Nice one mate!

Cheers Adam! Glad you found the channel and hope you enjoy the rest of the content.

Hey mate, never thought about weighing flathead before, normally just grab a measure then either back in the drink or home for a feed. Would be interesting to see how heavy those big girls are 🤔

Thanks mate - As far as I was aware, as long as I am below the high water mark (Which I gathered to be the grassy area further up) then I am allowed to be on that section. Happy to be corrected and not do it again, but thats my understanding of it.

@@theuntamedtrail Don’t worry about the haters champ just keep doing what you’re doing. You are going places just keep your head up and stay positive my man.

Thanks mate! Glad you're enjoying the videos and would be a blast to collaborate with any of those guys.

Hope you enjoy it mate, happy to share my knowledge about a pretty amazing place

I don't think there are any others that post regularly, but there are plenty of good videos about the area

I'm more than happy to answer any questions Steve. Supporting the flatheads bodyweight is key for these bigger ones, a lot of people make the mistake of holding them up for an extended period of time by their mouth. This can cause a whole host of issues to the fish and can be fatal in some instances. Flathead have two dorsal fins on their back. I'll try and grab roughly between those and use my thumb to pin down the fin closer to the head. I'll also use lip grips or grab the mouth with a towel/jumper sleeve to control the head. Once you have those two in place they normally go a bit docile and are much easier to release.

@ appreciate the quick response. It would be a great idea to do a video on handling of fish? Your mate seemed to have the flathead quite tame in the end. They are such a hard fish to handle. I think I will try and touch them in the area you recommended because I don’t want to cause anymore damage to the big male flathead. I’m new to fishing around Great Lakes but have found Luke from Great Lakes tackle good to talk to. He recommended your videos. But yes proper handling of fish is important and would be a topic worth talking about if you could do that as I have only just got into fishing.

@@theuntamedtrail4:55 I have to say, as a fellow croc hunter, I’ve been fishing for flathead for over 35 years and have never seen a fish that big caught so close to a bridge. I will have to start fishing the bridges more…great work fellas

@@FishingFriends-o3vjust thought I’d let you know that the big flathead are females not males

Thats a great idea, I'll do a segment on it the next time I catch a decent one 👍

Thanks mate. If you just want to target the big girls, most people are using large soft plastics or glide baits. I personally use a mix of those and then smaller prawn or paddle tail lures. I make my own (and sell them) and seem to do alright on them. My favorite at the moment is the 2.75" shrimp in watermelon red

@ thanks heaps for the tips, and getting back so soon. That’s awesome, what are your lures called? Are they stocked in any bass pro shops or just any hunting and fishing shops?

Only currently selling them online in Australia. Just started out, but maybe one day we can reach the heights of Bass Pro.

@@theuntamedtrailoh dang

It's a bit of practice and a bit of luck. But I still have some days that are stinkers 😂

I don't use a mask or anything like that. But I make sure I've got good ventilation and use a fan to help that

Was using the 9'6" prevail. Great stick for the rocks.

Bought it from BCF It's the predator HD330, awesome little vessel. Super stable, I spend plenty of time standing up and sight casting. Tracks well, just a touch susceptible to the wind

Thanks ☺️

Cheers mate

Best sound to hear, especially when I thought I'd lost it after my terrible net job 😂

Anywhere along the break walls are good options. Otherwise any type of broken ground (weed beds and sand) should hold fish

I use mostly a hop and pause retrieve. So flick the rod upwards and wind in a small amount then allow the lure flutter down and pause on the bottom before repeating. I'll increase the height of the flick and the time paused at the bottom to add some variation. But that is mostly how I use prawn lures

How's even better when it's pumped up properly 😂

Cheers mate, might take you up on that in a few weeks time

Yeah they are, make them all myself ☺️

@@theuntamedtrail great job man I was at foster the other day and caught my pb black fish

@@Gozfishoez-xx2gb Thats awesome mate, it's defintely a great place to fish

Not really mate, I've tried a few spots around but haven't found anywhere productive

@@theuntamedtrail nextime I'm up there I'm gonna try some spots off the rocks with the little bro 👍🏽 I'll let you know how I go.

@@theuntamedtrail do you have insta?

