Flats fishing is a form of

recreational fishing Recreational fishing, also called sport fishing or game fishing, is fishing for leisure, exercise or competition. It can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is occupational fishing activities done for profit; or subsistence fishing, ...

where

angler Angler may refer to: * A fisherman who uses the fishing technique of angling * Angler (video game), ''Angler'' (video game) * Angler (restaurant), a seafood restaurant in San Francisco, California * The angler, ''Lophius piscatorius'', a monkfish ...

s target species of fish specifically in shallow, wide

littoral The littoral zone, also called litoral or nearshore, is the part of a sea, lake, or river that is close to the shore. In coastal ecology, the littoral zone includes the intertidal zone extending from the high water mark (which is rarely i ...

portions of a

body of water A body of water or waterbody is any significant accumulation of water on the surface of Earth or another planet. The term most often refers to oceans, seas, and lakes, but it includes smaller pools of water such as ponds, wetlands, or more rare ...

(typically

saltwater Saline water (more commonly known as salt water) is water that contains a high concentration of dissolved salts (mainly sodium chloride). On the United States Geological Survey (USGS) salinity scale, saline water is saltier than brackish wat ...

) known as "flats".

History

While fishing shallow areas is not a modern invention, flats fishing as it is known today was developed in the 1940s in Florida and the Bahamas. As this style of fishing has gained popularity, so has its exposure in fishing related media. One example includes a flats fishing specific television series, ''Flats Class'', created by

World Fishing Network World Fishing Network (WFN) is an American television network that offers online and mobile platform dedicated to fishing. It offers a diverse range of programming that includes instruction, tips, tournaments, travel, food boating and outdoor lif ...

Methods

Fishing on flats is often done with baits,

lures Loures () is a village on the island of Crete in Greece, located in the municipality of Gortyn (until 2011 in the municipality of Kofinas) of Heraklion regional unit, at the northern edge of the Messara Plain. It is by road south of Heraklion cit ...

or light spinning tackle, or by

fly fishing Fly fishing is an angling technique that uses an ultra-lightweight lure called an artificial fly, which typically mimics small invertebrates such as flying and aquatic insects to attract and catch fish. Because the mass of the fly lure is in ...

. Weather changes, such as barometric pressure and ambient temperature may affect anglers' success due to effects weather has on fish feeding patterns and tide levels. Other factors contributing to an anglers success in catching fish may include sunlight and wind. Flats fishing can be done by wading, form various types of boats including

flats boat Flats boats are a category of boat designed primarily for fishing in protected, shallow water areas often referred to as " flats" by anglers. While the name may be misconstrued to mean the boat hull is flat, this is not generally the case and i ...

s designed primarily for the activity or other watercraft such as micro-

skiff A skiff is any of a variety of essentially unrelated styles of small boats, usually propelled by sails or oars. Traditionally, these are coastal craft or river craft used for work, leisure, as a utility craft, and for fishing, and have a one-pers ...

kayak ] A kayak is a small, narrow human-powered watercraft typically propelled by means of a long, double-bladed paddle. The word ''kayak'' originates from the Inuktitut word '' qajaq'' (). In British English, the kayak is also considered to be ...

s, and Standup paddleboarding, paddle boards, making it accessible to a wide variety of anglers. Some anglers may choose to hire fishing

guide A guide is a person who leads travelers, sportspeople, or tourists through unknown or unfamiliar locations. The term can also be applied to a person who leads others to more abstract goals such as knowledge or wisdom. Travel and recreation Exp ...

s who are knowledgeable about the local

fishing ground Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life or, more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a., fishing grounds). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farms, ...

s and feeding patterns. The increase in popularity of flats fishing as a destination activity has created additional job opportunities for fishing guides in some destinations. When flats fishing from a boat, a guide or other angler may stand on a "poling platform" at the stern of the boat and use a pole to guide the boat (by pushing against the sea floor) as silently as possible toward fish, which are easier to spot from the platform due to its elevation above the water.

Locations

Flats fishing is a popular type of fishing in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

particularly, which is known for its large variety of flats fish species. Anglers may also travel to destinations to fish on the flats and perhaps especially destinations known for a certain species, such as

bonefish The bonefish (''Albula vulpes'') is the type species of the Bonefishes, bonefish family (Albulidae), the only family in order Albuliformes. Taxonomy Bonefish were once believed to be a single species with a global distribution, however 9 differ ...

Andros Island Andros is an archipelago in The Bahamas, the largest of the Bahamian Islands. Politically considered a single island, Andros in total has an area greater than all the other 700 Bahamian islands combined. The land area of Andros consists of hun ...

the Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of ...

. While other locations such as

Christmas Island Christmas Island, officially the Territory of Christmas Island, is an States and territories of Australia#External territories, Australian external territory in the Indian Ocean comprising the island of the same name. It is about south o ...

may be considered iconic destinations for traveling anglers as well, flats fishing techniques have been employed in diverse areas of the world outside of its original heritage by both local and traveling anglers.

Targeted species

Fish species often targeted in the United States include

redfish Redfish is a common name for several species of fish. It is most commonly applied to certain deep-sea rockfish in the genus ''Sebastes'', red drum from the genus ''Sciaenops'' or the reef dwelling snappers in the genus ''Lutjanus''. It is also app ...

, snook, juvenile tarpon, bonefish, permit, pompano, sea trout and others. Larger

gamefish Game fish, sport fish or quarry refer to popular fish species pursued by recreational fishers (typically anglers), and can be freshwater or saltwater fish. Game fish can be eaten after being caught, preserved as taxidermy (though rare), or ...

such as

marlin Marlins are fish from the family Istiophoridae, which includes between 9 and 11 species, depending on the taxonomic authority. Name The family's common name is thought to derive from their resemblance to a sailor's marlinspike. Taxonomy T ...

may be targeted in some locations. Some species such as bonefish may be regulated for

catch and release Catch and release is a practice within recreational fishing where after capture the fish is Fish hook, unhooked and returned live to the water. Originally adopted in the United Kingdom by Coarse fishing, coarse fishermen to Overfishing, preser ...

fishing only.

References

{{Angling topics Angling Fishing techniques and methods