Flattie spearing spots

[Reel obsession]

G'day guys,
I do a fair bit of spear fishing and diving around the coast around rock/reefs areas for reef fish. Does anyone know of some good locations in the bay for spearing flatties? What makes a good flatties spearing spot?
Cheers
Ben

[sawtell]

Anywhere with water pretty much.

The trick is to actually look for them. Spend your whole time staring at the bottom.
Especially on the edges of reef/sand patches. But they can be seen sitting on rocks and in weed.


When I go spearing with my mates, I'll come home with a bag of flatties, they won't even see one. It's all about looking closely!

[Munroe]

Back in my younger years, I use to snorkel around what I now know as Mad Fisho's or the Back Beach williamstown. In the shallows in nearly every nook and cranny, there was always a nice set of tails to take. Nice butterfish or dusky morwong around the reefs. Have not been there for years.

[sawtell]

Back in my younger years, I use to snorkel around what I now know as Mad Fisho's or the Back Beach williamstown. In the shallows in nearly every nook and cranny, there was always a nice set of tails to take. Nice butterfish or dusky morwong around the reefs. Have not been there for years.

Ha that happens to be where I spear now

[blinky]

agree with sawtell. you have to be focused on looking for them alone. sooo easy to miss. the prob is that you will miss other potential fish that arent sitting on the bottom. dedicate at least an hour of your dive to just looking for flatties and you should get a couple.

[ELM]

Not spear fishing (scuba drifting under yak), often spotted flathead laying in wait, anywhere there was an ebb in the current. Didn't matter if it was from current running over a shelf (whether sand or reef) with a small ebb at the base, or where two channels met. Popular spots were the channels running through the great sands near South channel fort.

Rye channel scallop beds (though these may be to deep at 14 meters), I almost always spotted one or two. Interesting when I started to shuck out the scallops and use gut for bait, I was so busy on the rods with flathead, you wondered where they all came from.

Just because I could, I drifted under the yak across the shallow sand flats between Sorrento & Portsea once. Once I got an eye for them, I was amazed at how many flathead I saw (mostly small), could not catch any of them.

Knowing good flathead are caught fishing in Simmonds channel, I once dived back of mud Island along the channel edge and was not disappointed with what I saw. Would think all the shallow channels on the west side would produce good fish. Just not sure what depth the channels are, but would guess on a low tide, 4 to 10 meters. Some of the boat owners may be able to help and have more info.

I know you are not allowed to spear close to piers, and not sure how far the weed beds extend, but I managed to dive St Leonards a few times. On each occasion saw good flathead in amongst the weed and moorings. The weed beds around Flinders also tried to conceal a few beauties. As others have said and sure you already know,, you need to be tuned in to them, or you will just swim over the top of them.

Eddie

[Digger]

all you can see is the outline in the sand.

[mat]

Best time to go around the edge of Port Phillip Bay is about an hour before dusk. Its amazing how they become visible in places that only hours earlier were apparently absent. If you see one there is always at least another within 10 metres. Some of the real big buggers will come within metres of the shoreline just on sunset.

[sawtell]

Best time to go around the edge of Port Phillip Bay is about an hour before dusk. Its amazing how they become visible in places that only hours earlier were apparently absent. If you see one there is always at least another within 10 metres. Some of the real big buggers will come within metres of the shoreline just on sunset.

Or sunrise.

But lets not forget the obvious warning, it's not only the big flatties that come in close at those times. So use common sense, you don't want to be spear fishing around say, queenscliff at sunset.

[Munroe]

Any rocky outcrop up northern part of the bay will hold decent tails for a feed. IMHO , you wouldn't want to go spear a 70cm yank or rocky

Leave them to catch and release with the softies at sunset and rise with those other things that are associated with those times of day