Flats Fishing 101: Where to Look for Fish on a Flat
- By: Pat Ogletree
- on
- Found In: Fishing Tips, Inshore Fishing, Weekly Newsletter: 6-2-24
If you’re new to inshore saltwater fishing or just want a refresher on the basics to reset your approach, this video is for you!
Even though inshore flats cover a vast amount of water, you can quickly eliminate a lot of that area by knowing where fish are most likely to be. It’s the first step in discovering 90/10 zones— highly productive spots where 90% of the fish are in 10% of the water.
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Where to Look for Fish on a Flat
If you’d like to head out with Brinkley Peters for an inshore wading trip and learn more about how to fish the flats, visit www.baywadeguide.com to book a trip with him!
Key Takeaways
As you break down the flat you’re fishing, look for:
- Sandy potholes in the seagrass
- Solid lines of grass that create a boundary against sand or mud
- Mangrove tree lines
- Marsh grass edges
- Drop-offs into deeper water
Here are some other tips to help you find the fish:
- Look for signs of baitfish. Where there’s food, there’s usually something that wants to eat it.
- Fish tend to hold around consistent depths, so vary how deep you’re fishing until you start getting some hits.
Member Exclusive: Smart Fishing Spots App Shows You Where to Fish
Salt Strong Members enjoy access to our game-changing Smart Fishing Spots app. Available on your computer and your phone, it puts a ton of information at your fingertips to help you catch more fish in less time!
Smart Spots point out places that are likely to hold fish. It’s not just a spot map, though. Taking into consideration the season, tides, and more, it updates every 15 minutes to show what areas to target and how productive they should be. You can even look into the future to help plan ahead.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg. There are A TON OF FEATURES we’ve built in:
- Hourly Strike Score feeding predictions
- Tides
- Weather predictions
- Weather radar with cell direction and lightning detection
- Seagrass and oyster layers
- 1-foot bottom contours
- Multiple satellite images and shaded relief
- Boat ramps and launch spots
- Public and private lands
- And much more!!!
We’re working hard to ensure that Smart Fishing Spots is the best fishing app available. We’re not done, though. Our talented development team is constantly finding new ways to improve the app and make it even more valuable for both planning your trip and making decisions once you’re out there.
Get access to this innovative technology and much, much more when you become a Salt Strong Member!
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STOP WASTING TIME ON THE WATER!
Do what the “SMART ANGLERS” are doing and join the Insider Club.
Here’s what you’ll receive today when you join:
- Weekly fishing reports and TRENDS revealing exactly where you should fish every trip
- Weekly “spot dissection” videos that walk you through all the best spots in your area
- Exclusive fishing tips from the PROS you can’t find anywhere else
- Everything you need to start catching fish more consistently (regardless if you fish out of a boat, kayak, or land).
Well pat what helped me learn about saltwater inshore fishing was alot of the techniques I learned from the freshwater bass scene when I was a kid because bass like the main species targeted in inshore saltwater I have found act and feed vert similar in they ALL relate to structure and are both ambush amd opportunity feeders in other words if you can catch a freshwater bass you can most certainly catch inshore saltwater fish but unlike most bass fishing knowing how to read and adhere to the tides and how and when they change is also extremely important because if you don’t then buy a nice boat or yak one can get stranded very fast if one does not pay attention but now if one has never even fished at all in one’s life I really would nor recommend starting inshore saltwater fishing I would start with something simple and small like pan fish because investing in a club membership is a very big step also your investing in alot of money and time and alot of people don’t understand and think that you can just cast a line into the water and wait and catch anything you want without the proper instructions or guidance in doing it right also I have found that in this world there are people that bottom line just are not cut out to be very good anglers and to join a club some can get very discouraged even with alot of guidance and instruction that’s why I say start out slow and simple and work your way up like anything else that people are good at very rarely does somebody become an export at anything overnight it takes practice and time spent on the water then with experience eventually if that person has a knack for it they will eventually get better and better kinda reminds me when covid was happening all these people were buying exspensive boats and other water craft then finding out on how much it costs for maintanance and fuel and that it wasn’t just a pretty and expensive thing to buy but something that takes alot more money to maintain it and keep it that way so then when covid was over you would see all these adds for boats for sale just because these people did not research and find out that owning a boat or yak or whatever in the water isn’t just a buy and tgen have fun deal in otherwords they should of started out small anyways I think you get my point thanks for the info and all you do
Thanks for the info
Fantastic breakdown of fishing a flat.
Nice job buddy!
Thanks Pat, another great piece.
Thanks Pat!
You’re welcome Ken!!
🫵 the MAN Pat 🎣 great tips
What Randy said 😀
Thanks Clyde! Glad your enjoying the videos.
Thanks Randy!! Appreciate the support!
Great Video. Thank you so much
Thanks for watching Gary!
Good info!
Thanks!
Always good stuff, thanks Pat.
Thanks Jan!