First, locate a productive grass flat. Therein
lies some confusion. A productive grass flat is anything but an unbroken, homogenous expanse of thick green seagrass. Instead, find a grass bed containing well-defined sandy edges: pothole edges, dropoff edges, oyster or rocky spoil bar edges—anything that breaks up an otherwise solid green desert. And in my land of giant spot- ted sea trout and snook, there has to be tide flow- ing over that habitat to fire up the bite. Snook and trout love seagrass. But they spend
most of their time in sandy depressions, utiliz- ing grass perimeters or clumps as camouflage to ambush prey that drifts by in the tidal flow. They generally slip into thick cover only to hide from threats to their well-being. Okay, you’ve located a combination of grass
and sand. Now avoid it. That sounds counter- intuitive, but you’ll catch more and larger fish by keeping your distance. Approach no closer than a long cast. Giant
female sea trout—my goal every time I kayak is to catch a 30-inch-plus trout—are different than other denizens of the flats. They possess better eyesight, better hearing and better camouflage. It’s also taken them twice as long to reach that venerable size versus a comparable snook or red- fish. A sea trout that has survived Flipper, bigger trout (yes, they’re cannibals), sharks, ospreys and anglers for eight to 10 years is doing something right. To catch her consistently, so do you.
Snook snout.
Giant female sea trout possess better eyesight, better hearing and better camouflage.
Kayakers are some of the worst offenders when
it comes to running over fish. We apparently be- lieve we’re invisible in our little boats, that no one hears us coming. The truth is, a paddled kayak pushes a pressure wave easily discernible to a trout that’s invariably looking up and always pay- ing attention. And some kayaks, frankly, produce more hull slap than a good technical poling skiff. In approaching the target area, quietly posi-
Spots sought and found—a larger sea trout.
SEASONS OF THE SEA TROUT
Big sea trout bite all year long, but March through June is generally most productive. I actually try to avoid catching them during the summer. They are incredibly hard to catch and release when the water is hot. Then, it can take an hour to revive an exhausted fish. Winning a plaque or a mental pat on the back ain’t worth killing a big trout.
32 …KAYAK ANGLER SUMMER/FALL 2011
tion the kayak where the tide and wind will si- lently push you within casting distance. This often requires paddling a wide circle around the target, but that one memorable monster catch is worth the extra effort. Third, the approach has to leave you in posi-
tion to feed the fish from the correct angle. I’m an absolute fanatic about angles. Growing up on a fish hatchery and trout stream, I watched how fish orient themselves to current and cover in or- der to grab an easy meal. Many years of fishing have convinced me that those observations ap- ply universally to catching saltwater fish on any tidal flat. To catch big snook and trout, think flounder.
If you watch frustrated flounder fluttering along, unable to catch up with a rapidly moving lure,
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