The Fantastic Flats of Spring


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The Fantastic Flats of Spring By CAPT. MEL BERMAN,, Florida Fishing Weekly

	**	In spring, the entire world of fishing is a bountiful cornucopia of profuse potential. Sounds kind of flowery but, when you think about it, these are the golden days of our fishing year. And nowhere is this more evident than in backcountry fishing. Once dormant winter flats are now alive with activity. A first generation of spring baits percolate across the grasses. Vast schools of mullet push massive wakes as they pour out of creeks and passes. Not far behind are foraging herds of big-shouldered reds eager to replace the lost calories of winter.

Near the mangroves and other shallow water structures, the prized snook slashes at the slightest moving target. And during this time of year, the second level species such as jack crevalle, ladyfish and even big gafftopsail catfish provide plenty of good pulls, enthusiastically slam dunking virtually any bait that you toss at them. It is now time to pull in your seat to Mother Nature’s table and partake of one of the year’s most bountiful fishing feasts.

Topwaters, virtually unproductive in the cold waters of January and February, now appear to have regained their magical powers. Buoyant floaters like the MirrOlure Top-Dog, Zara Spook, Norman’s Rat’lure, Rebel’s Jumpin’ Minnow, plus virtually other of the popular surface plugs will invariably, draw several menacing wakes and splashes. And for most anglers, there is absolutely nothing that’s more satisfying than to entice a fish into reaching out and touching a well-worked plug. Even if you don’t always connect, the exhilaration of a massive splash is often enough to satisfy one’s inner fishing soul.

These topwaters work best when “walking the dog,” twitching it from side to side as you work it in. You’ll produce the best action with a light and longer-than-usual rod of 7-feet or more. This facilitates those vital long distance rocket casts and, when shaken briskly, walks the topwater enticingly across the water’s surface. These topwalkers need to be worked with a determined steady cadence, occasionally halting the action to give the fish an unobstructed shot at the lure. As a matter of fact, it is usually on the stop that you’ll get the most aggressive strikes.

Then there’s another category of topwaters that, when worked, pull slightly below the surface. At rest they pop back up on to the surface. That momentary pause on top could very well be the precise moment when a fish nails it. There are several choices in this category including one of the classic MirrOlure 7-M, Mann’s Stretch 1-minus, Woodwalker, Bomber “Long-A” 15 AX and Bagley’s finger mullet. And now there’s a new generation of similar plugs called “suspension baits.” They do their job just slightly below the water’s surface. For the most part, these are also twitch type baits. Flip them out and reel, adding a twitch every so often is all it takes to get a fish’s attention.

Then there are the “crank baits -- or lipped plugs, which can simply be reeled, supplying their own action as they move through the water. Nevertheless, there are many of us, myself included, who cannot resist twitching everything -- lipped or not. Either way, you’ll have to experiment with various retrieve and twitch rates determined by existing fishing conditions. Once you ascertain the most effective reel/twitch ratio, you can begin sight casting to areas where you spot fish moving about. If you don’t readily see any target species, simply “blind cast” your lure until you produce a strike. Often fish are feeding or lying in the deep grasses down below and can readily be distracted by a well worked plug on the surface.

And don’t be too quick to put away the jigs and spoons. Many an accomplished fisher calls the small ¼-oz. gold spoon “my best fishfinder.” It’s a great blind-casting tool. Usually, one can achieve good casting distance with a spoon, slowly reeling it back over a broad target area. To avoid grabbing the bottom in the shallow grass flats, close the bail before the spoon hits the water and immediately start reeling. Most species, especially redfish, can’t stand it when they see that flashing piece of gold metal wobbling by.

As for jigs, pick your poison. To paraphrase Gertrude Stein, “a jigs is a jig is a jig.” Most any of the available brands catch fish. I personally favor our local manufacturers, not only because it’s good for our economy, but also because they were designed with our target fishery in mind. I have whaled on all flats species with virtually every home grown brand. They are all extremely efficient fish catchers. Since you’ll be working in the shallow grasses, select the lightest jighead that’s castable.

These days there’s a whole new genre of jigs known as “swim baits” where the weight – instead of being on the jig head is now imbedded into the body of the lure itself. Prime examples of swim baits include many in the Storms and Tsunamis. And recently, Old Bayside introduced what they call “Heavy Hooks” -- with the weight (from 1/6th to ¼ ounce) is right on the shank. Then, when inserted into your favorite jig tail, the Heavy Hooks automatically converts it into a “swim bait.

When working jigs in skinny waters, you’ll do best to reel and twitch as opposed to the more conventional drop and twitch jigging technique. As a matter of fact, most experienced anglers jig fish in shallow waters employing a hybrid jigging/plugging technique. There’s plenty of action built-in to the curly and shad tails so that you can pretty much cast it out and reel slowly back in.

Most of the freshwater “rubber worm” styles are also extremely effective for springtime flats fishing. I’ve had outstanding results with the highly scented baits like Mister Twister “Slimy Slug” and Exude” -- but just about all will catch fish.

As for rigging, it’s your call. You can rig conventionally with a worm hook and possibly a weight or, as many saltwater aficionados prefer, affix the rubber worm to an ordinary lightweight jig head. The easiest and most effective way to work the worm is simply to cast out, let it drop slightly below the surface, then reel slowly. Again, being an inveterate twitcher, I can’t resist putting in a flick every so often.

Spring ... a period most anglers covet. Active, hungry fishes are everywhere. Pick from “Column A” and head offshore for the vast array of enthusiastic Gulf species, or select from “Column B” working the treasures of the flats for your springtime fishing fix. It’s your call... a time of year you hope never ends. Let’s play hooky! Your only concentration is to find out where the fish are, and what they’re eating this glorious day.