Flathead Fundamentals - How to Catch Flathead on Soft Plastics

Flathead are a favourite species for soft plastics anglers and a great target species for those wanting to give plastics a go as they are accessible, available in good numbers, widespread and they love eating soft plastics. With the holiday period approaching and many anglers planning an adventure, I thought we should take a look at a few do and don’ts of flathead fishing, along with some tips to get you hooked up. Fish on!

Stay in Contact

Probably the biggest mistake that most anglers make, from speaking to those having trouble catching or having beginner anglers on my boat, is that they are fishing too light. Over the years we have always been told ‘go light to get the bite’, and it’s true, especially for experienced anglers that stay in contact with their lure, fish light gear and can feel the bites, however for those getting into flathead on soft plastics I would suggest a heavier approach to start out.

Flathead are an ambush predator that hold close to or buried in the bottom, so your soft plastic needs to be contacting or close to the bottom. If it’s weedy you can fish above but close to the weed, however along weed edges, across sand and mud drop offs, over rubble patches, down drop offs and other areas clear of weed, that jighead should be puffing up sand or mud to attract the attention of the fish. The exception to this would be clear, shallow water, where the lure becomes a target almost anywhere in the water column, however, for beginners I would suggest they hit the bottom anyway.

As you become more experienced with soft plastics fishing you can lighten and finesse things up, which can also entice larger fish, however for starters, let’s catch some numbers! In the shallowest of waters, I would suggest 1/8oz as a minimum, stepping to 1/4oz for flats and drop offs from a metre down to a couple of metres, then 3/8oz from two to five metres. Tidal movement, wind and other factors will also influence weight selection as you move into deeper water. For most anglers wishing to catch a flathead, 1/4oz is a great starting point.

Fish with Flow

We will most commonly fish the soft plastic back with the tidal flow, unless drifting and casting ahead of the drift, and this is important for anglers getting into soft plastics fishing. Bringing the soft plastic back with the tide, or on an angle back and across the tide, assists you in staying in touch with the presentation, while presenting it more naturally to fish that are laying facing into the flow, ready to ambush bait.

It's important to maintain some contact with the soft plastic and keep an eye on the line, because that tiny ‘tick’ that you feel or see in the line can be the bite of a monster flathead and you need to set the hook. Land-based anglers can walk edges and wade flats, fanning casts up current to cover water and bring that plastic back with the flow. Bringing the plastic back against the flow can cause it to look unnatural, lift it off the bottom and make it more difficult to fan casts and cover water, while staying in contact with your plastic. The exception is when drifting with the flow, casting ahead of the drift and working the plastic as you move back toward it, reducing the impact of the flow.

Structure, Bait and Water Movement

Another reason that anglers don’t catch fish is that they are fishing where the fish aren’t… or where they are less likely to be. This may sound strange; however, I ask anglers why they are fishing in an area and they don’t have a reason, or they are just drifting wherever the tide takes them. Think like a fish. Why do fish hold in certain areas.

The three main reasons that I believe fish are found in certain areas, at varying stages of the tide, is structure, bait and water movement. When we fish new water, the first thing that we look for is structure, both above the water and below the water using the sounder. Natural structure can include mangrove edges, drop offs, rocks, trees, lilies and so forth, while manmade structure can include boat ramps, stormwater pipes, rock walls, beacons, pontoons, jetties and more. Fish the key structure in an area and you increase your chances of finding fish.

Bait is another key and bait attracts fish. Structure holding bait, increases your chances even further of catching fish, however bait can also attract fish when it is not holding on structure, so keep an eye out for bait, birds working bait, and fish busting up on bait.

Water movement is another key element, and we will often be fishing and area and think that it feels stagnant, dead, like a desert, or whatever term you come up with when it doesn’t feel fishy. This is often when there is little flow or water movement to concentrate bait and areas where fish will hold in ambush. Water movement creates pressure points (in front of structure) and eddies (behind structure) that make great ambush points for fish, hold and disorient bait, while bringing food to the awaiting predators.

Find an area with all three ingredients: structure, bait and water movement, and you better be ready for the bites!

Water Clarity

Another common factor that influences the bite rate, when targeting flathead on soft plastics, is water clarity. We often find ourselves discussing the fact that the water has dirtied up or is holding a lot of sediment, or even it’s the wrong colour, followed by a move to find some water with better clarity. Factors that can influence water clarity include wind, tide, rain, stormwater flow into the system and even boat traffic.

By recognising what is causing the poor water clarity, you can then make a move to a different area. Move upriver to avoid water flowing in from a flooded tributary, move to the mouth of the system to escape dirty water from a dropping tide, find a bank out of the boat traffic, or move to an area that is more protected from the wind. There’s no doubt that flathead will eat in dirty water, and you may need to change to a darker or fluoro colour, fish slower, upsize your profile, or ensure that your soft plastic profile has plenty of action. If there is cleaner water accessible though, move to it and you may find that the fish have done the same thing.

Schooling Fish

Flathead are a schooling fish, so I like to keep moving until I land a fish, then spend more time in that area. Once you land one, you can land a stack in quick time, but if you’re not covering water, then you have less chance of catching that first one. Take note of what is around you when you do catch that fish, in terms of structure, bait, tide, water depth, sun, water clarity, water movement, etc., and you will start to build a profile in your head of areas that are more likely to hold fish, allowing you to cover water faster to locate these key fish holding areas.

When you do start to catch fish, you will also note that schools often consist of a stack of smaller male fish, with a few larger female fish, so persisting through some smaller fish can often result in a big fish landed. The fact that flathead school also makes them susceptible to overfishing, so we only ever keep a few for our immediate needs, if targeting a feed, and I personally release all fish over 60cm as they are the larger breeding females that ensure fish for the future.

