fishermaniac

CLOUDY BUT FINE !!!
I felt tentative on the second day of my recent 2 day fishing trip when it was overcast and heavy with cloud.
We have just come out of the Yellow Fin Whiting Lure season where we enjoy the best fishing on sunny days. Yellow Fin Whiting Lure fishing is always better in sunshine. I can’t nail any precise reason for it, but I assume it is about the YFW seeing their prey easily and then chasing it down in those conditions. Interesting that we never hear of successful Lure caught YFW at night. However plenty of good YFW are regularly caught at night on bait.
On this occasion I was targeting Flathead (Southern Blue Spot). With hopefully some YFW late in the evening tide. The previous sunny and calm day was poor for Flathead but very good for YFW.
 

Day 1 Catch - A clear, sunny, warm, Autumn Day. Not much good for Flathead in the morning. But a bag of 20 YFW in the evening incoming tide, after the water had warmed, made up for the single 64cm Flathead.
 
Day 2, turned out to be  …  CLOUDY BUT FINE.

Day 2. Heavy clouds approaching at sunrise. The numerous birds feeding indicate an abundance of baitfish spread through the shallows. It only got a bit more overcast through the day. It turned out well for Flathead.
With Flathead fishing on the S.A. sandflats, it is all about the best conditions for the baitfish. The Flathead food.
Baitfish will move around a lot on the sandflats depending on a variety of conditions that may be present.
So when considering the best conditions to fish for Flathead, it really is about the best conditions for baitfish. These are some of the conditions I have observed, that affect baitfish and subsequently your fishing for Flathead.
Always follow the baitfish. Study their behaviour and movements. 
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SUNSHINE or CLOUD
Unlike YFW lure fishing, overcast and varying cloud conditions can often produce a bit better results with Flathead.
In Overcast conditions, Baitfish feel safer in the shallows.
They are harder to see by birds preying on them from above.
I too have trouble seeing the terrain and the baitfish, when wading the sandflats on overcast days. And so more baitfish linger longer and are more widespread over the sandflats.
No concentrated areas of baitfish makes fishing a little harder. You will need to cover a lot more ground. But with more baitfish around, there will also be more Flathead around.
On bright sunny days with clear water, baitfish head into the deeper channels and into the weeds for cover. Birds can see them easily and pick them off too easily in clear sunny conditions. The baitfish will not be spread out on the open flats as they will be exposed to preying birds.
The Flathead too will now move to the same areas as the baitfish.
I recently had a slower overcast day turn on its head as soon as the sun came out and stayed out. The overcast conditions saw a prolific number of baitfish spread across the shallows. The Flathead too were wide spread and were hard to find. When the Sun came out late in the day, coinciding with the receding tide, the baitfish soon headed for shelter. The Flathead were not far behind. And yes, they were soon followed by myself. It was much easier finding Flathead after the Sun came out. That was a fortuitous combination of conditions on that day.
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WIND
Wind across the sandflats, has a great impact on the presence of baitfish in the shallows.
Too Windy, too rough and stirred, and the little baitfish seek shelter and head out deeper or into sheltered weed filled deeper protected channels.
Too calm and glassy, and the seabirds can see them and pick them off too easily. Baitfish head deeper and keep under cover on calm days.
A breeze creating a heavy ripple provides the baitfish ideal cover. And there will be a lot more baitfish on the flats. Flathead too!
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WATER TEMPERATURE
The ideal water temperatures for baitfish is in the 16-20c range, which you find for prolonged spells through the days of Autumn and Spring.
This is not to say suitable temperature windows, do not exist in Winter and Summer. But they occur for shorter periods.
A cool spell in a hot summer will again find more baitfish on the flats. The cooler early morning are best on the hot summer days. The converse situation applies for winter. When it is too Cold. Deeper water is warmer than the chilly shallows for the sensitive baitfish.
Summer and Winter days when you get a combination of the right tide stage, with the right air/water temperatures, have provided the better results in these otherwise tougher season.
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TIDES
The falling Tide is best. The baitfish retreat with the falling tide on the sandflats and congregate in the deeper and weedy areas. Flathead lay in wait.
The bigger run off tides are better as they sweep out more baitfish off the sandflats. But the smaller dodge tide days of S.A. that also have the previously mentioned favourable conditions can often be good.
I don't get as many Flathead on the incoming tide. But in Autumn the large evening tides, with has the warmer water from the deep, brings in a lot of YFW particularly after a warm sunny day.
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SEASONS
Autumn and Spring are the most successful seasons for Flathead on the S.A. sandflats. The ambient water temperatures for baitfish is the primary reason. It very comfortable for the baitfish, which will see them linger in the shallows all day.
Autumn is the better of the two seasons. The presence of more Weed Wracks caused by the annual leaf shedding of Ribbon Weed, “Posidonia”  creates the food source in the composting Weed Wracks, which increases the presence of baitfish.  
Some WA Research has found that
“up to ten times more fish (of 30 different species) feed around wrack in the surf zone compared to sandy areas and that fish numbers increase as wrack quantities increase. Some of these fish are the juveniles of popular recreational species including cobbler, whiting and yellow-eyed mullet. In addition, the large numbers of juvenile fish feeding near wrack attract larger predators such as herring and tailor, so fishing is certainly improved near mature beach wrack.”
Spring ain't too bad either. Ambient water temperatures are present, but not as much Weed Wrack and food to hold the baitfish in the shallows. 
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So there is no such idyllic Flathead fishing day. I have combed through all my fishing logs and I am yet to find one day where all the ducks line up! It is always a case of a few more positive factors, out weighing the negative factors, that provide the better Flathead fishing days.
The single most important factor is the presence of baitfish in the shallows.
You will need to respond to any changing conditions on the day and always follow the Baitfish as they move and react.
 

