Flathead are such a cool fish to target in my opinion as they really have so much to offer. You can catch them in so many places and pretty much any tide. They love bait and all sorts of lures and they are a fantastic table fish.

For me it’s all about flicking lures in shallow water for the big girls. In recent years I haven’t spent nearly enough time chasing them as my time is stretched but thats no excuse really. Even if you have a spare hour at any given time of the day or tide you can flick for Flathead. Keeping a travel rod in your car with a small box of lures is really all you need.

Soft plastics are a great option if your just starting out chasing Flathead as they will pretty much eat anything but I do think there are some stand out soft baits on the market that are listed below.

The key is to keep your soft plastic close to the bottom and simply fish slow. Once you cast let your plastic hit the bottom and then simply give it a quick lift off the bottom and then let it flutter back down again. Keep retrieving in this manner and eventually you’ll find a Flathead. You will obviously need to adjust your jig head weight depending on how deep the water is your fishing and how fast the run is.

Another really easy way to fish plastics is to use a curl tail or paddle tail and simply apply a slow retrieve along the bottom and let the action of the lure do the work. 

Stepping up to hard bodied lures can make a big difference in various locations and circumstances. One example would be fishing over the top of weed beds which is a deadly location for targeting Flathead. A steady retrieve over the top of the weed with a hard bodied lure engaging the occasional twitch and pause can produce outstanding results.

In terms of rods, reels and braid ect… I fish a rod around 2-5kg with a 3000 size reel and around 10lb braid. You can definitely fish lighter for Flathead but if you do meet up with a big girl you’ll probably wish you were fishing a little heavier. I normally use a 10-15 pound fluro carbon leader again just to be on the safe side. Oh and don’t forget Mulloway can often show up when targeting Flathead so it can pay to fish a little heavier.

I have made a list of the gear we sell that is ideal for Flathead. I hope it helps set you in the right direction.