How to Catch Flathead on Swimbaits and Big Lures

By Robert Thornton

One of the most exciting developments in Australian sportfishing in the past decade is the uptake of big lure techniques, imported primarily from the US and Japan. Forward thinking anglers have only recently realised their effectiveness on Australian species, with dusky flathead now a prime target for local big bait enthusiasts.

Being a predator that likes to hunt in shallow water for relatively large prey items, it’s no surprise that these techniques work so well on big flathead. There’s nothing more exciting in lure fishing than watching big fish chase lures in clear water, and perhaps this is why the craze was so quick to take root on our shores.

Like most specialist approaches, though, there’s a fair bit to get your head around before you even get started. Chasing flathead in this way requires a detour from common understandings of flatty fishing, and this includes suitable tackle, locations and methodology.

For this blog, we’ll look at how to identify productive areas for big lure techniques, the sort of tackle and lures you’ll need, and how to put it all together when you’re on the water.

This blog will focus specifically on how to catch flathead on big lures. If you’d like to learn about flathead fishing more generally, make sure you check out our complete guide to flathead fishing.

The big bait game

Using big lures to specifically target big flathead rose to prominence around 10 years ago when a handful of teams fishing the Gold Coast Flathead Classic revealed their secrets to landing trophy fish consistently. During these early days, they would cast soft plastics between 7-11” across shallow flats to grab the attention of the largest fish in the area. Their results were impressive, to say the least!

Over time they started experimenting with other big lures, including bibbed hardbodies, swimbaits, glidebaits and even surface lures. Flathead fanatics gradually made these foreign techniques their own, adding a distinctly Aussie flavour to them, and refining them to suit our conditions.

Thanks to the trial and error of these pioneers, it’s now possible to walk into a tackle shop and find rods, reels and lures not only suitable for this pursuit, but in some cases actually designed specifically for it. What started as a craze has now become a feature of our lure fishing scene, generating tourism from both inside Australia and abroad. In addition, these developments have also generated interest from local fishos who, for various reasons, didn’t previously target flathead at all.

It’s incredibly exciting watching on as this unique application of imported ideas continues to grow and take on its own form. My hope is that as more anglers have encounters with large dusky flathead, their appreciation for these senior specimens encourages them to advocate for their conservation. Without big flathead there would be no little flathead, and with so many anglers choosing to release trophy fish these days, I feel optimistic about the dusky’s future. 

Find the flats

One of the main secrets to success in this game is shallow water, with anything between about a metre and 20cm a good depth range in my opinion. At certain times of the year, flathead (big and small) move into the shallowest margins for two main reasons; to seek warmth, and to eat.

In the months around their spawning period, larger specimens focus on building condition. In tropical latitudes, water temperatures are suitable for dusky breeding during winter. In contrast, the summer months offer the best conditions for spawning at the southern limits of the duskys’ range in Southern NSW and Victoria. Anglers in the middle latitudes, from about Bundaberg in Queensland to the Coffs Coast in NSW, will tell you that spring is when the duskies breed, and will tend to target big fish during these months.

Like a lot of predatory fish when they enter exposed, shallow waters, these fish are looking for a substantial meal, not a snack. Formidable prey items like whiting, garfish, mullet and big prawns can often be found foraging on tidal flats. While the shallows offer the foraging critters some protection from predators, it does little to deter the flat-bodied duskies that are right in their element chasing down large prey in only inches of water.

Applying this knowledge, we can see that there are a few key ingredients when looking for an area to throw big lures for flathead. Flats with yabby holes, scattered weed, rubble, broken rock or anything else that attracts foragers like whiting and mullet are preferable, but not necessary. What is necessary is the presence of such prey, which may be there either to forage, warm up, shelter from predators, or a combination of these things.

Another key ingredient is current moving across the flat. Currents work in a predators’ favour in a flats environment, especially ambush hunters like flathead. Tidal flows will force mullet and whiting to either concentrate in backwaters out of the current or see them wearing themselves out as they try to fight against it. In both cases, they become easy targets for big flathead, which will wait patiently for the right time to strike.

