Intro to Flats FishingBy Captain Corby Dolar Intro to Flats Fishing is the first in a series of articles to make it easy to understand exactly what flats fishing is and how to go about enjoying it. Flats fishing. Redfishing. Bonefishing. Tarpon. All these are words that mean home to me. However, most people have not heard these terms or at least don't know exactly what they mean. In 1992 hurricane Andrew blew away most of my hometown of Homestead, Florida. And, along with it, blew me to south Alabama. I grew up in the Florida Keys learning to fish the shallow mud and sand banks from Key Largo to Key West as well as the winding maze of mangrove-lined tidal creeks and bays that make up the Everglades National Park. In 1979, I turned my passion into my career by becoming a full-time backcountry guide and running over 300 charter trips a year. I never thought I could be "at home" again on any stretch of water until I discovered the back bays of the Alabama coast and the Florida panhandle. While they may not have the variety of fish species that call the Keys their home, these areas more than make up for that in unspoiled beauty and an almost untouched flats fishery. These areas are home to redfish, trout, sheepshead, jack cravalle, ladyfish, flounder, and during certain times of the year, tarpon to name just a few. I used to get a lot of puzzled looks from people whenever I pulled my flats skiff into the local tackle shop. The boat didn't look quite like a bass boat but it didn't look like an offshore saltwater fishing boat either. But, nowadays people are getting familiar with these skiffs. It seems that every fishing magazine has several articles each month about redfishing, bonefishing, or catching giant tarpon in mere inches of water. And, catching them with rods and reels so flimsy looking that you would think any decent bass would quickly turn them into a pile of splinters and mangled gears.
Let's begin by looking at the sport itself. Fishing the flats is not a new sport. In fact it has
been around for a long, long time. But it wasn't until the 1970's that it gained worldwide
acclaim. A flat is a nothing more than a piece of ground (usually tidal) that is covered by
shallow water. Well, at least it is at high tide. It is home to many different types of crabs
and shrimp as well as hundreds of species of baitfish that use these shallow areas for
protection. But when conditions are right, large predators show up to feed on them.
Fishing these areas is usually done from a boat commonly called a skiff, in water less than 2 feet in depth. The skiff has a platform mounted over the outboard motor where the boat's captain usually stands and propels the boat forward by use of a push pole. A push pole is a long rod made of fiberglass or graphite that is about 2 inches in diameter and up to 20 feet in length (occasionally longer). One end is forked and the other end is pointed. The forked end is used for pushing against the bottom to propel the skiff along in shallow water. The pointed end is used for pushing down into the soft mud and sand to stop the boat and hold it in place. This is known as "staking off".
Tackle is usually lightweight but very tough gear (it has to be). The most common type used is spinning outfits. The rods average from 6 to 7 feet in length and carry a reel that can to hold up to 200 yards of line. Some of these fish can run well over that distance in just seconds so it is better to have too much line than not enough. Bait casting gear is used often and, under the right conditions, works great. Most of the time if you have good bass fishing tackle and it is built to handle the harsh saltwater environment it will serve you well.
Fly tackle is another story. The rods are much different than their lighter weight
freshwater trout counterparts. They are stiffer and usually have larger eyes and beefier
reel seats. The reels will hold several hundred yards (instead of 20 or 30 yards) of
backing behind the fly line so the fish can still be controlled after one of those monster
burn runs. The fly line can be any one of several specially designed saltwater fly lines.
I hope this intro to flats fishing has tweaked your interest in this great sport. If you think that chasing large fish in inches of water, getting them to eat your lure, and then having them literally smoke the drag on your reel as they try to make their escape to deeper water sounds like fun, I hope you will read the upcoming articles dedicated to getting you started in this incredible sport. Just don't blame me when you get addicted!
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The boats themselves have evolved into extremely high tech machines over the years.
They have low sides, or freeboards, so they will not catch the wind and become hard to
control while poling, and they are very light in weight. These boats range in size from 14
to 20 feet in length (with the average being 18 feet) and can weigh from as much as 1800
lbs. to as little as 275 lbs. And, they float in inches of water. In fact, the boat that I run
when packed with full gear and fuel and with two people on board drafts just under 4
inches. Now that may sound ridiculous but once you've seen your first 20-pound redfish
eagerly sucking up food in that same depth of water you will know why your boat can
never get too shallow.
