Bush 'n Beach Fishing Magazine Location reports & tips for fishing, boating, camping, kayaking, 4WDing in Queensland and Northern NSW
Nothing beats catching quality fish while having your feet planted firmly in saltwater and sand. Sometimes, when I can’t be bothered loading the kayak or hitching the boat up, I head down to the water’s edge and flick a plastic around, it’s an excellent way to round out a weekend afternoon or break up the weekday grind. land-based flathead
My favourite fish to chase land based is the humble flathead – you never know if you’re going to hook a 20cm pocket rocket or to the mythical magic metre fish. How often do you hear the story of an angler down at the boat ramp hauling in a monster after you’ve spent hours out in the boat? land-based flathead
Gearing up
When it comes to chasing flathead land based on plastics there are two main things you probably need to consider – your location and your gear selection. As an example, if I’m cruising the flats with no hard core structure around, I will opt to fish lighter lines, leader and presentation, while on the other hand around mangrove edges and rocks, I go heavier in terms of line and leader and also possibly look at weedless style jig heads. land-based flathead
As mentioned earlier, I prefer the more relaxing approach to walking the bank with my feet in the water, so the gear I’m usually running includes 10lb Platypus Stealth fluorocarbon leader attached to 10lb Platypus X4 braid and matched up with either a 1-3kg or 2-4kg 7′ rod and 30 size reel – Okuma’s Cerros spinning rod and Epixor XT reel are a favourite set up. land-based flathead
Presentation wise I try my best to match the hatch in the local area I’m working, where bait such as hardyhead and other small baitfish, prawns, crabs and yabbies are all on the menu. Presentations that resemble these will be what I opt for.
Z-Man have a huge range of presentation that cover all of these. To get you started on flathead Z-Man 2.5” and 3” Slim SwimZ, 3” MinnowZ and even 3.75” StreakZ are all good patterns. With every style of fishing, colour will depend on the day and water clarity.
On clear water bright days, I go for a more natural colour such as Baby Bass, while on cloudier darker days and when the water is murky, I choose a colour to contrast such as Gold Rush or Pinfish. Next up is jig head selection, and for most of my land-based sessions TT Lures HeadlockZ has me covered.
If you want to style your presentation up further, TT Lures DemonZ hand-painted jig heads are a good option. If you’re keen to work tougher structure such as mangroves, timber and heavy weed, definitely look at throwing a couple of TT Lures SnakelockZ jig heads into your kit.
Depth-wise on my land-based adventures I’ll be casting in as little as 10cm and probably no deeper that 3m of water, so 1/4-3/8oz jig head weights cover these situations perfectly – even when the wind or tide isn’t exactly in your favour. Some anglers will opt for lighter 1/8oz and 1/6oz in super shallow water when the tidal movement and wind are favourable.
