Greetings readers of ‘the LOCAL’ newspaper,
Hi everyone,
Danny and Michelle from Island Fishing Supplies, Banksia Beach and Bellara.
WHITE PATCH
Plenty of sand crabs through the main channel, with nice Summer Whiting and Bream on the flats, using worms and live yabbies.
SANDSTONE POINT
Good Summer Whiting and Flathead on the incoming tide down at Oxley Place, with bloodworms and live yabbies as the best bait.
BANKSIA BEACH
Some decent Snapper being caught off the ledge drifting from the boat ramp through to the artificial reef on an outgoing tide, fresh gar and herring have been working well.
RED BEACH
Whiting on the incoming tide on bloodworms, also a few Tailor on metal slugs in the same area.
SKIRMISH POINT THROUGH TO WOORIM
Good Tailor and Mackerel early morning on pilchards and Summer Whiting as well on bloodworms.
THE MIGHTY MUD MARLIN (Flathead) on Soft plastics
One of the favoured targets for estuarine anglers. Throughout Spring, larger numbers of Flathead congregate throughout the passage and bay shallows as they prepare to breed.
LURE SELECTION
Everyone has their favourites that they swear by, but for anyone who is getting started do not stress, there are plenty of plastics that work well. I catch most of my Flathead on 3in up to 5in. With a few styles to consider, paddle tails are one of my favourite and shrimp imitations then curly tails, jerk shads. What colours work best? As a rule of thumb, you want natural looking colours in clear water and really bright or dark colours in dirty water. In saying that, this gets thrown out the window sometimes.
JIG HEADS
Just as important as the plastic you choose. If you are not keeping the lure close to the bottom, chances are you will not catch as much. Too much weight and it will look unnatural. When fishing the flats with little current, I like 1/8 - 1/6 jighead, deeper water and drop offs 1/4 – 3/8 to get it to the bottom more easily, so basically lightest weight possible for the situation where you’re fishing. Hook size will depend on size of the plastic.
GEAR
When fishing for Flathead 3–6kg outfit is going to cover most situations you will face. All my soft plastic outfits are braid and leader to suit. A 2500 series reel and a 7ft graphite rod being weapon of choice.
TIDES
A couple of hours either side of low tide are a great time to chase Flathead as the water comes off the banks, fish have no option but to retreat into the deeper water. This creates a great bite time, as all the fish that were spread out over the banks are now along the drop offs.
So, there it is a beginner’s guide to soft plastics for catching the mighty ‘Mud Marlin’ - get out there and start flicking.
Make the most of our wonderful spring days and only take what you need.
Enjoy your fishing!
Danny and Michelle
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