Chasing XL flathead on glide bait

[Maniac]

I am on a mission, chasing a 80cm + flathead in Lake Illawarra on a glide bait. I’m using the MMD whiting, went for my first flick Friday morning on the incoming tide, had one big hit but it didn’t stick! I Disturbed an absolute croc would have been 90cm plus when moving location. I am Fishing in 2-5ft of water, I will keep this report updated, as I continue the pursuit.

[Mike Sydney]

Good luck Maniac and I hope you rip out some big ones. What setup are you using for these? 

There was an episode of ALF podcast a few months ago about chasing flathead with jointed baits that got me interest  and there seem to be a lot of specialised rods for these types of lures. I’ve been eyeing up a Daiwa Tatula .
 

[BigHorse]

I've recently received one of my fishing mags for this summer and the title page was about chasing xl crocs! They seem like the would be fun to catch.

Hope you connect with some👍

[Rebel]

Good luck.

[Maniac]

On 9/14/2021 at 4:03 PM, Mike Sydney said:

Good luck Maniac and I hope you rip out some big ones. What setup are you using for these? 

There was an episode of ALF podcast a few months ago about chasing flathead with jointed baits that got me interest  and there seem to be a lot of specialised rods for these types of lures. I’ve been eyeing up a Daiwa Tatula .
 

Hi Mike,

I am using a spin outfit shimano sienna combo HD902 6-8kg running 12lb braid and 15lb leader handles it perfectly. 

[Maniac]

On 9/12/2021 at 4:41 PM, Maniac said:

I am on a mission, chasing a 80cm + flathead in Lake Illawarra on a glide bait. I’m using the MMD whiting, went for my first flick Friday morning on the incoming tide, had one big hit but it didn’t stick! I Disturbed an absolute croc would have been 90cm plus when moving location. I am Fishing in 2-5ft of water, I will keep this report updated, as I continue the pursuit.

Day 2 - not a touch or a follow…

[bluefin]

Sometimes, Flathead like Jellybeans. ( 40 m/m jerk bait ) Keep trying !!

[Ragnar]

Have you had any luck yet @Maniac?

A lot of casts between fish with the big lures, I’m still looking for that 80+cm model on swimbait, I landed a 72cm earlier this year after dropping a much bigger one the session before.
I went for a flats mission last night, had a couple of missed hits with the Jackall gantia. Shame the cloud cover spoiled the full moon! 

I think the key thing is to really work out a spot. Go there at low tide, even with no fishing gear and suss it out for lays, pay attention to which direction they’re facing, that will give you a good indication of what part of the tide they’re in the area (run in/run out). And fish the same area on that part of the tide. And also look for any weedbeds or drains that they might sit in around waiting to ambush! Doesn’t have to be much of a drain, even if it’s only an extra 10-15cm deeper than the area around it they will use that.

If you’re wading around at night it really pays to stay as quite as you can when moving around. I had something belt some bait less than 2m from me last night, nearly filled my waders up that’s for sure haha

Also talk to some locals in the area, you’ll be surprised what they might tell you! I bumped into this old bloke at this spot I fish, he had hand drawn mud maps of the mangrove areas and would go there at every low tide and document the size and number of lays in the area, I think he was writing a book on it. That morning he counted about half a dozen lays over 1m, could potentially only be the 1 fish moving spots during the tide phases, but knowing that is enough for me to drive the 1 hour there for a few hour session haha I actually took a photo of a one of the lays. That’s an 18cm Jackall gantia sitting next to it!

[Ragnar]

@Mike Sydney

I use the tatula swimbait rod matched with the tatula 200 baitcaster reel. Awesome set up, perfect for casting the bigger lures. I run 30lb braid and 30lb fluoro leader. That extra leader weight isn’t so much for fighting the fish, more so to save your back pocket if you birds nest, you won’t be busting off $50-60 lures! And trust me if you’re fishing at night and you bust a lure off, you’ll have slim chances finding it without ruining the whole flats wading around for it! And I don’t worry about using mono leader to add any extra buoyancy to the lures, they’re big enough that the leader isn’t really going to affect them. I only use mono leaders if I’m using smaller surface lures for bass, EPs etc where any little advantage you can get to keep the smaller lures on the surface is key. 

[Mike Sydney]

@Ragnarawesome information there thank you. That flathead lay is wild too. To confirm you’re using the 7’6 XH right? And , besides the flathead have you had other bycatch ?

[Isaac Ct]

Good luck @Maniac hope you get onto a croc!!

[Ragnar]

@Mike Sydney

yea mate the 7’6 XH. Nah no other bycatch. The spot I fish is an intertidal zone which is mostly out of the water at low tide and has less than 1m of water at high so not much else apart from bait fish will be up there. When you see a lay like that, it’s easy to see how an 18cm glidebait isn’t too big haha here’s the one I landed on it earlier this year.

[campr]

No lure you can cast is too big for big flatties.  The day after I landed and released one at 97cm I lost one next to the boat over 1 meter long when it spat out a 40cm one it took while I was bringing it up.  It wasn't hooked but was hanging on to it crossways in her mouth.  I have caught many big girls but all on live baits and mostly in deep water more associated with mulloway.   Ron 

[Maniac]

On 11/21/2021 at 10:33 PM, Ragnar said:

Have you had any luck yet @Maniac?

A lot of casts between fish with the big lures, I’m still looking for that 80+cm model on swimbait, I landed a 72cm earlier this year after dropping a much bigger one the session before.
I went for a flats mission last night, had a couple of missed hits with the Jackall gantia. Shame the cloud cover spoiled the full moon! 

I think the key thing is to really work out a spot. Go there at low tide, even with no fishing gear and suss it out for lays, pay attention to which direction they’re facing, that will give you a good indication of what part of the tide they’re in the area (run in/run out). And fish the same area on that part of the tide. And also look for any weedbeds or drains that they might sit in around waiting to ambush! Doesn’t have to be much of a drain, even if it’s only an extra 10-15cm deeper than the area around it they will use that.

If you’re wading around at night it really pays to stay as quite as you can when moving around. I had something belt some bait less than 2m from me last night, nearly filled my waders up that’s for sure haha

Also talk to some locals in the area, you’ll be surprised what they might tell you! I bumped into this old bloke at this spot I fish, he had hand drawn mud maps of the mangrove areas and would go there at every low tide and document the size and number of lays in the area, I think he was writing a book on it. That morning he counted about half a dozen lays over 1m, could potentially only be the 1 fish moving spots during the tide phases, but knowing that is enough for me to drive the 1 hour there for a few hour session haha I actually took a photo of a one of the lays. That’s an 18cm Jackall gantia sitting next to it!

Hi mate, I haven’t been in ages works been crazy dying to get out cheers for the info, I haven’t got one yet.