Shallow Water Targets

Spring kayak fishing

Jonty Kruska

As the weather warms during spring one of my favourite forms of fishing is chasing blue spot flathead and King George whiting on lures in the shallows. The kayak is ideal for scouting around the coast in search of prime-looking locations and gives a little more flexibility than fishing from the shore. Having said this, fishing from the shore can also be very productive.

Finding spots

The main areas that I have found these two species in are generally fairly similar and it isn’t uncommon to catch a blue spot and a couple casts later a whiting. This makes targeting them a little easier as you can focus your efforts in certain areas and have a chance of catching both species. Before I head out, I like to find likely-looking areas on google earth to narrow down my target location. I’ll look for any reasonably shallow coastal bays with a good mixture of sand, weed and reef. Areas with broken weed and sand patches and defined weed and sand edges will hold both blue spots and KGW. However, I have definitely had the most success fishing the patchier areas. These spots are generally fairly easy to spot on google earth. The lower reaches of estuaries are another great spot to target big blue spots. Once I have found a spot it’s just a matter of picking a day with reasonable weather and getting out on the water for a closer look.

Targeting bluespot

Although blue spots can be caught in several different locations, including open sand flats, I have always found the bigger models don’t like to stray too far from structure, whether that be a patch of weed or rocks and reef. It is for this reason I find it easier to target flathead on clear days and when the water has good visibility. I find it is important to be able to see the structure you are casting at. This allows you to cast nice and close and avoid getting snagged up in the reef or weeds. I have caught blue spots on a range of tides but I have found the last part of the runout or first part of the incoming tide to be a little easier. I think this is due to the fact there is less water up on the flats/beaches and they are a little more concentrated in certain areas. When targeting blue spot in the estuaries I normally look for any drop-offs, weed edges, deep holes and rocky edges. I like to fish estuaries on the run-out tide as I find this gets the fish sitting on the edges of the flats waiting for bait to wash off.

Methods and lure selection

Once I’m in a fishy-looking area my go-to method is usually a basic soft plastic-jig head set up. I generally go for any style of plastic in the 2.5-4 inch range. Paddle tails such as the baitjunkie minnow in both the 2.5 and 3.2-inch sizes are a couple of my favourites. As for colours, I don’t think it really matters too much for flathead. I usually go for a more natural colour like bloodworm however sometimes shades of orange and pink can be very effective. The jig head weight and hook size will depend on what depth you are fishing in and also what size of plastic you go for. Usually, for me, it’s between 1/4 -1/12 ounce, matched with a 1/0 hook for the smaller plastics and a 2/03/0 hook for the larger sizes. When fishing these I simply cast to a likely-looking spot let it hit the bottom, give it two or three hops, let it hit the bottom again and repeat back to the kayak.

Another lure that big flatheads love is the Cranka crab. I’ve had some great success on big blue spot throwing the 65mm crab into likely-looking areas and slowly crawling it along the bottom. Spotted and brown are favourite colours of mine when chasing flathead. Often on quiet days swapping over to a crab can produce some results.

Trying something different

Recently I have been trying a couple of different methods when chasing big flatties and have had some promising results. These methods are swimbaits and surface lures. The swim bait I have been using is the 90mm Biwaa S-Trout. I have been opting for a swimbait over a plastic or crab in shallow waters around 0.5-1.5 metres deep, where there is a little more weed or reef coverage. Being very slow sinking and having great action on a slow roll allows you to fish the swimbait slowly just above the weeds and reef and avoid getting weeded up or snagged. I have had the most success by letting the lure sink close to the bottom, beginning a slow roll and after five or six turns of the handle stopping it for one to two seconds before continuing. The aggressive fish will eat it on the move but more often than not the bites come as soon as it is stopped.