Aggressive feeders at a young age !!!
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AUTUMN BONUS - FISHING VARIETY
Autumn can provide some fishing variety. Flathead are not the only fish baitfish will attract. With the cooling conditions of Autumn a lot of Salmon Trout are about. And occasionally some larger model Salmon start appearing on the Sandflats. They can be a nuisance while you target Flathead as they also love the Flathead lures. Occasionally I keep a few for Salmon patties.

Salmon Trout also like Flathead lures and join the Autumn party
There are still plenty of YFW around. You can get a few on lures early Autumn, late on a sunny day after the water has warmed.
The YFW now have a preference for the large evening tides in Autumn, and are easily taken on bait.

A good catch for an Autumn day. Flathead in the morning and a few YFW on the big incoming evening tides.
Mullet too are plentiful at this time of the year. Again coming in, on the big evening tides.

Even Mullet have a crack at Flathead lures at this time of the year.
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LATEST CATCH RESULTS
I fished for a couple of back to back days early this week. (Sunday & Monday).
Sunday had gorgeous conditions. Aaah! a bit too good for Flathead unfortunately. Bright sunny conditions. Warm Autumn day. Glassy conditions. I could only spot 2 Flathead and managed to catch a nice 64cm specimen.
The second day. The cloudy day brought out the baitfish and a lot more Flathead.

Day 2 Catch - On A Cloudy Day. A good haul of Flathead. No time for the YFW today. I did not wait for the evening tide.
I finished with 6 good Flathead in a full day of covering a lot of ground. Searching and catching a few and spooking a couple too. I did not hang around for the big evening tide. The water temperature was warmish and it probably still would have brought in a lot of YFW around evening and sunset.
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Cheers and Tight lines, Des

