Tips for land-based flathead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Sean Bekkers

The author with a land-based flathead that ate a TT Lures 1/4oz 1/0 TT Lures DemonZ jig head and Z-Man 3.75” StreakZ in Shiner colour.

A go-to flathead presentation – a TT Lures HeadlockZ HD jig head and Z-Man 3” MinnowZ.

Tips for land-based flathead

NOTHING beats catching quality fish while having your feet planted firmly in saltwater and sand.

Sometimes, when I can't be bothered loading the kayak or hitching the boat up, I head down to the water's edge and flick a plastic around, it’s an excellent way to round out a weekend afternoon or break up the weekday grind.

My favourite fish to chase land based is the humble flathead – you never know if you're going to hook a 20cm pocket rocket or to the mythical magic metre fish.

How often do you hear the story of an angler 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 land based on plastics there are two main things you probably need to consider – your location and your gear selection.

As an example, if I'm cruising the flats with no hard core structure around, I will opt to fish lighter lines, leader and presentation, while on the other hand around mangrove edges and rocks, I go heavier in terms of line and leader and also possibly look at weedless style jig heads.

As mentioned earlier, I prefer the more relaxing approach to walking the bank with my feet in the water, so the gear I'm usually running includes 10lb Platypus Stealth 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 – Okuma’s Cerros spinning rod and Epixor XT reel are a favourite set up.

Presentation wise I try my best to match the hatch in the local area I'm working, where bait such as hardyhead and other small baitfish, prawns, crabs and yabbies are all on the menu.

Presentations that resemble these will be what I opt for.

Z-Man have a huge range of presentation that cover all of these.

To get you started on flathead Z-Man 2.5” and 3” Slim SwimZ, 3” MinnowZ and even 3.75” StreakZ are all good patterns.

With every style of fishing, colour will de* continued P27

* from P26 pend on the day and water clarity.

On clear water bright days, I go for a more natural colour such as Baby Bass, while on cloudier darker days and when the water is murky, I choose a colour to contrast such as Gold Rush or Pinfish.

Next up is jig head selection, and for most of my land-based sessions TT Lures HeadlockZ has me covered.

If you want to style your presentation up further, TT Lures DemonZ hand-painted jig heads are a good option.

If you're keen to work tougher structure such as mangroves, timber and heavy weed, definitely look at throwing a couple of TT Lures SnakelockZ jig heads into your kit.

Depth-wise on my land-based adventures I'll be casting in as little as 10cm and probably no deeper that 3m of water, so 1/4-3/8oz jig head 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 wind are favourable.

As most of you are aware flathead, particularly the big ones, have no problem sitting in very skinny water – occasionally less than 10cm – and with this in mind you're able to fish a lot of the water column by being land based.

Location and technique

The two types of bank I prefer to fish land based are at an edge with a drop-off and a big flat with minimal structure.

Edge bite

When fishing a bank with a deeper edge or drop-off, I look to fish it on the last two hours of a run-out tide.

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 provides cover, such as little rock bars or weed edges.

During the last two hours of a run-out tide, more than likely there’ll be a bit of run left, so for this style of fishing I generally throw a 3/8oz 3/0 TT jig head, matched with a Z-Man 3” MinnowZ as a starting presentation.

Though walking an entire edge of a bank and throwing heaps of cast is an effective way to catch flathead, I tend to look for areas that are likely holding bait.

Including areas where you can see baitfish stacked up and also where you believe bait is likely to be holding.

A favourite place of mine to target flathead is drains.

Drains are where the remaining water off the flat is running out and these areas are flathead hot spots because food comes to them and the strike will often come at your feet.

To effectively cover these hot spots, get as close to the water edge as possible without spooking bait or fish 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 go for a hopping style retrieve.

For the following cast I do the same, however I aim to fan all my remaining casts in the area to ensure I’ve covered as much ground as possible in that spot before moving on.

If you’re convinced flathead are holding in an area but you haven't had any luck, try either adding more Pro-Cure scent to entice a bite or changing the colour or pattern of the plastic.

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 becoming 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 The author sending a flathead back to put a bend in the rod for another angler.

That next monster flathead landed at the boat ramp could be yours and remember it doesn’t take much water to hold a flathead. * continued P28

The author fishing an edge bite with Okuma’s Cerros spinning rod and JAW 30 reel loaded with 10lb braid and 10lb leader.

Note how Kaitlin is holding the flathead behind the fins to protect from the spikes on the side of the head – caution when handling flathead.

Tackle box Flathead

• Okuma Cerros Spinning Rods – CER-S-701L 7’ 1-3kg or CER-S701ML 7’ 2-4kg • Okuma Epixor XT Spin Reels –

EPXT-30 • Platypus Pulse X4 Braid – 10lb • Platypus Stealth FC Fluorocarbon

Leader – 10lb • Z-Man 2.5” Slim SwimZ • Z-Man 3” Slim SwimZ • Z-Man 3” MinnowZ • Z-Man 3.75” StreakZ • TT Lures HeadlockZ jig heads • TT Lures DemonZ jig heads • Pro-Cure Mullet Super Gel scent • Pro-Cure Sardine Pilchard Super

Gel scent

A nice land-based flathead on the mat prior to release.

Tips for land-based flathead

* from P27 quality set of polarised glasses you can identify the areas to focus your casts.

When scanning the flats for potential areas, look for the edges of weed or any structure such as rocks or logs, as these areas will probably be holding bait.

Also keep an eye out for slightly deeper sections of water – ruts in the bottom – as you could be surprised what lurks there.

In these areas, I 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.

As I am fishing skinny water in these areas, I opt for a 1/4oz 1/0 TT Lures jig head 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 opt for a slow wind back, keeping my rod tip nice and high and maybe adding a little hop occasionally.

No hard and fast rules apply, it just comes down to what fires the fish up on the day.

On a recent trip out with my dad, the water was knee deep and we could see 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 fish.

Keep land-based flathead fishing in mind next time you have a short window of time or the weather is hampering any bigger adventures.

Screaming dragz…

Sean Bekkers