Found this story about walking the flats when there isn’t any water on it.
Flats fishermen are by nature hunters. That’s why they pick a form of angling where searching and hunting are core parts of the game plan. One way to improve angling results in shallow water is to put down the rod for a bit and study the characteristics-composition, layout, and currents-of the flats you like to fish. And by far the best way to really study a flat is to get down there in the water on low tide.
It is damn fine advice that my friend Shane gave me a few years back. You want a flat at extreme low tide and you’ll learn a lot about how the fish are coming up and off the flat. If you know that, you’ll know where to be and where to look when the tide starts coming in and the fish start heading in to eat.
This works really well when you have a flat that you are going to be fishing a lot, a place that is your home flat or a place you’ll return to for years and years. It works less well when you are some place for a couple days or one week out of your life. That’s the kind of local knowledge that you tend to build over time… that’s how you actually develop local knowledge.
- Unique Post
“For these reasons, you want to make a mental note of what you find on your low-tide explorations. Better yet, carry a waterproof pen and small pad in a plastic sandwich bag in your shirt pocket.”
Upgrade to a smart phone/iphone with a waterproof case and simply place a marker. I usually do every time I spot a fish, after the fact. First you try to catch it!
Hey, we like you on our website http://www.flylifemagazine.com.
Skip Clement, publisher
Capt. Andrew Derr, field editor
I try my best to get to the flat I want to fish early, half an hour before the tide begins to flood the flat. This way I find the fish as they come up on the flat and I know where they come from. I always wade since even the skinniest water flats boat can’t get up until the water is deep enough and then it is too late to know where the fish are entering the flat. Early is the way to go