First class flathead fishing action

The Hastings

Kate Sheldon

The Hastings, Macleay and Camden Haven rivers would have to be up there in Australia’s best flathead fishing systems. I’m not a flathead fishing expert, but I’ve picked up a few techniques from some of the local anglers in the past few years that may help you in landing that trophy-sized metre flathead.

Over the past 12 months, local and visitor anglers to the Mid North Coast have been seeing great catches of flathead, with many anglers catching personal records. Not only will you find flathead on most sandbanks, they also seem to love bridge pylons, gravel beds and break wall structures. Flathead will lay on the bottom to camouflage and hunt, waiting for unwary bait fish, prawn or squid to swim past before attacking. Live bait fishing is my go-to method for targeting flathead (although lure fishing can also be just as productive). Flathead love live bait, and I will generally use slimy mackerel, poddy mullet, hearing and yakkas. When live baiting for flathead I like to use a light leader, paternoster style rig with a small sinker and a single circle hook.

Whether you’re in a boat or fishing off the bank there are plenty of options for anglers to target flathead on the Mid North Coast. Releasing the larger flathead is highly recommended, and anglers are encouraged to follow the voluntary Trophy Fishery Code of Practice when fishing in for large dusky flathead in NSW The Code of Practice can be found on the NSW DPI website.

If you want to know more about fishing for flathead, drop into a Mid North Coast fishing tackle shop and speak to the experts.

Moving to offshore fishing, there are still plenty of mackerel around Grassy Head, Plomer Bay, Lake Cathie and Bonny Hills. There were reports of some great catches in April, with most anglers managing to avoid the sharks. There have also been some great snapper caught on the inshore reefs, with the new Nomad Squidtrex lure proving very popular amongst local anglers.

The local FADs are still producing greatsized mahimahi . Water temperatures have been reaching up to 27°C, and one lucky angler landed a wahoo off the Laurieton FAD.

Hills and Lake Cathie using bait.

The rock fishing anglers have reported a few longtail tuna around the headlands at South West Rocks and Dunbogan, with the odd Spanish mackerel in the mix. Fishing off the rocks in Port Macquarie, Point Plomer and Crescent Head has also produced some decent catches of luderick, bonito and tailor.

As we head into the cooler months, we will start to see the end of the inshore pelagic season. I do like this time of year though as one of my favourite types of fishing starts , which is targeting squid. As the local saying goes, “squid in the bay in May”. Not many anglers know about the Mid North Coast squid season, but if you use a light paternoster style rig with a squid jig on the inshore snapper grounds, you’ll often find the odd tasty squid about in May, June and July.

Fishing off our beaches, anglers have been reporting some huge tailor around North Haven, Diamond Head and North Shore in Port Macquarie. The majority of fish have been taken on spinners, with the best times to fish being at dusk and dawn. For anyone keen to fish the beach at night, there have been some school mulloway caught on the beaches around Bonny

• Business Blurb - Kate is the proud owner of Bay Explorer Marine Services and she specialises in making deep drop fishing rigs for blue-eye trevalla, bar cod, kingfish and bass groper. For more info look up ‘Bay Explorer Marine Services’ on Facebook and Instagram or find her store on eBay.