Article by Capt. Mark Sampson
I just returned to Ocean City after spending the last three months working as a backcountry flats-fishing guide down in the lower Florida Keys where my daily routine involves poling my skiff across the shallow water flats with one or two clients up on the bow looking for potential targets for which to launch a bait, lure or fly in the very clear and shallow water. In the course of a day, anything from sharks to barracuda, jacks to snapper, ladyfish to lizardfish and a host of other scaly creatures might end up on our line, but the "big-three", and by far the most famous fish we target on the flats are bonefish, tarpon and permit, all unique species that anglers are known to literally travel half-way around the world to try and catch.
A part of the allure of catching any type of fish on the flats, particularly the “big-three”, is not so much finding them as it is the challenge of getting them to bite. With less escape routs to use when danger threatens, fish in the shallows tend to be spookier than those that have more water above or below them, and because they live in such clear water they use their excellent vision to keep themselves out of trouble and "off a hook."
To counter these defenses, flats fishermen go to great lengths to use tackle that will minimize the chances that the fish they're trying to catch will shy away from their baits or artificial lures. If they put a shrimp or crab in front of a fish, they want their quarry to focus strictly on that shrimp or crab and not on all the hardware that connects it to the line. If they are working an artificial, they want the fish to get excited over the action of the lure and not be turned-off by the leader to which it's attached. A quiet stealthy boat, a quiet stealthy approach to the fish, capped off by a quiet stealthy presentation of bait or lure is what it takes to hook-up with some of the most challenging fish on the planet.
Here on Delmarva we're not usually fishing in water as shallow or as clear as what is found in the Florida Keys. In fact, a lot of anglers might describe the environment they typically fish in as "deep and dark." But that doesn't mean that a stealthy approach to terminal tackle won't help put more fish on local fishermen's hooks. No matter what type of fish, or what type of water they are swimming in, fish are always trying to avoid danger, and if it looks to them like something they're thinking about eating might come with dangerous strings attached, they could very well choose to skip an easy meal.
Putting some stealth into terminal tackle is relatively easy. For the most part, it's just a matter of getting rid of any "junk" that you don't need on the end of your line. On our way back from Florida last week we stopped in Georgia for a few days and in order to get an idea what kind of fishing opportunities were in the area I strolled out on a local fishing pier. Folks were fishing for croaker, sea trout, drum, Spanish mackerel, sharks, crabs and about anything else that crawled or swam about the local waters. What struck me most was not so much what they were fishing for, but what most folks had on the end of their line to do it with. All I could think of was that someone in a nearby tackle shop must be making a fortune selling pre-made rigs to these people because on almost every line I saw there was a big old chunky snap swivel that was attached to a double-hook rig with two metal or plastic arms, a pair of snelled hooks and a giant sinker. Bait was mostly one or two dead shrimp or a glob of cut mullet.
During my short stay I saw the crowd catch only a couple of little croaker and a skate, although there was a lot of re-baiting going on (I expect because of crabs). There was one guy, however, who was out-fishing everyone by landing some very nice size sea trout, and while I never did see what he was using for bait, I did notice that his terminal tackle was nothing more than a single hook, about a three-foot leader and an egg sinker. And it didn't surprise me a bit that his no-frills rig was helping him to catch some very nice fish when everyone else was struggling to get anything at all.
Look around and you'll see (maybe even on the end of your own line) that a lot of Delmarva anglers make the same mistake of having way too much junk on the end of their line. It would be great if we could get by with just tying a hook to the end of our line, but as we know, in most cases some kind of weight is needed to get our bait down to where it needs be and a leader of sorts is often necessary to prevent bite-offs. But unfortunately, too many anglers won't stop at just hook, weight and leader. They get caught-up in all the accessories they think they need to address other issues that they probably don't have and end up with a big, clunky rig that might just end up spooking more fish than it catches.
A variation of the same rig we use down south for super spooky fish in clear water has proven effective for a variety of fishing opportunities up here as well. When using braided fishing line, I'll start by using an "FG" knot to connect a 2 to 3-foot section of fluorocarbon leader of 20-30 pound test, and at the end of the fluorocarbon I'll tie a loop. That loop will then be used to loop-to-loop connect leaders to the line instead of using a snap swivel. Hooks, jigs and other lures can then be tied to whatever type (steel, mono or fluorocarbon) and size of leader that is needed for whatever type of fish is being pursued.
Unless I'm fishing with some kind of bait or lure that does a lot of spinning (like a spoon), I'll almost never use swivels on light-to-medium spinning tackle because as far as I'm concerned, having a swivel to use for connections at the end of the line usually creates more problems than it solves. With the leader attached by a loop rather than a swivel, if needed, the leader can be cranked right into the rod guides with no fear that the swivel will be jammed, giving the angler less restrictions when casting and when a fish is brought in close for landing.
Paying the extra expense to use fluorocarbon leader is not warranted in many fishing situations and the stuff's not cheap! But fluorocarbon is proven to be effective in concealing itself from the vision of fish better than regular monofilament, so anglers who use it are always going to have a slight edge over those who don't, and on days when the fish are being a bit persnickety, it could mean the difference between getting the bites or not. For fish with sharp teeth or raspy mouths there might be no getting around using a heavier leader, but just like using fluorocarbon, the "lightest" leader an angler can get away with will get the most bites.
Finally, when trying to make a smooth, stealthy presentation to a fish, sinkers can be a pain in the butt! Sinkers will often want to twist and tangle the line on the cast or the descent to the bottom, increase the chances of getting snagged, create a distraction to a fish that's looking over a bait and can interfere with the angler's ability to feel a subtle bite. One alternative to using a sinker can be to use a jig-head instead. The jig, which then acts as both hook and weight, can be baited with whatever the angler chooses, is easily cast without fear of tangling, minimizes the chance of having a bait spin and can allow the angler to work in a dead bait with a very enticing action. All those benefits come without adding anymore junk on line or leader!
You don't have to be fishing in crystal clear water to enjoy the extra fish catching benefits of stealthy terminal tackle. When it comes to what anglers have on the end of their line "more" is not always better.
Capt. Mark Sampson is an outdoor writer and captain of the charter boat, “Fish Finder”, docked at the Ocean City Fishing Center.
