hey yall,
i’m new to fishing the flats with a yak, and have been trying to catch the Reds on a fly. I’ve been having some trouble exactly finding “a flat.” can any of yall help me understand exactly what im looking for? i know the best time to find one would be using the flood tide, but cant’ understand how to stand on a flat without sinking into the pluff mud. basicly i’m lost, and any help would be greatly appreciated. also, I’m located on Horlbeck Creek off the Wando if that helps at all.
thanks again,
tlouie
in saying the best way to find a flat would be at high tide its the opposite low tide would be the best time to find a good flat to fish because you can see the area with no water and find the good flats to fish also if your wanting to stand in a flat you will definetly need to find one that is not pluff mud. i dont know that area of the wando to well but there is a killer flat near the 526 bridge on the mt p side but i cant seem to come up with a good location to throw in from to get there always go by boat
Patrick E Crawford
once your up on a flat that looks good look for pieces of dead crab(easy to spot because sun bleaches them white). usually thats a good sign bass have been feeding in that particular area
youre looking for an area (~) +/- couple hundred yards of water <very gradual slope, if any> that at low tide will have maybe6-10" of water coverring it…and may or may not have water into the grass.at high tide, the flat may be covered 12"-3 or even 4 feet with water into the grass. spottail will cruise thru the grass eating shrimp,minnows,etc. that run into there to hide. these bass will wander in and out of the grass and also will be seen with their tails outta the water with their nose down “plowing” the bottom for food. spottails will also school up on these flats and herd up bait.only way to know if there is fish on a flat is to work it quietly for a little while…if you dont see any “pushes” or wake of a red, see any bait busting, or tailing action, or sometimes just a subtle bump in the grass when there is no wind; move on.also pay attention to the other fishermen in your area…if you see them over and over in an area…good chance thats whatsgoing on…its a good flat for you to start out and learn flattsfishin.
hope this helps~
Look for short spartina, this is an indication of hard packed sediments. Easy to wade. These are the areas normally not flooded on the average high tides but do on the spring tides. Excellent mud and fiddler crab habitat. Thats what the bass like. Tyr to find a flat like this that has many feeder creeks running to it. The more highways the more traffic.
Captain Chad Hayes
Kiawah Charter Company, LLC.
Kiawah Island Resort
http://recreation.kiawahresort.com/Motor_Boat.html