High and Low

Remember to consider structure, bait and water movement as the tide works through its cycles, as this can narrow down where the fish will be holding. On the lower stages of the tide, I focus on edges and drains, where the flathead hold in ambush as the bait is forced off the flats and out of the mangroves. This is also a time to target deeper structure, low tide flats, and other areas that flathead will move to with less water to spread out in.

On the higher stages of the tide the fish will move up onto the flats, following the bait. So, look for key structure on the flats, such as mangrove edges, weed edges, sand pockets in the weed, deeper sections of the flat, drains and other areas where they may enter or exit the flat, and keep an eye out for bait moving and flicking.

Retrieve Techniques

Flathead will respond to most retrieves, so the key can often be mixing up the speed and aggressiveness of the retrieve, and the duration of pauses, to find what the fish want on the day.

A few common retrieves include a slow roll, slow winding the plastic in the strike zone and then throwing a pause of twitch in to mix it up. The most popular would be a hopping retrieve, using the rod tip to hop the plastic upward to or three times, followed by a pause to allow the plastic to sink back to the bottom. Be ready for the bite as it will often be the ‘tick’ mentioned earlier, as the plastic sinks back to the bottom.

A shaking retrieve is also popular, whereby you wind the reel a couple of times while shaking the rod tip, to bring the plastic to life, then pause it and allow it to sink again. You can retrieve the plastic in some clear water and watch how it behaves, allowing you to tune the retrieve until you feel that it looks realistic.

Colour and Scent

I commonly get asked about lure colour, and I will touch on it only briefly as it is covered in many of our other flathead articles. I run a three-colour theory for my plastics, in which I will carry a minimum of three colours in my go-to plastics. A light, natural, and often semi-transparent colour, for clear water and bright days, a solid, darker silhouette colour for dirty water and low light, and a fluoro colour to mix things up if the other two are not getting the bites. If there’s two or more anglers fishing together, it’s important to fish different colours or profiles, until you ‘crack a pattern’.

In terms of profiles, you can look to ‘match the hatch’, in terms of the colour and type of bait, for example small baitfish or prawns. Favourites for targeting schooling flathead include 2.5” – 4” profiles, with paddle tails, curl tails and prawn profiles a few favourites. When it comes to anglers stalking larger flathead, presentations often grow to 5” to 8” and more, with paddle tails the preferred option.

Big Lures, Big Fish

There has been a trend toward big soft plastics in recent times, with anglers fishing these larger plastics through expanses of shallow flats, in search of monsters. This technique can involve a lot of casts between fish; however, the results can be seen in the monster fish that pop up on social media.

One plastic presentation that we are seeing more in the mouths of these monsters is the TT Enforcer soft plastic swimbait. This plastic is a dynamite imitation of the baitfish that flathead feed on, it has a great action across a range of retrieve speeds, and it’s designed with a higher, narrower body for a better hook up rate. Available in 190mm, 220mm and 250mm, the Enforcer system includes jigheads and harnesses that are designed to pair perfectly with the Enforcer plastic.

TT Enforcer 250mm – Size 1/0 Enforcer Harness – 10/0 Enforcer jighead.
TT Enforcer 220mm – Size 1 Enforcer Harness – 9/0 Enforcer jighead.
TT Enforcer 190mm – Size 2 Enforcer Harness – 8/0 SwimlockZ jighead (8/0 Enforcer coming soon!).

Starting Lures for Flathead

If you are starting out on your flathead on soft plastics journey I would start with plastics in the 2.5” to 4” range, with paddle tails and curl tails the most popular, with a prawn profile thrown in, just in case the prawns are running and the flathead are zoned in on them.

Here’s three presentations that have accounted for loads of flathead, and if you cover water, they will also catch your first flathead and a stack of flathead for you.

A smaller presentation can be effective in smaller systems, pressured systems and when the bait is small. Even after a big roast dinner, we can all still find space for a jellybean. In terms of small profiles, it’s impossible to go past a ZMan 2.5” GrubZ or 2.5” Slim SwimZ, rigged on a TT HeadlockZ HD jighead in a 1/4oz size 1 for starters. This is a great profile for targeting flathead, when you don’t mind a by-catch of plenty of bream also. There’s an old saying that big lures catch big fish… and small lures catch all fish.

The absolute go-to in my kit, when specifically targeting flathead, is the ZMan 3” MinnowZ, with the curl tail crew opting for the ZMan 4” StreakZ Curly TailZ. This is rigged on a 2/0 or 3/0 TT HeadlockZ HD jighead. Jighead weight will be determined by depth, current, wind, etc., however 1/4oz is a great starting point for prospecting flats and edges.

Finally, a prawn imitation can be deadly, especially when you see prawns swimming, flicking and being chased by fish. ZMan have an incredible range of realistic prawn profiles, however the 3” PrawnZ Elite has rapidly become one of my favourite flathead lures. It comes pre-rigged in a two-pack, allowing you to pop one out of the packet, tie one on and fish it. This plastic has a realistic tail kick, incredible leg and antennae vibration, internal glass rattle for added sound, and fish just eat it.

The Wrap

There we go, a quick wrap on one of my favourite target species, the humble flathead. Hopefully there’s a couple of points in here that help you crack that first fish, up your numbers, or score a new PB flathead. They can be an aggressive feeding, hard fighting species, that love a soft plastic… and even better, the next trophy flathead could be landed at the local jetty, beside the boat ramp, or by someone flicking land based. The flathead is the people’s fish, and I hope you’re as keen as I am to tie on a soft plastic and get into a few.

See you on the water…
Cheers, Justin Willmer