Flathead along the Beach

I really struggled last weekend to convince the family to get out of bed early and go for a fish from the boat! The cold weather and unpredictable winds didn't help. I was pretty sure Sunday was going to be ok, but convinced enough to drag everyone out of bed at 4.30am. So when I got up later that morning I was shattered to see dead calm conditions on the water. I had to do something to fill the fishing addiction for the weekend. It was a choice of either putting the boat in after lunch and hoping the weather held, or convince Tania to take the boys down the beach for a walk. I managed the beach option and kids were keen.

We left about lunchtime with the plan to fish the bottom of the tide and the first couple of hours of run in. I didn't want to drive to far, so we set Cungulla Beach as our destination. We arrived 45min later and tide was just starting to make its way back in. The water was beautiful and clear with lots of bait making its way back into the system.

We worked our way out along the deepest channel, casting soft plastic Squidgies along the way. Lachy and I were the only ones fishing, Tania and Sebastian hunted around on the sand. But after hundreds of casts with not a single bump, Lachy soon gave up. I kept on persisting with the soft plastic, convinced if I made enough casts eventually my lure would pass by a fishes mouth. Besides, all indicatios were that the Flathead were here!

Eventually, while in a bord daze, my plastic was bumped hard! A short pause and the fish was suddenly peeling braid off the Stella 1000. This was a sold Flathead, and she put up a cracking fight. As the fish came into sight over the shallow water I could see this was easily in the 60's. But a few more spurts of energy saw the fish back into deep water, leaving behind a puff of sand in the water column. Eventually I had the fish into a position to drag it up onto the sand. I just had to hope the leader and light gauge hook held! Yes, finally Cungulla yields a decent fish for me.

With Tania and the boys all wanting fish for dinner, this one was quickly cleaned and set aside. Now the pressure was on to get another one, as we would need two fish to feed us all. And it didn't take long. Just a handful of casts back into a similar area and a twin of the fish fish hit the lure. A very similar fight and this fish was soon on the beach lying beside the first.

This was plenty for dinner and with no eski it was time to pack up and head home. I have no doubt there would have been more fish to catch, but I had by fill and was happy enough for an early mark. Today I used my all time favourite flathead lure, the 70mm Squidgie Fish in Poddy colour. I use this with a 1/8th ounce jig head. The Stella 1000fe and TK3G 662 is a great outfit for walking the beach. It is light and nimble while being more than capable of handling these fish. Just watch out for the sand!