Reasonable water clarity is a third and equally important ingredient. Flathead don’t require the cover of murky water to hunt successfully, relying instead on their ability to blend in with their surroundings while environmental factors like the tide disorientate their quarry.

Big bait tackle

When using large lures, it’s important to run tackle that is up to the task of delivering them. Given that some anglers use lures up to and sometimes over 100g, standard flathead tackle is simply not suitable.

While possible with both spin and baitcast tackle, you’ll need to make sure that whatever you choose is rated to throw large presentations. A baitcast set-up like a Tatula rod (either the 762XHFB-SB or 732HFB models) paired with a Tatula 300 or 400 size baitcaster reel is a great option. Heavy swimbait-spec outfits like these are excellent for really big presentations, such as swimbaits, glidebaits and large soft plastics.

On the spin side of things, a TD Black spin rod in the ‘Slugger’ 802MHFS or ‘Nugget’ 742XHFS models paired with a BG MQ spin reel in size 5000 or 6000 will get you out of trouble if you’re not comfortable with a baitcaster, or wish to throw slightly lighter baits like bibbed hardbodies, topwater lures and thin-profiled soft plastics.

Speaking of lures, Daiwa has a range of big baits that work well in the shallows for monster flatties. For soft plastics, the 10” Gar, 6.2” Minnow and 7” Jerkshad from the BaitJunkie range each offer their own unique attributes on the flats, and imitate different prey items for big flathead successfully.

On the hardbody side of things, the Infeet Slippery Dog 97, Presso Minnow 95 and Double Clutch 115 have each proved their effectiveness for big flathead, and are worth having with you during any flats session.

Braid and leader systems are best for this style of fishing, with braids and leaders between 20-50lb (depending on how big your lures are) preferred. Heavy braid helps to deliver heavy presentations and limit line breakages during casting, and heavy leaders prevent bite-offs when a large flathead engulfs the lure. 

Big bait tips

Once you’ve got everything in place, the only thing left to do is go fishing! While each estuary system and sandflat may not operate in exactly the same way, the approach is pretty universal, and after a while you should be able to work out which areas fire at what stages of the tide in your local waterway.

Long casts are very important in shallow water, as you want to get lures in front of fish that haven’t seen you approaching – whether you’re wading on foot, or in a kayak or boat. With that said, working your lures all the way back to rod tip is a handy tip as well. Big flathead can sometimes become so transfixed on the lure that they will follow it back to your position, often grabbing it as it’s being lifted from the water.

Each lure type has strengths and weakness, and using each lure to its strengths will allow you to get the most out of this technique.

Swimbaits and glidebaits are a very natural presentation that can be worked slowly with side-to-side twitches, or continuous ‘S’ curves on a steady retrieve. These offerings work well when imitating large prey in super clear water, and tend to attract really large specimens.

Bibbed jerkbait-style hardbodies work best when jerked erratically, kicking up puffs of sand and mud as they go. Suspending models imitate feeding whiting really well, and when paused will suspend nose-down near the bottom just like a real whiting.

Topwater lures such as walking stickbaits, bent minnows and poppers create noise near the surface, and emulate the panicked sounds of a fleeing prawn in the shallows. Topwater presentations should always be worked with a mixture of twitches and pauses, giving the flathead plenty of opportunities to sneak up from behind and engulf it.

Finally, soft plastics are a fantastic allrounder, available in just about every shape, size and colour imaginable. Plastics are a go-to for anyone getting started, or if fishing an unfamiliar area for the first time. As a bonus, soft plastics offer a natural feeling presentation, meaning that if a flathead short strikes and fails to hook-up, they will be more likely to have a second crack because it feels real, unlike hard plastic or timber lures.

Go big or go home

Throwing big lures in the shallows for flathead is something easily accessible to most Australians on the East Coast – you don’t even need a boat to do it! Once anglers experience the effectiveness of these techniques and witness the visual excitement that tends to accompany it, many become hooked.

If you’re still yet to crack a big flathead and want to tick one off, why not try going all in and targeting them specifically? ‘Big bait, big fish’ is definitely true when it comes to flathead, and as time goes on, we’re only going to learn more about habits of these magic sportfish.