How to: Reading the water

[hookset]

Randy Jones part 3

Sand Bars
These come in many shapes and sizes and normally how the current, wave action relate to the bar is the key ingredient to understand where the fish will be holding.

If you see a point off a beach it will normally continue out under the surface. Combine a current on the dropping or incoming tide moving across it and you will very likely have a rip. Look for most fish to be feeding on the down tide side.

If a sand bar were 50 feet off the shore running parallel to it with waves crashing over it then I would look for the fish to be holding between the beach and the bar. They will feed on the bait as it's picked up by the wave and tossed over the bar. Casting into the wave as it’s ready to break and allowing the wave to crash on your fly, then imparting a darting action will often result in a strike.
There will be times where you will be able to stand on these bars and cast your fly perpendicular to the wave / current direction and allow your fly to flow over the bar and into the deeper water. Imparting action to your fly or simply letting it dead drift will often result in a strike.

Channels from a Bay or Estuary
These areas are a magnet for fish. All Bays and estuaries hold bait fish. At sometime these baitfish will leave these areas or be sucked out by the tidal current. These channels are prime feeding lies for cruising, migrating, resident bass and blues. On a dropping tide the current through these channels is often extremely fast, providing a predator an easy meal. They may set up like a trout on a seam, behind a bar (rip) or maybe in a multitude of different sand holes on the bottom created by this incredibly fast concentrated current. Often sight fishing to these fish is almost comical as you can pick out the fish you want to catch. It’s just like swinging a streamer for trout. With this increased flow of water they do not have the time to study or inspect your fly for realism and are often much more opportunistic feeders, which we always like.

Ocean Holes
These are good fish holding locations due to the depth of water they hold, making the fish feel comfortable within this habitat. One of the easiest ways to find an Ocean hole is to put on a pair of polarized sunglasses and look down the beach. Look for the darkest water along the beach and you've just found a spot to fish.

Waves
A wave is made when it comes in contact with shallows. Often by simply reading the swells and where the wave is breaking will help you to decide where to fish. If a wave breaks on the shoreline then I know I have deep water in front of me and would be a good fishing location. If the waves start to build 200 feet out, crest and break far from shore then I probably have a point of sand or shallow water bar. If I have waves breaking out to my right and left, but breaking at my feet in front of me, then I probably have an ocean hole. This is where I would fish. Even if you cannot visually see sub-surface structure, by reading the swells and breaks it will help you understand what you cannot see.

Reading Sand
Holes, bars, dips, pockets normally indicate fast moving water. A prime location to fish when the current is at it’s optimum. Soft sand equals shifting sand and in this area expect Sand Lances (called sand eels in the UK ) to be present. They normally seek out this type of sand to hide in. Throwing a Sand Lance pattern would be my first choice. Or the real thing!

Bays
Bays are comprised of everything. Flats, bars, channels, rips, marsh, beach, and rocks. Look for birds, darker deeper water, structure, current and all of the above. Read the water right and this is the result, a beautiful striped bass. photo John Halnon

Read the water right and this is the result, a beautiful striped bass. photo John Halnon

The best way to study these different habitats is to first start out at low tide. Go for a walk on your favourite beach. Notice the points, bars, holes and rocks. These are the areas to concentrate on and could be loaded with fish later in the tide. A careful eye and an understanding of these areas are all that is needed to become a proficient angler.

Let’s try to put it all together. As an angler, your goal is to search out and study all the above mentioned habitats and their relationship with moving water. Fish them, find out when each piece of structure fishes at its optimum. (Remember my equation?) Some will fish best at high, mid, low, incoming, outgoing, half in or half out. Others on a half or full moon, while sometimes your spots will fish best on opposite phases. Compile an assortment of spots, so you can do what I do each day before heading out. Fish each spot when it is at its optimum. Thus guaranteeing you the best chances for hooking up! You will find with time the more spots you acquire, the odds of fishing 24 -7 all summer long increase. Also, you will then be able to take wind into consideration. Casting on your back cast is easy as spreading soft butter on a warm muffin when you’re experienced. But for the new angler it’s an acquired skill. So being able to fish, casting on your forward cast can sometimes be a more pleasurable experience.

