To the inexperienced, areas of shallow water can represent nothing more than a barren and fishless ‘hydro desert’. The mentality of deep water being the only productive form is one that’s so firmly embedded in some anglers’ heads; but it couldn’t be further from the truth.
The shallows or ‘flats’, as they are commonly referred to, are thriving habitats for a plethora of juvenile marine species and a food rich hunting ground for many specialist predators. Flats are generally defined by large expanses of shallower water no more than five metres deep over a variety of bottom compositions, sand and coral being two of the most common. They are largely affected by tidal movement and in some cases can even become partially exposed on the lower tides.
When I speak of predators I don’t mean a solid whiting chasing down a fleeing yabby or a flathead eating a well-presented clump of worms, I’m talking about the kind of fish that will straighten trebles and empty reels. We all know about the bread and butter fishing that is available, but I want to focus on the fish that eat those bread and butter ‘baitfish’. I’m talking about species like kingfish, mackerel and tailor that push the schools of hardyheads right up into the sandy foreshores, or the red bass and GTs, just to name a few, that bully just about anything that swims past their bombie on the fringing reef flats.
I can sense your minds ticking over saying, “Well there is that big flat system over by that spot, but I don’t think there is any fish on it?”
To you I say head out there; grab a pair of good polarised sunglasses, stand still for a while and it won’t be long before you’re running back to grab a rod. The shallows really are an inconspicuous hive of activity. At first you may see nothing, but as your eyes slowly adjust, and you begin to figure out what it is you’re actually looking at, you’ll start to notice all the subtleties that give away a fish’s whereabouts in shallow water. You now have a unique opportunity to stalk, and then if you’re lucky, sight cast to a fish. It is this experience that makes flats fishing such an addictive and rousing form of fishing. And what better lure to use than one as adaptable as a stickbait?
As a keen young bream fanatic, my very first experience with stickbaiting the flats came while casting small ‘lipless minnows’ for bream over the sea grass beds and sand banks in the Gold Coast Broadwater and Jumpinpin region. While bream aren’t the most prestigious of targets, the skills and experiences I gained from those golden days go hand in hand with the proficiencies required to step it up to the more sportfishing style of flats fishing that we’re discussing today.
Having the ability to pick areas that would likely hold fish, spotting bait/fish from a distance, presenting and retrieving lures in a fashion that didn’t send the target heading for the hills are all skills that become more refined the longer you spend on the water. For me personally, developing these traits at an early age came as a huge advantage when the call of the shallow water became too much to ignore. Only this time, bream was likely to be at the bottom of the food chain, rather than a top target species.

Terry ‘The Phantom’ Hitzke releasing a beast golden trevally back onto the flats. The conditions look terrible too!

