Fishing the flats

[Ketchn]

In some cases, on some lakes, we fish the flats for crappie . There isn't typically lots of fish on the graph visible though and it's an educated guess most of the time .
It consists of spots we know they roam and it typically is near a shoreline . We park the boat in around 14 to 16 foot of water off the bank and sometimes even closer in and start pitching somewhat parallel to the bank and or diagonally towards the shore.
Mind you this though , if there is cover in the area ,best be mindful of it ,as a cast over it will possibly result in hooking up on something other than fish .
Jig weight and line weight and the rod set up/combo you use need to be set up right to do the deed well .
1/16 jigheads on 6 lb mono with a pretty stiff 6 to 7 foot rod with a fast tip and a good full spool of line make it dance the dance right if you get your cadence down . Cadence is critical though and you need to understand the depths and the fall rates and the speed you are reeling and in the mix is the angle of the rod on the retrieve .
Bottom bouncing it might produce well in the spring ,but in the fall a bit faster crawl about a foot or less of the bottom with less contact to the bottom is much better .
You will likely need to practice it some to get good at it and to light of a jig might still cast well ,but wont easily stay at the best depths consistently , it is possible to go 1/32 with 4 lb test if you like lighter tackle .
Once you get in the zone , keep that speed on the retrieve and the line tight at all times and set the hook on anything that even remotely feels like a tick or a bite, some will flat out bash it and be ready for a real solid bite in some cases .
It most certainly is one of the best in the entertainment department to hook up on crappie way out there and fight them back to the boat on lighter tackle ,and if you get into the "groove" ,it frequently pays off with a table full of fish .
disclaimer time : some "other" fish might be on the flats as well ,so be prepped for a bass or catfish once in while as well .
KABOOM is the word my friends ....

["G"]

I fish the flats on the sides of the old river run in the big reservoirs pulling Pico crankbaits for crappie....the shad hang out there and draw the crappie in.

[DockShootinJack]

On those not too deep flats I will float-n-fly them.

[Rojo]

Very Educational Bud, Respect!