How to get the best out of your TT Jig Heads when targeting flathead. By Gary Brown

Over the past 16 years I have been running fishing classes at various tackle and marine shops here in Sydney and I am still amazed at the amount of anglers who still say that the dusky flathead is not worth catching. That they don’t put up a fight, and if it does, it is like pulling in a wet sock. Or, you only fish for dusky flathead if you want to take home a feed of fish for the family. It is these anglers who will just drift along aimlessly with a bait out the back for hours on end waiting for a dusky flathead to jump on the pasting bait.

Now don’t get me wrong I have nothing against drifting for dusky flathead using bait. I still do it, but I would like to say is that 95 percent of my dusky flathead now days are caught on soft plastics.

As a kid I use to target dusky flathead with strips of fresh, mullet, slimy mackerel and tailor, or if that didn’t work I use to use live yellowtail or poddy mullet. It was the only way that I had been taught to target a feed of dusky flathead that was reliable and cheap. There were times when I managed to save up enough money to go out a buy a few hard body minnow lures that I would also use to chase dusky flathead with, but it would start to get very expensive when I either got snagged up or lost the lure to a fish.

Being a bit strapped for cash to keep on buying hard bodied lures I decided to give the soft plastics and jig heads ago that were brought over here from America buy an Australian importer. Even though these soft plastics were targeted at a variety of fish species, it seemed that many of the anglers who preferred to chase dusky flathead with baits and hard bodies were starting to have great success with soft plastics.  

                                      This 74cm dusky flathead was caught in the Port Hacking

                                      while I was using the 1/0, 1/4 once Wobble Head jig.

                                      The soft plastic was a Squidgy Black Opal 4 inch shad.

Now, thirty years on there are literally hundreds of different overseas and Australian manufactures out there that are supplying soft plastics into tackle shops in Australia. So many in fact that the humble ball jig head has taken on a number of different shapes and sizes to accommodate, not only the different types of plastics, but also the many different types of fish species you can catch with them.

Okay, so what do I think that makes a excellent jig head that I would use for chasing flathead with soft plastics?

v     They have to have a chemically sharpen point that will stand up to getting snagged a number of times.

v     There has to be some kind of a keeper device just below the head of the jig to help hold the soft plastic on the shaft of the jig.

v     The wire has to be strong enough so that it doesn’t straighten out.

v     The shape of the jig head needs to suit the type of soft plastic that you are using.

For a number of years now I have been using the TT Wobble Head Jig in the following size when targeting dusky flathead. The No. 2, 1/8oz, 1/0, 1/4oz and the 4/0, 3/8oz. Now, for you to be able to appreciate how the Wobble Head Jig works in the water you will need to put a plastic on one of them and either very slowly troll it beside your boat or cast and retrieve it in very clear water. Only then will you appreciate what great action this jig head has. You could also drop it into clear water at your feet and watch how it wobbles as it drops down through the water column.

                                          A before and after shot of how to place your soft

                                          plastic on the 4/0, 3/8 once Wobble Head Jig.

What I have also found that the action of the jig head as it is worked through the water will impart more action to the plastic itself. When chasing dusky flathead with jig heads and soft plastic I have found that I will use three different techniques.

v     The single or double jerk

v     The hopping method

v     The slow twitch

All of which are very effective when it comes to using TT Wobble Head Jig when targeting dusky flathead. To help you better understand these 3 different techniques I will give you a run down on the 3 different techniques that I use to target dusky flathead with soft plastics and the TT Wobble Head Jig.

                                          A close up shot of the Wobble Head Jig and soft plastic.

                                         Take note that I tie my leader straight to the eye of the

                                         jig. I do not use a snap swivel, as it will impede the

                                         action of the jig head.

                                        A combination of the 4/0, 3/8 once Wobble Head Jig

                                       and a Manns 6 inch Kipper Shad were the undoing of

                                        this dusky flathead.

The Shore-based hopping method from a Breakwall.

When I have been fishing from breakwalls I have noticed that many anglers tend to try and cast out as far as they can and then either put their rod into a hole or a crevice or just sit there and hold on to it while waiting for a fish to jump on the end of the line. Okay this style of fishing will catch fish. But, what you will find is that the current will eventually bring the bait back to the edge of the breakwall. Which in-turn could result in the rig getting snagged on the rocks.

I have found that to be successful in catching dusky flathead when fishing off a breakwall you will need to be pro-active, rather than non-active. In other words, if you sit on your backside (non-active) and wait for the fish to come to you, you may get a fish or two. But if you change and work hard at targeting the fish (pro-active) your catch rate will increase ten fold.

When using the larger Shads (5 inch) in water that is running fairly quickly and the depth of water is between 3 to 5 metres I will select the 4/0, 3/8 Wobble Head Jig. The extra weight will enable me to cast that much further, while at the same time get it down quicker to the bottom where the dusky flathead are laying in ambush. You could also use the Tournament Series Jig heads in the 1/4 ounce No 1, 1/0, 2/0, 3/0 and 4/0 or you could go heavier and use the 3/8 ounce 2/0 and 4/0.