Surface luring for flathead is something I haven’t done a lot of but it has accounted for my biggest blue spot to date going 78 cm. This fish engulfed a bent minnow off the surface in a loud and explosive manner that almost resembled that of a Murray cod. Bent minnows have been my go-to lure so far but I’m planning on trying a few different styles such as small paddling style lures this coming spring. When fishing surface I prefer to target shallow water less than a metre deep, in calm, low light conditions. A slow retrieve with plenty of pauses has provided the best results.

Targeting KGW

When I switch my focus to KGW, not a lot changes with regards to the areas I fish. The same broken weed/ reef/sand areas seem to produce the most fish. I prefer to target KGW on the last part of the incoming tide and the first part of the outgoing tide. I have had my best luck in the reasonably shallow water of around 1.5m to 3m. In these shallow areas, I think the KGW hold out deeper in the weed at low tide and then moves up with the tide to feed, much like bream do on the flats. Similarly to targeting flatties, being able to see where you are casting is important, so a calm sunny day is usually best.

Methods and lures

Of the various methods used to target KGW my favourite method is throwing plastics. I like to target any sandy areas in amongst the weed and reef and slowly hop the plastic along the bottom. The set-up I have had the best luck with is a grub-style plastic rigged on a 1/6th or 1/10th ounce orange nedlockz jig head. Both the Z-man and baitjunkie 2.5-inch grubs work well. Bloodworm and mud blood are two of my favourite colours for KGW. Rigging these buoyant plastics on a nedlockz jig head gets them to sit upright when resting on the bottom and nicely imitates a nipper or worm burrowing into the sand. I have found the KGW will usually come along and suck them up off the bottom whilst they are at rest. A small plastic and hook size allows the whiting to inhale the entire plastic and not just grab onto the tail. Whilst fishing the flats in Georges Bay for bream I have caught a few small KGW on the 50 mm Cranka crab. I haven’t given it much of a try on the bigger ocean-dwelling KGW along the north coast but I’m sure it would work and I plan to try it out over the next few months.

Tackle

When targeting flatties and KGW I usually use my standard bream gear. This is a 1-2kg 2metre long BKCustom rod with a 2500 size reel spool up with a 3kg braid. I normally tie on a 3-4kg leader of around 4 metres in length when targeting flatties. Although flatties aren’t dirty fighters and usually don’t try and bust you off in structure, having a slightly heavier leader can help protect against being bitten off if the lure is taken down deep. Sometimes when throwing larger heavier plastics or heavier swimbaits I’ll use a slightly heavier rod of around 3-6kg. As for KGW, I will usually opt for a slightly lighter leader of 2.5-3kg. Having said this, sometimes sticking with a 4kg leader when chasing KGW can be helpful when trying to stop bycatch such as big bluethroat wrasse from getting back into the reef.

Equipment

There are a few other pieces of equipment that make chasing blue spot and KGW a little easier. A pair of good-quality polaroid sunnies are very important. They allow you to see the weed edges and sand holes much easier, allowing you to consistently make casts into the right areas. Although you will generally only be looking for structure as opposed to fish, I have spotted solid KGW cruising along in a metre and a half of water, flicked out in front of them and hooked up. Being able to see where you are casting also makes getting an expensive swim bait snagged in the reef a little less likely. Another piece of equipment that comes in handy is a large landing net. It can be very difficult to land a 60cm plus blue spot while it’s thrashing around on the surface with a small kayak net. Even a solid KGW can be a challenge to fit into a small net. I always carry a couple of squid jigs when I’m chasing blue spot and KGW as they tend to hang around similar areas and will often follow a plastic up to the side of the kayak. A quick flick of the jig for 10 minutes often results in a nice feed of calamari.

Chasing big blue spot and KGW in the shallows is a great light tackle option during spring and is easily accessible from the kayak. Once you have found fish in an area it can often pay to hang around and fish it thoroughly as there will often be others nearby. Sometimes leaving and resting a spot for half an hour and then coming back can help turn one or two fish from the one spot into three or four.

Match the hatch!