B_&_T_J_2015_

Reading the Flats

O
One of the things that sets apart those who catch more fish
than others is their ability to interpret the habitats where
they are fishing. Where is the best place to be on a low
tide, high tide, rising tide, falling tide? As any flats angler
knows, being in the right place at the right time is a huge
part of the challenge to catching fish on the flats. Even the
best caster will go fishless if there are no fish.

The old saying is that a picture is worth a thousand words.

But in this case, it’s all about getting shots at bonefish. We

can tell a lot about tides and how bonefish are likely to use

this habitat from the photo at the top of this page.

First, look at the mangroves in the background. There is

considerable space between the lowest mangrove leaves

and the water. Much of the prop-roots are exposed. This

means that it is near low tide. If the tide is still falling, it is

doubtful that bonefish will be on the flat, but instead they

will be off the deeper edge of the flat. If the tide is rising,

this is the time and place to look for bonefish to push up

onto the flat with the tide. If you look closely, you can see

wakes from bonefish near the mangroves in the left-center

portion of the photo. With wakes pushing onto the flat, we

have an early rising tide, so we are in the right place to

intercept incoming bonefish.

By looking at the bottom we can also get an idea of

whether the flat will be fishable during all stages of the

tide. The bottom is sparse seagrass, dominated by open

sand. This likely means that this flat is exposed to air at

most low tides – exposed frequently enough that the

sparse seagrass survives only in the depressions that are

scattered across the flat. What does this mean for fishing

this flat? At low tide, look for bonefish to be in deeper

water off the flat, or perhaps cruising the edges. And then

look for these fish to move onto the flat with a rising tide,

and to move off the flat as the tide drops. So a good

strategy would be to stake out near the edge on either side

of low tide, and then to stalk fish closer to the shoreline

near high tide.

If, in contrast, the flat had high seagrass coverage, this

would mean that it remains covered by water most of the

time. And though some bonefish would likely move onto

and off of the flat with the tides, such a flat would likely

hold bonefish throughout the tidal cycle.

D R. A A R O N J. A D A M S

is Director of Operations for Bonefish & Tarpon Trust

Photo by Dr. Aaron J. Adams