For the Yellow Fin Whiting Lure fanatics it is time for the withdrawal symptoms to start setting in, as the water temperatures start dropping.
Fortunately there is some pain relief, in chasing a few Flathead on lures.
Autumn brings a transition for the sandflats lure fisherman. YFW surface lure fishing drops off. Flathead lure fishing picks up. The “Southern Blue Spotted Flathead” becomes more prolific on the sandflats of the Northern SA Gulfs.
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And it is the large accumulation of SEAGRASS WRACKS at this time of the year, along with the change in temperature, that starts it all off. Unlike the claims of some armchair academic experts, the sandflats areas where large Seagrass Wracks accumulate, is where you will find the greatest concentration of Flathead at this time of the year.
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SEASONAL CHANGES IN THE ECOSYSTEM
It is a season of change. And multiple factors come into play.
The most fundamental change is in water temperature. Daily air temperatures have a tighter range, fortunately without those cold mornings of winter. Water temperature, currently around 18c provides the ambient conditions for baitfish. The sandflat shallows hold a lot more baitfish in these temperatures. And they linger all day in the shallows. And where baitfish linger so to do Flathead.
Also and most importantly, large Seagrass Wracks form at this time of the year.
The annual shedding of seagrass leaves through Autumn and Winter along with the higher tides and prevailing breezes, causes the accumulation of seaweed wracks in the northern SA gulfs, over these cooler months.
In the ambient autumn temperature conditions the Wracks host an explosion of life in this ecosystem.
When the organic material decomposes and breaks down it contributes to the food web systems by supplying essential nutrients. The composting seagrass accumulations are the source of detritus and of particulate and dissolved nutrients which contribute to beach and inshore marine foodwebs. Starting from (micro) zooplanktons, amphipods, bivalves, worms, crabs, juvenile prawns, clickers and  … lots and lots of small baitfish. Seaweed Wracks are at the start of the food chain that delivers us the fish we catch.

   ~ Weed Wracks, the start of the food chain, so thick that getting onto the sandflats can be difficult
There are many other signs that the bait fish are around in greater numbers.
Their predators gather, both from above the water and under the water.
When the Bird watching groups start reporting some big numbers of bait fish eating bird varieties, you know the water borne bait fish feeders (Flathead) will also be about.

   ~  An abundance of Baitfish feeding Birds. A sure sign of Flathead around.
With all the indicators pointing to an abundance of Flathead, I decided to spend a couple days immersed in the northern St Vincent Gulf sandflats environment.

   ~  Catching fish is a bonus in this delightful environment
The best terrain is the weedy areas. The baitfish hold and shelter there and so do the Flathead chasing them.
Weed barren sand patches hold very few Flathead. However a few whiting are likely while traversing a Flathead barren sand patch.
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LURE SELECTION & TECHNIQUES
I Don’t subscribe to a long held approach for lure fishing Flathead.
I don’t fish the bottom. I don’t bounce a lure across the bottom of the sand, puffing the sand.
Flathead have eyes on the top of their heads. Above their head is their main field of vision. The area that they will be concentrating on. Not so much the peripheral vision areas out  in front of them on the sand.
So position your lure on top of their heads … Simple!
For this my methods include fishing Soft Plastics under a float. These days, I am mainly using floating or suspending hardbody lures. All with retro fitted assists and single hooks to avoid fouling on and cleanly pulling through the weed adjacent to the Weed Wrack areas.
 

   ~  The successful lures on this outing. OSP Bent Minnows and Rapala Shadow Raps   ~  
 

   ~  Another victim of the OSP Bent Minnow 106mm - Colour: H09. Crystal Blue Shiner
 

 
   ~  One on the Rapala Shadow Rap 07 - 70mm Colour: Moss Back Shiner. It pays to cast over the same area with 2 size lure offerings. Sometimes they are not in the mood for a big feed.

 
   ~  Assist hooks at work. Flathead can be clumsy strikers of a lure due to a blind spot created from the setting of their eyes. Apart from pulling through weed easily, assist hooks also increase your hook up rate.
 