When I go fishing, I take all this and more into consideration when deciding where to go. In my opinion, fly-fishing is one of the most challenging and rewarding types of fishing you will ever experience. But to achieve proficiency you need to have a clear understanding of tides, currents and habitat you fish. Then you'll soon be realising the best part of fly fishing —FISH ON!

http://www.leadertec.com/tipsandtech..._habitats.html

[katiefishes]

Thanks for posting that hookset. I found it informative and helpful.

[7deadlyplugs]

Great read, hookset. I was reading this one the other day, but yours is a lot more detailed.

http://www.landbigfish.com/articles/default.cfm?ID=725


How to Read the Beach for Surf Fishing
By Joe Malat

Rookie surf casters, as they gaze into the churning mix of breaking waves and vast expanse of open ocean are often intimidated. They have no clue about where to cast their baits and lures. “It all looks the same,” I often hear. But it doesn’t. Each section of beach has a combination of obvious and subtle characteristics that may determine the presence of fish. The key to reading the beach is being able to locate sections of beach that are most likely to attract fish.

A slough is a deep trough that runs parallel to the beach, bordered by a sand bar on one side and the beach on the other. The distance from the beach to the bar will determine the width of the slough. Fish travel up and down this trough and look for food such small fish, crabs, and sandworms. On the Outer Banks, under normal conditions, we have approximately a two-foot difference in water depth along the ocean beach between low and high tides, and it's easier to locate a slough at low tide, when the sand bars are easily visible.

When the water depth decreases suddenly in a short distance, such as in the case of a sandbar, the incoming waves will break on top of that bar. In the case of a gently sloping beach, with no outer bar, the waves will gradually spill over, and continue to do so until they eventually break on the beach. This what experienced surf fishers call a flat beach.

Beach sand can also be a tip-off about the contour of the ocean bottom. Very fine, tightly packed sand is often found on a beach with a gradual slope. Coarse sand, or small gravel, is typically found on a steep sloping beach. Sometimes this coarse, large sand is often darker than the fine grain sand, and it's not unusual to find various types of sand over several miles of beach.

The width of a slough may also be critical. On the Outer Banks, big fish such as red drum tend to prefer the wider, deeper sloughs, with some shallow, shoal water at either end. Speckled trout, flounder and sea mullet can be caught in narrow sloughs where the bar may be as close as fifteen to twenty yards off the beach, but the water between the beach and the bar is several feet deep.

Once you locate a promising slough, it's time to take the investigation one step further. Fish may travel this ocean "highway", but they need a way to get on the road. They can do this through a break in the outer bar, easily discovered after watching the waves for several minutes. If there is a break in the bar, a wave will pass over the bar, but will not crest.

If the occurrence consistently repeats, that indicates a cut in the bar. Fast moving, rippling, or discolored water may also be seen at these breaks or “outsucks” when the tide is falling. Not only will wandering fish come into the sloughs through these breaks, the fast moving water around these breaks will often form rip currents that send food swirling past the predator fish as they line up in front of the baitfish buffet.

Sloughs are not the only beach formations that attract fish. Currents and winds may scallop out the beach and form points. Frequently, the water is deep on one side of a point, a perfect location for fish to congregate. A well defined point on an open beach may attract fish the same way a piece of structure will hold fish on an otherwise featureless ocean floor. The key is to concentrate your efforts in a location that is just a bit different from the rest of the topography.

Hard structures such as jetties, piers, bridges, or inlets are also locations that encourage fish to stop and congregate. Usually these don't change, but the beaches around them will change regularly. Inlets can be incredibly productive locations to fish the surf. On a falling tide, the small baitfish and other sources of food are swept out of the inlet, providing a natural chum line that will attract fish from miles away.
Beach formations are constantly appearing, moving, rearranging or disappearing, as the winds, currents, and waves change. A perfect speckled trout hole can appear then vanish in a few days, or even migrate up and down the beach during the course of several weeks. Keep that in mind as you scan the surf line, looking for that ideal slough or perfect point.