Braid and leader for Flathead

[hardandsoft200]

What type of braid and leader would you use for Flathead in and around sydney?? e.g. Parramatta River, Iron Cove, Spit Bridge, Manly, Botany Bay and others?

Cheers, Zach

[nathanl]

It depends on a lot of things but if you are going to chase flathead only then 6lb braid and 8 to 10lb leader will do the job. If you want to also chase bream then you increase your chance of catching bream with 4lb braid and 4lb leader but you also increase your chance of being chewed off by a flatty.

hope that helps,
Nathan

[Shortlite]

I agree with Nathan, but you can also try another tactic and tie a short section of the heavier leader to the end of your light leader to act as a bite tippet/leader. So you can run 4 lb or 6 lb, with a piece of 10 lb or 12 lb on the end to prevent biteoffs. If your strike rate diminishes, or if you want to target finicky bream or another species, just clip it off. By short I mean like 8 inches to a foot. Enough to retie a few times.

[reggie]

For flatties here in Brisbane i run 6lb Fins as a main, and 8-10lb fluorocarbon leader.I have found this to be just right, as if there is beam or other species that might take your lure the 8lb leader is right on the limit and most of the time wont spook them away. Just be carefull and play the larger flatties for longer because there teeth can make short work of your leader. And if i'm fishing in rocky or snaggy areas i'll go the 10lb leader just to give me a fighting chance in case one decides to run into or around a snag.

[BlackBreamer]

6lb sensor braid and 12lb flurocarbon has always done the job for me

[DOOGZ]

Originally Posted by BlackBreamer

6lb sensor braid and 12lb flurocarbon has always done the job for me

I just use 6lb leader unless im using big placcys for big flatties then i put on some 12-20lb leader

[Try Hard]

20lb fireline tracer braid, 20lb famell super shock leader and a rapala X-rap 10....results speak for themselves...

[squidders]

Hi Zac,

For most Parra River, Iron cove or Botany Flathead 8-10 lb should be fine, as long as you keep the flatties head below the surface and can wash it up rather than lift it out by tracing it.

Otherwise anything up to 15 lb is more than enough i think, unless you get a moster lizard, then it will be up to some real angling skill and a little luck.

Nitlon, FC Rock, Varivas or Vanish Flurocarbon leader are all good to use.

for big flatties 4-6 lb braid is fine, with a 12 lb leader being the smallest i dare go, but i do fish all the big rivers around my region which produce flatties over a meter quite often, i havent got one yet, but after sevral shreddings on 10lb vanish on my last trip to on the bello river i mostly use 15lb seems excessive but i assure u its not, those big head shakes can be very unforgiving.

[powderfish]

What about when your fishing in gippsland when there's a chance of either a bream or a flattie? Take Bushy's Devilfish Vibes for instance, I find they work equally well for flatties and bream so I use a heavier leader (8lb Nitlon) but when I downgrade to 5lb to increase my chances of catching a bream, I just get bitten off by flatties. Does leader size really matter for vibes?

[jake18]

What i do is, if you want to chase bream aswell on the day and dont want to re rig, put some 6 or 4lb on and then 30 cms of 10 - 15lb on the end just to suffice against the flatties. then cut it off when your done with em.

[Minnows]

Originally Posted by jake18

What i do is, if you want to chase bream aswell on the day and dont want to re rig, put some 6 or 4lb on and then 30 cms of 10 - 15lb on the end just to suffice against the flatties. then cut it off when your done with em.

makes it a hek of a lot easier to cast the light line knots through the guides instead of the heavier leader knots.

[Minnows]

btw Try hard, great flattie pics!

[Try Hard]

Originally Posted by powderfish

What about when your fishing in gippsland when there's a chance of either a bream or a flattie? Take Bushy's Devilfish Vibes for instance, I find they work equally well for flatties and bream so I use a heavier leader (8lb Nitlon) but when I downgrade to 5lb to increase my chances of catching a bream, I just get bitten off by flatties. Does leader size really matter for vibes?

Im not sure if it affects the action on vibes but I know leader strength has great effect on sinking stick minnows. I know for a fact that the shimmy that shirasu/stick minnows have on the drop is completley no existant when using an 8lb leader. I find that 4lb is pretty much ultimate in that case.

Same priciple also occurs when using Jackalls that have a vibrating action on the drop. A 40lb leader is simply never going to give you the same amount of action at say a 20lb leader.


BTW - cheers MinnowMan lol

[NIZ]

Really depends on what sort of flatties u are after. I use anything from 8lb to 20lb leader & always flurocarbon. Anything lighter than 8lb & u will risk getting rubbed off during headshakes. When u hook that massive lizard you will thank god you have run something heavier. Flathead aren't really shy when it comes to leaders.

My PB 85cm