This concept of fishing lures above the flathead’s eyes rather than in front of it, has in recent times gained a lot of acceptance with the enormous popularity and success of the floating glide baits now available. They hold and dance above the Flathead’s eyes.
Also bear in mind you are wading and fishing shallow water. Between knee to waist deep. So there is no need for any deep diving lures.
Currently my favourite lures are the OSP Bent Minnow and the Rapala Shadow Rap which were both successfully used on this outing
Your lure retrieval style is critical to your success rate with catching Flathead.
They do not behave like Salmon or Snook. Flathead are not morphologically evolved for chasing down bait fish like Snook or Salmon are. They lie in wait as an ambush predator with a explosive burst of speed. Often slowly stalking, following the baitfish. Then with an explosive burst lunge and seize the baitfish. Especially when the baitfish momentarily pauses.
There is plenty of drone video footage here at JC's Fishing Shenanigans of Flathead stalking baitfish … : https://www.facebook.com/JCsFishingShenanigans
As we most commonly chase Salmon & Snook with lures we have become accustomed to a fast retrieval rate. And the YFW surface lure fishers only know to retrieve fast and continuous!
The lure retrieval rate for Flathead is very slow … Extremely slow! A few erratic twitches now and then followed by a few seconds of dead pause. Should a Flathead strike and you miss the hook up. Pause again and it will most like pounce back on your lure. The stalking or hidden Flathead likes to strike when the baitfish pauses.

   ~   In knee deep shallow water they go hard. You need to play them out before gliding them into the net.
My arthritic wrists are certainly enjoying the change in retrieval tempo !
RESULTS
Over the two days of pleasant weather I covered a lot of ground, wading the sandflats, searching for and hunting down these beasts. This style of fishing does take some physical effort, but it is the most satisfying experience to successfully find your prey.
I kept 14 fish ranging from 45cm to 69cm. I even picked up a few whiting while traversing a Flathead barren, weed free sand patch.
 

   ~  My catch retained for the 2 day outing. I even managed a few whiting while traversing a Flathead barren sand patch.
 

   ~  these Flathead are high 60s. Size enhanced by photos taken from the “Anglers Angle” !! T
I also caught and released a couple of 70+cm Flathead.

   ~  75cm Blue Spot Flathead … Released
 

   ~  Taken close to the weed wracks. A 72cm Flathead … released.
 
So WRACK ON !!! It’s time to fish the weedy Sandflats.
Cheers and tight lines Des

I was chasing trout recently, I tied a few ruff wooly buggers the night before. Free style.. and pretty happy with them too.. I also Tied on a brand new 4lb leader. 
About 12 cast into my session, I felt a real heavy weight load up on my 5 weight Fly Rod. "Wow that's a big trout". It sat on the bottom and held my there about 5 minutes. It was an impossible trying to turn its head. It finally turned, it came too the surface. F+++ me !. It's not a trout.. then there was several heavy runs. A 10 minute battle in the end. I finally got it to surface. I grabbed my trout net off my back. Took one look at it and threw it. Pfft.. useless. Somehow I managed to land this fish.
What it was doing eating a tiny wooly bugger?  I have no idea. How a size 12 (garfish hook) pinned it in the corner of the jaw and didn't fall out ? I have no idea. Why my 4lb line didn't snap. Again I have no idea. 
It was definitely my day. 


The fish measured 92cm. Estimate 30lb.
Also a PB for me. 

With a very mild Spring and early Summer, Yellow Fin Whiting lure fishing has had a few challenges this season.
The weather patterns have not sustained a constant water temperature. It barely heats up when a cold change with a series of cold days would chill off the water. It looks like we may have turned the corner.
We have not yet seen a sustained warm spell to put the warmth into the water and hold it there for a prolonged spell. It is the sustained higher water temperatures that has the greatest impact on the ecosystem and the behaviour of the YFW. Yes we have been finding a few YFW on lures, but nothing like those hot bag out sessions of last year.
So today after a few, rare consecutive days of 30+C I was off to seize the opportunity and “Strike while the water was hot”

Comparative water temperature maps. What a difference a few warm days make
 
I was trying to avoid the cooler water in the morning, by starting around 11.30am. Sleeping in ! The water was still surprisingly cold at the start. Thermal lag, meant the water was still holding onto a cool temperature after a spell of cold days earlier in the week. Hence the importance of a sustained period of warmth. It was hard to find fish showing interest in any of the surface lures in the incoming tide.  Fish would not rise for the lure. The few fish spotted, were hanging back from the lure and staying deep. They were keeping as cool and calm as the water temperature.  I went subsurface with the Ecogear ZX43 blade to catch a couple of good fish.

