Flats Fishing Charters

On a flat the fish are close to the surface and easy to spook, so the approach is slow and quiet. The captains use bay boats and skiffs that float in very little water, drift or pole across the flat with the tide, and cast to fish they can see or to the edges where bait collects. Tide decides the day: the same flat can be full of feeding fish on a rising tide and empty two hours later, which is why start times are often set around it. The tackle is light, usually spinning rods with soft plastics, small lures or live shrimp, and the fights are long for the size of the fish because in shallow water they can only run sideways.

Florida's Gulf coast bays

Three of our flats boats fish the shallow bays of west Florida for speckled trout, redfish, snook and tarpon. All 4 Chuck Fishing Charters works Matlacha Pass and Pine Island Sound from Cape Coral, Floridaze Fishing Charters runs from Bokeelia and has dedicated tarpon trips, and Deep Color Fishing fishes Tampa Bay and Boca Ciega Bay. All three are together on our page for flats fishing in the United States.

Further afield

Guided Fishing Trips in the Seychelles, a popping and jigging boat, and Mister Fish Charters in Malta, with inshore and offshore trips from Marsascala, also list flats among the water they fish. Shallow water is only part of their day, so ask the captain what is planned if flats are what you are after.