I just got a 13’ gheenoe, and am looking forward to the water and weather warming up. I’ve walked flats before but never been in a boat. Just wondering if y’all think it’s better to move into the flat with the water or let the water and fish push in then pole into the area after?
Depends on how much time you’ve got, and if you brought beer or not. In a Gheenoe you may be able to get onto the flats before the fish really show up and start tailing hard. You might get a shot at a fish through some thick grass, though.
Flip side, I don’t think it matters much to the fish if you get out a little late, as long as you aren’t motoring up way onto the flat.
1994 Hewes Redfisher 18, 2004 Yamaha 150 VMAX
Malibu X-Factor Kayak
Yes. All of the above.
If I’m on a flat that don’t know well, I may move as I see tails or strong pushes… basically trying to stalk the fish. If I know the flat, I know where to setup to ambush the fish as they move across.
You can learn a flat the same way you can learn deer patterns in a patch of woods. In general, I think, maybe, the fish move up onto flats and across them with the tide. Once you learn their movement patterns, you will know which areas narrow they their movements, which areas are too deep or grass to thick, which areas are easier to present a fly. One flat I frequent has a small creek that enters it on the one end. It goes through an acre or so of mixed bald spots and thick grass. Sometimes, the fish will literally belly crawl (dorsal fins out of the water) out of that little creek and onto the adjacent bald areas and work the edges of the bald areas. As the tide rises, they seem to move across the flat, across the next stretch of creek, and onto the next flat. In a canoe, I can fish a flat, paddle to the next flat or maybe the one past that, and fish that same portion of the tide. I pretty well know how the fish are going to move through those areas.
If I don’t know an area well, I try to get a look at a flat before the water is more than about 3" deep on it. Sit and watch. A few times, I’ve gotten to a flat before the water, pulled the canoe up onto the dry mud, cracked a libation, and sit and wait. If you get a belly crawler or two, they will be obvious and you can see exactly where they are coming onto the flat. If you don’t, you’ll may still see some tailing and/or pushing as they move onto the flat. Then, it is a choice: chase them or ambush them. With a spinning reel and the heavy spoon that I can throw a mile, I might chase them. With fly rod, I might try to anticipate their direction and ambush them. Fish the same flat several times and you’ll get some idea of how that flat moves.
Using a gheenoe, you can either paddle or wade. When using a canoe, I p
Thank y’all for the very helpful insight. I think exposure and time on the water will help me figure a lot out, but this just helps cut the learning curve. So thanks