Starlo’s back to basics

Flathead: training wheels for fly fishers!

NSW STH COAST Steve Starling

www.fishotopia.com

If you’ve ever contemplated giving fur ’n’ feathers a go – or making the transition from fresh to salt with your trout fly gear – flathead may well represent the perfect starting point!

The depths of winter might seem like a strange time to be talking about targeting estuary-dwelling flathead in most parts of the country, but the fact is, we’re now only weeks away from these popular fish beginning to shake off their cold weather lethargy, especially towards the northern end of their range.

Truth is, flathead never If you do enough of it, you just might get lucky and score a crocodile on fly, like this 90cm beast Starlo tagged and released in his local waterway.

Jo Starling unhooks an average dusky flathead taken on fly.

actually go off the bite completely, especially up north. Late August and September will see some of the year’s best dusky flathead action starting to kick into gear from Hervey Bay south through the Gold Coast and into the far northern rivers of NSW. A month or so after that, this seasonal action will progress further south toward Sydney and, by October, the lizards, frogs or whatever else you wish to call them will be chewing all the way to Victoria. Ditto the sand, blue-spotted, bar-tailed and other varieties found everywhere from Tasmania to Western Australia.

To my mind, flathead are the perfect recreational fishing target. They’re abundant, widespread, usually not too hard to catch, and great to eat. Could you really ask for much more from a fish? They also respond to a wide range of presentations: from bait to lures and even flies.

In the past, I’ve often referred to flathead as ‘training wheels’ for anglers making the transition from baits to lures… or from hard lures to soft lures. But they also make the perfect ‘L-plate fish’ for those dipping their toes into the fascinating world of saltwater fly fishing: either as first time fly chuckers, or those keen to take their trout gear to the salt.

Fact is, catching flathead on fly (or any other offering, for that matter) ain’t rocket science. If you choose an offering that looks vaguely like something alive or edible and move it along just above the bottom where some flathead live, one of

these fish will eventually grab it… and often times, that ‘eventually’ doesn’t take long to happen!

Any baitfish-profile fly will fool a flattie. Popular patterns include Clousers, Bend-backs, Deceivers, Polar Minnows, Game Changers and the like. Ideally the fly should be somewhere between about 6-10cm in overall length, tied on a No. 2 to 2/0 hook, and have a little bit of weight incorporated into its design in the form of bead chain or lead dumb-bell eyes, or some lead wire wrapped on the hook shank under its body materials. Natural baitfish colours work well, but so do hot pink or bright lime green (chartreuse), especially if the water isn’t especially clear. Try a few combinations and see what works best on the day.

You don’t need fancy fly gear for this caper. A #5 or #6-weight trout outfit will do the job, especially

if your flies aren’t too big and bulky. But if you’re buying a rod and line (the two most important components) specifically for this task, I’d probably choose a #7-weight.

You can use a standard full-floating line but, if you do, add a longish leaders (at least 3m), use weighted flies, and confine your activities to waters shallower than 2m and areas without lots of current. A slow-sinking, sink-tip or intermediate line is probably a better all-rounder for flathead. (Scan the QR code accompanying this column to watch a short video clip about targeting flatties on a sinking line, or go to my ‘Starlo Gets Reel’ channel on YouTube to watch it.)

Catching flathead on fly is very easily achievable, accessible, effective and fun. Why not make this the year you give the long wand a swing on the salt?

You really don’t need flash gear to catch a few flathead on fly.

Any weighted baitfish pattern will catch flatties. This is an articulated fly called a Game Changer.

QR CODE

Scan this QR code to watch a short how-to video about catching flathead on fly, or go to the ‘Starlo Gets Reel’ YouTube channel to find it.