You’re not likely to hook up with a cow now, but flats fishermen can certainly catch their fill of lively slot fish. (Photo by Tom Keer)
August 13, 2024
By Tom Keer
Striped bass season is always a blessing. There are dinks and shorts swimming in the salt ponds in April. In early May, slot-sized fish fill the herring runs, and when the squid invade the rips, the cows come home. The beaches are chockablock with migrating linesiders and tough-to-catch bluefish—and that’s all before the very best of times arrive. When it comes to striped bass fishing, many anglers fish the flats, and the fish arrive there shortly after the sand eels do as summer hits. After too many mornings of rain and wind, those bright, sunny days with light, variable winds feel like a vacation to the Bahamas.
WHAT’S A FLAT? You won’t see the word “flat” on any nautical chart from the late 1800s, but you will see the word “shoal.” For the most part they can be used interchangeably. They’re both formed by sand and cobble deposited by current from inland rivers due to the normal ebb and flow of saltwater streams, or from the ocean’s natural hydrology.
Flats come in different sizes and shapes. Some are long and thin while others are rounded and surrounded by deeper water. The best ones are expansive and indeed reminiscent of the tropics. They will, however, change every year—some a lot and others only a little. If your flat is formed at the mouth of an inland river, seasonal rains and snow melt can greatly alter its size and shape. Fall hurricane season and harsh winter Nor’easters can further impact ocean or bayside flats. Tide changes can have an impact, too.
Silverside and sand eel imitators get the nod once stripers hit the shallows. Color choices are critical depending on the time of year. (Photo by Tom Keer) WATER CLARITY Flats in a salt pond or a bay tend to be murkier than those that are closer to or in the open ocean. The muddy bottoms and aggressive current exchanges are usually the culprits for the discolored water. Small flats in estuaries get that way, too. Flats close to the ocean get a fresh flush of water and are much clearer; however, these areas are sensitive, and a stiff wind or an overnight storm can cloud even the clearest of water. A day or two of calm weather following a storm clears up most flats.
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BAITS OF CHOICE Migratory fish are hungry, and when they arrive, they’ll pound baitfish in skinny water as readily as they will where it’s deep. Attractor patterns like pink or white soft plastics, poppers, needlefish and pencil poppers all hook their share of fish, while fly-rodders prefer poppers, sliders and streamers. The Kenney Abrames style of flat-wing flies are particularly popular on the flats, as their wings are tied perpendicular to the hook shank and suspend the fly in the water column. (Standard streamers have wings tied parallel to the hook shank, which cause the fly to sink.) Fish are easy to catch during these times, and there isn’t much that’s more exciting than a shallow-water/top-water blitz that you’ll remember deep into the winter.
After they settle in, striped bass—and bluefish for that matter—can get selective. Imitating the bait becomes the rule of the game. Baitfish take on the color of their surroundings, so match your lure or fly to the water’s color. Yellow, chartreuse and white are top choices on a bright day when fishing on sand. If you’re on an eelgrass bed, use something that has some green and lavender. Browns and olives are good when fishing over cobble, and black and gold are good on cloudy days.
The dominant forage types on the flats are silversides and sand eels. When the silversides move inshore in April and May, you will start to see some fish move into the shallow water. The real movement, though, is when the sand eels arrive. Sometimes there are 1-inch juveniles and other times 7-inch adults. Green or blue crabs are common on some flats, and many anglers like to fish them. If your flat runs up to a cordgrass, spike grass or salt hay bed, you’ll find shrimp drifting by as the dropping tide sucks them out. Clam worms are usually around, as are seasonal offerings like fall peanut bunker, glass minnows (herring fry) and bay anchovies.
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Prepare yourself for ballistic bassing on the Northeast flats this summer. (Photo by Tom Keer) HOW TO GET TIGHT You’ll catch more fish on the flats if you pattern them as you would a whitetail. Fish always head into a current so that the water pulses over their gills and they can breathe. The first order of business is to know in which direction the current flows. You’ll see a few exceptions, one being when the tide drops and the fish bail off the flat. In those instances, stripers will swim with the current for short distances, turn around and reposition.
Some flats feature a series of bars while others have cuts and troughs, which are usually next to deeper water. As the tide drains, striped bass will sit in the deeper water and pick off baitfish that drain off the flat. Look for hard edges with faster current, as they’ll make the bass act more aggressively. Those spots fill up on incoming tides as the water floods the flats, so look at them as holding lies for fish.
