. Our lure recommendations for targeting and catching larger dusky flathead are:
1. The Berkley PowerBait Hollow Belly 6” with a heavier jig head (something in the ¼ ounce range). This plastic has a very lifelike mullet appearance and has a very nice wobble through the water. This plastic can be fished extremely slowly across the bottom, giving the dusky flathead plenty of time to eat it. These plastics are cheap and can sometimes be found for under $10 for a packet of three, which makes them a spectacular bang for buck option when targeting bigger flathead.
An honourable mention must also go to the Berkley PowerBait Cullshad which has only recently come out. I have not got my hands on the Cullshad yet, but we have seen many good quality fish be fooled by this new plastic and we are keen to get our mitts on some.
2. Swimbaits and glidebaits. A lot of anglers swear by the need to throw big swimbaits and glidebaits for large dusky specimens. The only drawback of using large swimbaits and glidebaits to target flathead, is the gear required to throw these heavier and bulkier lures. Often, you will need a fishing outfit which is more akin to what you would use to chase Murray Cod, than what would be considered a typical flathead rod and reel. My swimbait recommendations are the Zerek Affinity (220mm) or the Westin HypoTeez Glidebait– these are big lures so get ready for sore arms.
"The only drawback of using large swimbaits and glidebaits to target flathead, is the gear required to throw these heavier and bulkier lures."
3. My top glidebait pick at the moment would be the My Lure Box Soft Glide. From all accounts, these lures are perfectly weighted to fall through the water column with a very natural presentation and are a soft plastic that is excellent for flats fishing. I will report back if these lures are worth the hype.
Summing up:
With the introduction of a slot limit for dusky flathead being implemented in NSW back in August 2022, I am optimistic for the future of our flathead fisheries in NSW. The slot limits give everyone a slightly better chance at catching a true dusky giant, and with the tips and recommendations within this article, you will catch more, and bigger, flathead.
After all, the dusky flathead is not too picky when it comes to what lures and soft plastics it will eat, so get out there, experiment, and keep casting. You might just find that you hook the fish of your dreams sooner rather than later if you put enough time on the water.
The Finatic Blogger...
コメント