 

The Salmon Trout have moved out & the Trumpeters have moved in. A sure sign of warm water.
Still it was not until the tide started to run off late afternoon, and the water had warmed up from the heat of the day, did the fishing come alive. Increasingly overcast conditions did put a dampener on the fishing. You always catch more in sunshine. I had to resort to some UV enhancement tricks to engage the fish. UV sprays and UV flash tinsels can transform the standard sunny day lures into successful overcast day lures. A quick spray on your lure. It dries fast. Although it leaves a strong lacquer smell. So rub it over with some S factor or Pro-Cure scent to negate the smell. Today my ever reliable Sugapen 95 could only catch fish with the UV enhancements. 


 
I worked through a variety of surface lures today. The other successful ones being Zipbaits Fakie Dog DS, Ebi Panic, MMD Splash prawn-AW Yabby, 

 
And one I have not used for a couple of years, the Atomic K9 Bulldog which took the biggest fish.

The smaller size lures where better in lighter winds and the bigger and noisier lures in the stronger wind spells.
 
The day finished strongly with the fish more aggressive in the warm water late in the day. I released a few fish in the high 20s to 30cm and kept 17 fish in the 31- 40cm range. Most were in the 35 to 40cm range. A clear sign of the warm water attracting a new batch of juvenile prawns onto the sand flats along with the larger predatory Yellow Fin Whiting.

 
Happy Hot days and some Hot fishing sessions ahead !
 
Cheers, Des

VISON versus VIBES
I was fishing the Northern Sandflats yesterday.
The whiting fishing was a bit slow, so I quickly shifted my attention to Flathead.
There was something on my mind. I was curious to know. Which sensory stimulus was most likely to attract a Flathead strike?
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I lean to vision being the most important sense that a Flathead employs in hunting prey. As all my successful Flathead fishing has relied on placing my offering in a highly visible “Strike Zone” above their eyes …  unconventionally under a float.
Yes I have taken the occasional Flathead, on a bloodworm intended for whiting, while trolling and dragging it along the bottom in sand. And I have caught a few Flathead, bouncing blades and vibe lures, across the sand. Again while targeting whiting. But these have always been incidental catches. Nonetheless, Vibes and movement along the bottom has produced the occasional result.
I have tried fishing the bottom for Flathead with a lot of intent and effort. Using blades as well as an array of soft plastics. Working, bouncing and retrieving my offering across the sand in front of Flathead. Success has been minimal when relying on vibrations and bottom movement. Where as capitalising on their sharp vision by keeping my presentation, above their eyes under a float has been enormously successful.
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I was keen to explore this further.
I was starting to assume that bounces, shakes and vibrations, meant little and it was all about vision. Flathead had a dysfunctional lateral line. Very little feel for vibrations, jiggles or bounces.
I asked the S. A. Flathead Guru and “Doctor of Yellow Fin Whiting” Bill Goh from Adeliade Uni. His reply:
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“ the flathead’s lateral line is very pronounced (even hard to get the scales off), and it is orientated closer to the top (dorsal). So when a flathead digs itself in, the lateral line is more exposed.“  https://www.facebook.com/groups/970345633507487/permalink/1095174604357922/
Maybe I had underestimated the effect of vibrations with Flathead. Now there was no option but to have a head to head comparison for the two senses in the one session, using the two different techniques. Floating a soft Plastic below a float (VISION) versus Bouncing, jigging and vibrating a paddle tail plastic along the bottom (VIBES) .
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THE TEST
Berkley Jerkshad 120mm was in the “VISION” corner, Versus Squidgies Bio Tough Paddle Tail 100mm in the “VIBE” corner.

