G'day James, well Flathead are a predatory fish and they will attack anything that is moving (as a rule) so hard or soft plastic lures bouncing on the bottom are good as well as baits such as Bluebait, pilchards any oily fish, they will take mussels pippies and practically anything you throw at them but as I said keep the baits moving at an even slow to medium pace. Good luck and I hope you end up with Tight Lines. Madfisha.

Flathead - honestly, cut up strips of flathead.

I'm going up the Gold Coast from Sydney for two weeks flathead and mangrove jack fishing beginning Sept 4. Why,because Sept 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8,are the best fishing days for that month and Jumpinpin is going to get a hammering...!

Best baits, soft plastic paddle tails and an electric motor. Failing that live poddy mullet (caught using a cast net), and drifted on a rig consisting of a running sinker down to a swivel, with a 12lb, 1.5m fluorocarbon leader and 2/0 circle hook pinned through the mullet's upper lip. Deadly! But you'll catch more with soft plastics. Then, if you run out of soft plastics and mullet, try my old fall back bait, pilchards. Use the same rig as for the mullet, but change to two 2/0 ganged hooks. Use half a pilly and drift, but don't leave the rods in the rod holders... give them a good yank every minute or so as you drift to excite the flathead into hitting the baits. That's how we used to catach flathead before plastics and believe me it still works fine.