TIME AND PLACE
As is so critically important with so many aspects of fishing, cracking the code on when to fish an area can be the difference between a rod creaking under the strain of a hard running fish or a dreaded donut. Keeping in mind that shallow water flats are very susceptible to tidal variations, a low tide may result in the area becoming unfishable or even fully exposed so it always pays to do some research before rigging up the rods. I’ve found my greatest success has come on the last half of the run in to the start of the run out. My hypothesis is that the water is generally at its cleanest, the predatory fish have enough depth of water to mask their stalking effort and the bait is usually congregated into nervous schools trying their very best to not look like fast food takeaway.
To select a location, one of the most invaluable tools the modern fisherman can utilise is Google Earth. From the depicted view, both reef and sand flats are easily spotted along with hidden structure like bombies, sea grass, rubble patches, and deeper gutters or holes. After thorough analysis of the area it’s easy to formulate a plan of attack as to where fish would likely hold and from where to approach, rather than flying in blind and possibly spooking fish with a poorly positioned boat. By doing just a tiny bit of pre-trip research you can save yourself hours of teeth grinding frustration out on the water.
TWITCH TWITCH, WHO’S THERE?
As you make a plan to harass some skinny water locals, start thinking of the species you’re likely to cross paths with on your trip. This will save time when it comes to tackle and rigging when fish start ringing the dinner bell. In terms of species, social media has shown us that nothing is impossible, but more commonly, species such as queenfish, one of the many trevallies, tailor, kingfish, Spanish mackerel and tuna are all species that can be fairly consistent and commonly caught in my home waters of SEQ. Head further north into the more heavily reefed country and you would literally have too many fish to list. It truly is a lucky dip on the flats.
IN-SIGHTS
After a rod and reel, a good set of peepers is just about the best tool you can have in your bag of fishing tricks. With the depth of water rarely being over five metres, the option of actually sighting the target fish before pulling the trigger on a cast is often possible. This can be a double edged sword in some cases though as the easier it is to see them, the easier the fish can see you, so you want to spot them from as far away as possible. Sight fishing allows for more accurate lure placement to actual fish, rather than peppering areas of ‘hydro desert’ and reduces the chances of spooking a target as the result of a blind cast.
Dressing those peepers with a pair of good quality polarised sunglasses with high-definition lenses can dramatically improve the visual aspect of fish spotting. Boy what a difference they make. By blocking horizontal light and allowing vertical light in, polarised lenses effectively cut glare from the water’s surface, making the piscatorial treasures easier to distinguish. Anglers in hunting mode must keep their eyes peeled for any sort of movement or flicker that seems even remotely out of place, much like a hunter would when scanning the hills for a deer. Often it’s only a glint of silver in the sun, the slightest ripple from a bow wave or the minutest triangle of a fin tip protruding the water that grabs attention. Other times, particularly on sunny days with some postcard clear water, it’s possible to spot the shadows of fish as they make their way around in search of that nervous school of bait they picked up through their lateral line.
As you begin to tap into this new realm of fishing and become immersed in its inner workings, you’ll notice that all fish vary in the way they move and hunt in the shallows; it’s just a matter of being able to spot the inconspicuous indicators that identify them from a distance. There’s nothing like time on the flats to enhance these skills.
SUITABLE STICKS
While the fish targeted are by no means tiddlers, lure selection tends to gravitate towards smaller variations of stickbaits. The ability to land a lure with a certain element of finesse, as to not scare the scales off the fish, becomes easier with smaller presentations. The versatility of stickbaits makes them first cab off the ranks when milling over the tacklebox. They can be used in various retrieval methods and actions without even having to contemplate a lure change. When reporting for duty, the stickbait can present as a skipping popper, a high-speed retrieve lure, a mid-water twitcher and a lure to be jigged off the bottom, which means you’ve effectively tied on the fishing equivalent of a Swiss army knife.
As far as size is concerned, my preference is to keep them in the 100 to 160 mm range. There is an old saying that goes, ‘elephants eat peanuts’ and this couldn’t be more spot on. I’ve hooked 30 kg plus GTs on 120 mm Maria Bullchops and they didn’t think twice about inhaling the smaller lure, or scorching off 200 m of light braid and busting me off. With that in mind, prime examples of perfect ammunition include the Maria Bullchops, Nomad Madscad 115 and the Maria Loaded 140. All three lures have great actions as well as enough weight to get a nice long cast, but not too much that they sink too fast. Keep in mind that this is a general recommendation and not the be all and end all when it comes to lure selection. You may find the areas you fish hold larger bait so you have to be ready to adapt. Flats fishing is like golf, you have to play the course you’re on.

Crystal clear shallow water and a solid fish on the line, doesn’t get much better than that!

STICKING IT TO THEM
So you’re drifting across the flats, doing your best impression of an American bone-fisherman and you’ve spotted a nice fish cruising around on its search for a feed. It’s just come into casting range, but before you punch that stickbait through the sound barrier in its direction, where do you aim? If there is one thing we can take from flyfishing, it’s the term lead casting. It involves casting the lure ahead of the fish as to intersect the fish’s path as it’s traveling on its merry way. If you were to just bomb the lure on its head there’s a fair chance there’d be brown stain in the water, not to mention one extremely distressed fish shooting off into the distance with all its mates following closely behind. Sometimes it only takes one fleeing fish to spook the whole flat.
One situation that would see me pulling out the sniper scope and trying to land the lure right on the fish’s nose is if it were already actively feeding. This would see the fish already dialled into filling its stomach and not focussing on what’s happening around it. It’s also difficult to pick which way they are going to go in these situations so landing it right in the middle of the action is a safer option.
If you find yourself on some reef flats then more often than not you’re going to be hard pressed to catch a glimpse of a fish with all the mottled colours and shapes in the background. Casting towards areas of interest like bigger bombies or deeper fissures lines is the go-to approach here.
Fishing the flats is a highly visual, entertaining and addictive style of fishing. Stalking a fish before seeing it eat the lure is not something that gets forgotten in a hurry and really makes a capture all the more special. So, resist the call of the deep next time you’re planning a trip, get yourself some stickies and put in a few casts over those flats you always drive past. As always guys, stay safe out there and remember there is always a fish biting somewhere.

This little golden took a liking to a slow twitched bullchop over some shallow reefy rubble.

Sammy Hitzke is Brisbane based fisho, working in the Western Australian Pilbara region. He fishes his way up and down the East coast as well as the Wild West. Sammy specialises in land based and inshore fishing, but has been know to have a crack at just about anything that swims and even waves a wand around from time to time. Sammy is Prostaff for Lowrance, Mako Eyewear, EJ Todd and Departure Co.