 
Overcast skies yesterday, I felt would be putting the “Visual” presentation at a disadvantage. From the Flathead’s view looking up, there would not be as strong and contrasting a silhouette against dark clouds.
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The test did not need to be conducted too long. The slender fish like Jerkshad suspended under a float got all the fish! I am sure the most important sense for a Flathead is Vision. Make your offer most visual and obvious for the best results. I chose to use a float to do this.

TERRAIN
Is it all about the Habitat and Terrain?
On the Northern Sand Flats of the upper S.A. Gulfs, the terrain plays a most important role. With the bigger tide movements of the upper Gulfs, I find most Flathead in the faster tidal flow areas. Usually in weed filled channels, broken weed beds with sand patches, and along weed lines. Occasionally slightly reefy patches. But always in a high tidal flow area. The Southern Bluespotted Flathead, (Platycephalus Speculator) seems to love sitting in or around some structure, rather than being buried in an open sandy area, which occasionally happens.
I prefer fishing the run off tide. With the draining run off tide, baitfish get concentrated into these areas of structure. The easiest and most trouble free, snag free, way of covering this terrain, with the best visibility … is under a float.
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This terrain and heavy weed growth restricts the Flathead’s vision to a mainly upward line of sight. Making its hunting heavily reliant on its vision, in this habitat. The terrain and heavy weed growth would also somewhat dampen any of the other stimulating senses.
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Yesterday I managed 2 Flathead at 61cm and another 3 in the mid 40s. Along with half a dozen whiting in the low 30s.

 
It was a great day. It could have been brilliant if I had not lost a further 2 good fish today. Both bust offs. They get very angry in shallow water! I am still using my ultra light and well worn whiting lure gear and line. Time to step up and gear up seriously to target these guys over Autumn.
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Cheers and Tight lines, Des



 
 

Great stuff Allroy. I live & love the river. Very underrated.

Wishing I was fishing!

Plenty of time to put together some videos now! 

Oh Boy!! I feel I have way too many lures & a large variety of brands as well.. I'll let the photos tell the story...😉
And these are just the ones I've taken photos of... only use them on the trout..
cheers
Adrian
 

Well I'm all done apart from the battery mount. Thinking about getting one of them Hobie hatch battery holders, I'm guessing Brink's will have them? Just hope it fits.. i reckon I saw somewhere that there only 150mm wide and the lip on my hatch is wider..

Cuttla pics.



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On my lowrance hook 5 (probably the same transducer) i made the bottom one slightly larger than yours so that the silicone came up the sides as i pushed it down. The top looks the same as yours. Mine works perfectly but I don't know if it would make any difference with the bottom layer being a bit tighter. Also I've done two installs (shifted from one kayak to another) & I did notice a few air bubbles when I pulled out the first one & it still worked perfectly. Maybe it depends exactly where the air bubbles are on the TD. I think it's more important to make sure you put some weight on while its drying & let it set properly for a few of days at least.

On my lowrance hook 5 (probably the same transducer) i made the bottom one slightly larger than yours so that the silicone came up the sides as i pushed it down. The top looks the same as yours. Mine works perfectly but I don't know if it would make any difference with the bottom layer being a bit tighter. Also I've done two installs (shifted from one kayak to another) & I did notice a few air bubbles when I pulled out the first one & it still worked perfectly. Maybe it depends exactly where the air bubbles are on the TD. I think it's more important to make sure you put some weight on while its drying & let it set properly for a few of days at least.

That doesn't seem too hard... i might try cooking 1 up for the mother-in-law

Pfft... i was squidding off a jetty & 1 grabbed my teaser, we brouht him in nice & slow but he was a biggy, so we dropped in the crab net & then the squid lure, pulled out the teaser & he went straight for the the orange floaty thing that holds the rope up above the rings. Pulled up the net, job done!