SKEET ON THE WATER Perhaps the best part of flats fishing is that it’s highly visual. Since you’re casting to a moving target, it’s like a fishing form of skeet. Presentation is important, and leading your target is critical. For fish that are moving away from or parallel to you, cast above and beyond the fish. The speed of your retrieve determines how you bring the lure or fly into its feeding zone. Fast swimming fish are usually spooked and are tough to catch. If they’re not spooked, lead them more—just like when shooting clays. If they’re relaxed, slow down your retrieve.
The author took this solid striper on a fly while fishing the flats of Monomoy Island, Massachusetts. (Photo by Tom Keer) WARM-WATER BLUES When water temperatures climb toward 70, the fish will bail for deeper water. In many areas, they’re replaced with bluefish, which are a real treat. It’s tough to beat the running, thrashing fight of a big bluefish in skinny water, and when it’s calm and bright they can be very selective. Change lures and flies until you figure out what they want, and use heavier monofilament or fluorocarbon as bite guards.
The flats tend to dry up in the fall, and migrating stripers follow the bait. In September, October and November, use your knowledge of the flats to your advantage and look for fish in neighboring rips, beaches and deep-water edges. There may be times in the fall when there are fish on the flats, but those times are unreliable. Enjoy those warm summer days on the flats while they last.
Knowing which way the current is flowing is essential to finding bass, whether you’re fishing from a boat or wading. (Photo by Tom Keer) GO-TO GEAR Equipment that’ll help you turn up the heat on summer stripers. SPINNING TACKLE : When fishing the flats, you’re not making bomber casts as you do on the beach, so a 7- to 8-foot rod with a reel loaded with 10- to 20-pound-test line is sufficient. I like the G. Loomis NRX+ Inshore Spinning series of rods. For a reel, I go with a Shimano Stradic loaded with PowerPro.
FLY TACKLE: A 9-foot 8-, 9- or 10-weight rod is ideal. You’ll mostly fish a floating line, but there are times when a sink tip is helpful. A mid- or large-arbor reel will help pick up line fast when a fish rockets toward you. I like the Thomas & Thomas Zone rod and Lamson’s Speedster S 9 reel.
SITES WITH THE BITES Top spots to hook up with summertime stripers. Looking for bass action close to home? Keep on the lookout for small to medium-sized flats in areas you currently fish. You’ll find them anywhere that sand is deposited, including at the mouths of rivers and estuaries, in quiet parts of a salt pond and at the end of a sweeping beach break.
River Mouths: Many eastern rivers empty into the Atlantic, of course, and the mouths of several feature productive flats for summertime striped bass. The mouths of the Kennebec (Maine), Merrimack (Massachusetts), Connecticut and Housatonic (Connecticut) rivers, as well Maryland’s Susquehanna Flats, are all worth a try.Salt Pond Flats: Any of the salt ponds on Massachusetts’ South Cape and in South County, R.I., have flats that produce reliable summertime striper fishing. Some of the ponds have cinder worm hatches, and those flats are best fished at night.Island Flats: You’ll find flats around Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, Block Island and Long Island. Cape Cod’s Brewster Flats and Monomoy Island are legendary.The larger, more popular flats offer more consistent fishing. Those in the open ocean are very clear, while those in areas with lower water exchanges are slightly murky. It helps to check in with a local tackle shop to get a bead on what’s going on and what’s working. Here are some that are staffed with flats experts.
SUPER FLATS, SUPER SHOPS Norwalk Islands, Westport, Conn.: The Compleat Angler, compleatangleronline.com Monomoy Island, Chatham, Mass., and Brewster Flats, Brewster, Mass.: North Chatham Outfitters, northchathamoutfitters.com South Cape Flats, Mashpee and Falmouth, Mass.: Eastman’s Sport and Tackle, eastmanssporttackle.com Mouth of the Essex River, Ipswich, Mass.: Concord Outfitters, concordoutfitters.com Great South Bay, South Shore, Long Island, N.Y.: Camp-Site Sport Shop, campsitesportshop.com Mouth of the Kennebec River, Popham Beach, Maine: Eldridge Brothers Fly Shop, eldredgeflyshop.com Joppa Flats, Merrimack River, Newbury, Mass.: Surfland Bait and Tackle, surflandbt.com Susquehanna Flats, Perryville, Md. : Great Feathers, greatfeathers.com This article was featured in the June/July 2024 issue of Game & Fish magazine. Click to subscribe .