To help the soft plastic to get down where the flathead are, I too will cast it out as far as I can get it. But I make sure that I cast it up current, as this will give it enough time to hit the bottom. You will know when the soft plastic has hit the bottom by watching the GSP line go limp. When this happens all you need to do is wind in the slack line and lift the rod tip up to about 60 degrees off the waters surface. This will cause the soft plastic to rise slowly off the bottom. Then lower the rod tip back down and wind up the slack line. Keep on repeating this process over and over again until it reaches the area where the sandy bottom meets the bottom of the breakwall.

Once it is near where the breakwall meets the sandy bottom I will then start retrieving the soft plastic in a hopping motion back towards me. To do this I will use an outfit that consists of either a 2.1m Shakespeare Synergy SP701L soft plastic rod, mounted with a Pflueger Medalist 6030 spinning reel that is spooled with 3 to 5 kilo GSP line, or a Pflueger Trion PTSP AB 4770 1LFT rod, mounted with a Pflueger Medalist 6030 spinning reel that is spooled with 3 to 5 kilo GSP line.

When the tide is not running as hard I will still use the same sized shad, but will decrease the size of the Wobble Head Jig to a 1/4 once, 1/0 or a Tournament Series Jig head. If you get no response from the change in jig size you could also down size the shad to a 2, 3 or 4 inch.

The single or double jerk while drifting in Shallow waters over a combination of sand and weed beds.

By shallow waters I mean the depth of water needs to be no deeper that say 3m and as shallow as your boat will go. When fishing in this depth of water I prefer to use the No 2, 1/8 ounce or 1/0, 1/4 ounce Wobble Head Jig or the Tournament Series Jig heads in the 1/4 once No 1, 1/0, 2/0, 3/0 and 4/0. The type of plastic could be a shad, double or single tailed grub or stick baits.

If you are going to use the Shads or the stick baits you could use the same technique and jig heads as you would when fishing adjacent to the breakwalls. The single or double jerk is where you cast out the jig head and soft plastic in the same direction as the boat is drifting. You then allow it to hit the bottom. Remember to wind up that slack line, while at the same time pointing the rod tip down to the surface of the water. Instead of slowly lift the rod tip upwards, you either whip the rod in a single or double action.

This will cause the soft plastic to rocket off the bottom and hopefully attract the attention of a flathead. Many of the takes will be as the soft plastic flutters back down to the bottom. The next time that you repeat this process you will usually find that the flathead has it already in its mouth. You could use the same outfits as mentioned in fishing breakwalls or a Pflueger President LP Baitcaster reel, (PRESIDENTLP) mounted on a PTCA 4760-1M Trion Graphite rod and spooled with 5 kilo GSP line.

The way that you know whether a dusky flathead has taken the soft plastics is there may be the slightest straitening of the GSP line on the top of the water as the fish has come off the bottom and taken the lure as it is fluttering back down to the bottom. Or you may feel and extra weight on the line as you quickly lift the rod tip upwards.

The slow twitch in and around the base of Mangroves.

Nothing is better than using an Motor Guide electric motor to quietly position yourself up to within casting distance of the base of a set of mangroves. Then flick out a lightly weighted soft plastic close to, or into a set of standing mangroves for dusky flathead, bream, trevally. The depth of the water that you are casting too may be as shallow as just 10cm.

Once the soft plastic has hit the water you can let it sink to hit the bottom. Once again this will easily identified by the line going slack. Then it is just a matter of slowly twitching the rod tip slowly back towards your boat from the edge of the mangroves. If, after a couple of cast this doesn’t work you go try high sticking your rod and twitching it back across the shallow water, but make sure that you don’t strike too hard, as you may well pull the soft plastic out of the fishes mouth.

Double and single tail grubs, stick baits, worms, paddle tails, fish and crawfish patterns can be used with the smallest of the TT Wobble Head jigs, 1/16 and 1/8 ounce Jig Heads, 1/8 ounce and the 1/20, 1/16, 1/12, 1/8, 1/6 and 1/4 ounce Tournament Series Jig heads.

Well, there you have it. Three different techniques for you to try. So the next time that you are going out to chase flathead with dead or live baits. Why don’t you take out a handful of TT Jig Heads and some soft plastics. I am sure that you will be pleasantly surprised in your catch rate.

                                        There is a stretch water that is close to the shoreline in

                                        the George’s river in Sydney that runs fairly quickly.

                                        I usually work this area with a 1/0, 3/8 ounce TT Jig

                                        Head and either double or single tailed grubs.

                                          This dusky flathead was caught by one of my students

                                          while fishing the weed beds in Botany Bay.