@@lukeburkill7767 Can't wait to see how you go 🤙

Thanks mate 😊

I would start on the sand just south of the boat ramp in the morning 8am-12pm. I'd have one rod out with bait (prawns are good) and a second rod using soft plastic lures. I'd use a small shrimp or grub style. 2.5-4" range and in a green colour. If you hit that location and haven't caught anything in an hour I'd go down to the southern entrance to the keys and do the same thing there. Prawns on one rod and lures on another

Thanks a lot for the advice I really appreciate it. I’ll make sure to try the boat ramp

Could you please tell me the location of the entrance please

It's at the south end of Elizabeth parade. You'll see a few boats moored near it. It's about 100m from where you can park your car

I gave these spots a try with prawns and didn’t have much luck. I was thinking to try Pipers Bay Foreshore Reserve would you recommend it ?I was planning just to walk up and down with a soft plastic lure

This is just north of Forster on some of the broken headlands

The weight will depend on the depth of water you are fishing, the amount of current and the weight of your soft plastic. Fishing shallow and without much current a 1/16-1/8 weight is fine. Going to 5m depth and a lot of current I'd use 1/6-3/8.

@@theuntamedtrail Thank you for your answer. I don't have much experience. What are the disadvantages of not increasing the jighead weight in deep water , will the rod sensitivity decrease?

If your jighead is too light, the lure won't be able to get to the bottom (where most fish tend to be) if it's too heavy it will go straight down and not mimic a fish. You want to find the balance of being able to stay in the depth you expect the fish to be, while allowing the lure to still swim and act naturally.

@@theuntamedtrail I understand sir. What is the disadvantage of not increasing the jighead weight in current water?

If you don't have enough weight, the lure won't get down to the bottom which is where the majority of fish will be. We sometimes call that the "strike zone". You want your lure to be in that strike zone for as long as possible while still being able to act as naturally as possible

Thanks mate. Yeah the prawn one can lose an antenna or two pretty easy, but it's the price you pay for it to move around so much in the water The cost per lure for the plastisol and colouring required for a pack of lures isn't much at all. The real cost is all the equipment, molds, time dialling in colours, packaging etc.

Thanks mate, I'll be running this deal for two weeks. But will also look at doing some others as we get closer to summer

The keyes are fishing pretty consistently at the moment, but most are on the smaller side. I'd concentrate on the sandy sections near the boat ramp and the north and south entrances. Darker colours and greens have been working well for lures

What would be the best lure and best time to fish Forster keys

I'd look at fishing the change of tides and using small shrimp or paddle tails in the motor Oil or watermelon red colours

The water along memorial drive and little street in Forster is nice and easy to access and pretty simple fishing. Otherwise the breakwall and boat harbor hold more fish, but can be a touch more difficult with tides and current

Thanks 😊

Fingers crossed this warm weather fires them up early

Always good getting down there and seeing white water

Tried going off the point, but just kept losing gear with the swell

And thanks again for the great information, always great to learn about these beautiful fish

I sourced it from heaps of different places. Couldn't any one supplier at least in Australia who did it all

Thank you ☺️

Thanks mate, good luck improving your fishing 💪

That's a 1000 Shimano stradic with 6lb kairiki braid

Glad you enjoyed the video! Can't wait to try out the new bigger prawns this summer 🤙

That's a good fish mate, well done! This was more of a shock due to the location. Only ever heard of a handful each year being caught in this area, so to land one myself was pretty awesome.

@@theuntamedtrail oh ok. i see, yes my mate Heg was pulling MJ out from a creek in Old Bar last year.

This was at Blackhead

It's an awesome bit of kit. It's crazy stable and I use it more as a stand up paddle board then a kayak. I find I'm easily able to spin 360 around on it and sight cast on the flats without ever feeling like I'm going to tip over.

@@theuntamedtrail Thanks for the quick reply mate, really enjoy your videos , I am an old bloke and the predator may well suit my needs for fishing shallow water cheers.

No problem mate, glad you're enjoying the videos

Will be interesting to see how it fishes in summer there if it stays this full with the fresh. Could be a cracking bass year further up.

Thanks mate! Absolutely buzzing from it. Was so shocked when it popped up and saw the orange colour