easy mate. One of the most versatile lures for the metro area is the Halco Twisty 20g-30g range in chrome or gold. Tailor will almost always smash them as well as herring and snook. I'm no expert on lures for the river but i think Halco Scorpions go okay for flathead. Maybe try tee up a session with one of the other guys on here alot of guys happy to share information

Halco's ay.... might give it a crack 2moro arvo i know the moon aint looking good but the sooner i land this fish on a lure the sooner i'll start getting some sleep. cheers beau, keep landing those fish matey. i'll keep ya posted on how well i do :)

also do lures work as well at night??

 Now this never worked for me!! For some reason, soft plastics and lures never worked with me at night, anywhere!!

 gday mate welcome to the site you can still catch fish at night with lures due to the fishes lateral line feeling the lure in the water but they may not see it so i try to find light to fish with (jetty street lights) so the lure can still be seen hope that helps

Halco Twistys are one of my favourite Tailor lures. Try varying your retrieve, so try winding it flat strap, a bit slower, jerky retrieve, short bursts etc. I also like to get the lure skipping across the surface every now & again creating a bubble trail like an escaping baitfish. Just start winding as soon as the lure lands & keep the rod tip raised high. After a little practive you will find the speed that the lure breaks the surface every now & again. I find that works particularly well at night. As Mr x mentioned jetty lights can help the fish see your lure at night.

The other main lure option in the river is Flathead. Early morning or late afternoon is the time to get out on the flats around Claremont, Point Walter etc to chase Flatties. Most hardbody lures will work pretty well with my favourites being Manns Stretch 5+ in hot pink, Halco Scorpion 52 in gold & Halco Laser Pro 45 in blue/chrome. Make sure the lure gets right down to the very bottom, preferebly even digging it's way through the bottom. Fish the edges of weed beds rather than open sandy patches, if your not getting weed on your lure sometimes, your not fishing in the right spot or your lure isn't getting down far enough. Throw a few casts into the very shallow water at the edges before you wade out deeper. I've pulled plenty of decent Flatties from 30cm of water & most I catch are in less than 4ft. Also fish the edge of sudden drop offs & any holes, rocks or other structure that stands out on the flats. Prawn Stars are fantastic Flattie lures but most people make the mistake of working them too fast. Slowly slowly is the key. Give a short sharp jerk of 20-30cm by raising the rod tip then allow the lure to settle back to the bottom & sit there for a few seconds. Keep that going all the way back to your feet as Flatties will often follow a lure right up to your feet before striking. Forget soft plastics downstream as they will just be mauled by blowies. They are great for catching Flatties but unfortunately the Blowies usually destroy the tail before anything else has the chance to find the lure.

If you want I'm sure we can arrange a time (early morn or late arvo) sometime in the next week or two that we can get together for a Flattie or Tailor hunt. Just send me a PM if your interested & we will work something out.

 What sort of lures have you been using? There are plenty of minnow lures on the market, some of which are good, and some are extremley crap. Colour is also important, although tailor aren't the fussiest of fish and will wack most things with a decent action. I personally don't like prawnstars, but they have been known to work for some people. Much better lures out there imo though.

I'd recomend getting some berkley bass minnows, or similar jerkbait style soft plastics in about 3-4inches. Pink, Pumpkinseed and Watermelon are pretty good colours for most fish. Rig these on a 1/8 - 1/4oz jighead, and make sure you use some flurocarbon leader (6 - 10lb in the river, 8-14lb or so off the rocks). With this rig you can basically catch herring, skippy, tailor, leatherjackets etc off the rocks/groynes/beach etc. and in the river, they will work on flathead and maybe bream if you are lucky. If you are just starting out though, catching herring, skippy & tailor of the rocks is probably the easiest to start.

All you really need to do is cast out, let them sink for a bit, and then retrevie at a moterate pace with sharp jerks and you will get tailors and herring. For skipjacks let it sink all the way to the bottom, and then give a few sharp jerks, wind a little and let the lure sink right back down to the bottom.

As long as theres not to much wind/swell plastics are for more productive then slices for most species most of the time.

wow some helpful tips there daniel cheers mate. i've forgotten the brand but have spent money on the expensive ones. 22g blue silver minnow looking lures and the river have been using pink prawnstars. mate i'd even be stoked to land a skippy on metal or plastic

 those white snapbacks work really well in the river for flatties, bream, tailor and herring... they work at night for me

Personally I have more luck with poppers for tailor, but I know a lot of guys get more on metals/twistys.

The great thing about poppers is you can usualy fish them over reefy areas without a problem. Where other lures (minnows, metals) will snag up. The good old halco rooster has accounted for heaps of tailor for me. Plus it is way more fun to watch a tailor take a surface lure than a minnow.

But I find that most fish will more readily take bait over a lure. If they are really on, they will take anything. I had a recent session where just about every lure in my tackel box was used, and they all caught fish. But on an off day, fish seem much more likely to take real bait.

 Flaties are probably the best place to start for lure fishing. they're quite agressive and will smash most lures infron tof their noses.

In deeper water i have had success with TT switchblade, and in shallow water the trusty SX40 is always my go to lure.

Polarized sunnys will help a lot, as you will be able to see the bottom, and thus understand where to fish. with flatties,

just keep the retreive fairly slow and add a couple of jerks hear and there to get the lure kicking up some puffs of sand.

just be confident, and you will undoubtably catch a few flathead in a sesh if the conditions are fair. the flats around canning bridge are a great start,

claremont and salter point (my favourite area ATM) are worthy of fish. 

hope this helps

First post asking for exact spots? Rough locations is about as much info as you will get, if a person is feeling generous they might PM you extra info but not usually. You've got a rough area, now it's time for you to do some legwork & find the best spots in that area for yourself.