2012 Flathead reports

[frozenpod]

Documentation for identifying flathead has been poor over the years. I have some older fish identification books that show a picture of a duskys as being tigers and southern sand as being dusky.

Biggest issue is they can be quite different in colour for the same species depending on the bottom you catch them from and the tail markings are often not clear (I also wouldn't be surprised if there is some interbreeding going on as well).

[Tomcat1]

i been wanting to catch some more flathead but haven't seen many caught around mordi pier lately. maybe i need to start fishing the beach at night.

[purple5ive]

someone tell me whats the best technique for flatty on plastics, ive never caught one yet on plastics and am dying to try it out..
these fishes look awsome..

cheers

[Tomcat1]

usually i just throw out let it sink to the bottom and just lift a little bit let it sink back to the bottom and repeat. seems to work pretty good.

[Fish-cador]

someone tell me whats the best technique for flatty on plastics, ive never caught one yet on plastics and am dying to try it out..
these fishes look awsome..

cheers

2 things I do:

1 - cast, let it sink. lift, let it sink. Pause. Lift, let it sink. Pause....that is the pattern. During the lift, the lure will go up at least a meter or so. The flatty will see the lure coming up and down. Being a predator, it will come and will usually hit the lure on the drop. On the next lift, the rod will load up.

2 - for weedy areas - cast, let it sink, list once. Before the lure hits the bottom again I will start a slow continuous retrieve to keep the lure above the grass by a foot or 2. Flatties will strike the lure when the lure passes close to them. When I feel the bump/hit, I stop for a second. If the flatty missed the lure on the first strike, it will hit the lure again on the drop. Stopping gives me the chance to hook up if the flatty missed on the first strike. I dont worry about the flatty dropping the lure when I pause because they dont drop the lure. They will suck it up on the first strike if they can. The flatty may also follow the lure and stike only when it stops. Therefore. I always stop and let the lure sink before I lift the lure out of the water for the next cast.

Salmon is the most common bycatch when targeting flatties on SP. When I use berkley gulp, I get pinkies in the mix too.

Good luck

[Raulfc7]

Great info FC. i will definetly give that a try next time. One question though does your technique change if its choppy water?

[Fish-cador]

no. same techniques

I dont usually fish for flathead on choppy water. If it is choppy, I go for snapper.

[fishingvic]

Diffinetly not a rock flathead. Flathead can change there colours quite a bit depending on there environment it looks like a southern sand or marble flathead.

Nice catch.

frozenpod it definitely looks like a Rock Flathead to me unless this site has it wrong:
http://portphillipmarinelife.net.au/species/8009

I found no other flathead species with a distinct Yellow tail and fins.

Would like to know 100% for sure :dontknow

[frozenpod]

Different websites have the same names with different pictures of fish. I use DPI and Australian Museum.

It also appears as though some states call the same fish different names and/or different fish the same common name.

This is what I call a rock flathead.

http://australianmuseum.net.au/Tasselsn ... cirronasa/

[minimal]

Top linky. This page lists them all out...

http://australianmuseum.net.au/Flatheads