Article by Capt. Mark Sampson
Last week I took a client out who had a goal to take a shark on a fly. We could have fished anywhere but I chose to fish the Jackspot because between baitfish and bigger fish there has been so much activity there that I thought the shoal might also hold some of the toothy predators. I also figured that while we were at it, he might get a shot or two at bonito, dolphin and if we were really lucky maybe even a tuna. When we arrived, I noted that the current was running to the south which gave me the idea to set up in the shallow water on the south side of the shoal so that our chum would flow over the drop-off and into the deeper water on the premise that bigger fish would be cruising along the edge waiting to ambush baitfish that were holding up on the shoal. We hoped that sharks or other fish would get a whiff of our chum, follow it up onto the shoal and hopefully be willing to take one of our flies.
Both offshore and inshore shoals can be extremely productive places to catch fish, but the dynamics of what goes on over and around any particular shoal can change dramatically from day to day and sometimes hour to hour. Anglers who get up on a shoal and without any specific plan or forethought fish just any old place might get lucky and pull off a catch, but they might also wind up hooking nothing while just 50-yards away there’s an underwater feeding frenzy going on without them ever knowing it. Simply because someone caught a bunch of fish in one location on or around a shoal one day doesn’t mean that they’ll be able to experience the same action a couple weeks or even a couple days later. Tide, current, water depths, changes in water temperatures and even the presence or absence of birds or other predators can effect the actions of baitfish and big fish on or near a shoal and anglers who understand even a little of what might be going on beneath the waves will have a better chance to be there when the action is happening.
Back bay shoals, or “sandbars” as they are so often called, are typically avoided by most fishermen in fear of having their boat damaged or at best “stuck” in the shallow water. Besides, who would ever think that a patch of bottom that’s visible at low tide would hold anything but crabs, shrimp, and little minnows? But it’s the very presence of those little critters that gives the bigger fish a reason to want to be there as well. Probably because there is less chance that they will be ambushed from below, natural bait uses the shallow water as a refuge from larger predators. Big fish know this and when the tide is low will often patrol the edges of the shoals watching for bait that strays too far from their refuge. As the tide begins to rise, big fish will often follow it up onto the shoals to feed. Even though during a full high tide some shoals might still be too shallow for a big fish to feel comfortable (they’re always afraid of becoming a meal for something as well), many will have little troughs or depressions that might be a foot or maybe just a few inches deeper than the rest of the shoal and allow big fish access and a place to set up an ambush spot.
The rising tide can be a good time for anglers to be in the deeper water casting up onto the shoal, or to move their boat very quietly up on the shoal and cast to the depressions and troughs. Big fish in shallow water are always on high alert, not just for their next meal, but also for signs of danger that might send them darting off to the deep. So when targeting fish on a shoal, it’s always crucial that anglers approach these areas as slowly and as stealthy as possible.
As the tide begins to fall, big fish will slip off the top of shoal and often take a position along the edge where they can face into the flow and watch for bait that’s being swept along by the receding water. Under these conditions, anglers will usually find that they’ll get the best action by positioning themselves up on the shoal and working their baits or lures into the current from deep to shallow water.
Besides being a place for big fish to find or ambush prey, shoals also act as travel corridors that help fish find their way from one location to the next. This in itself can make the edge of a shoal a productive place to drop anchor in hopes of hooking fish as they cruise on by.
Offshore shoals provide some of the same dynamics found in the shallow bays, but there are some notable differences, particularly when it comes to water depths. In the ocean we don’t have to worry about running aground and no matter how low the tide gets the shoal is not going to stick out of the water. The nearshore shoals might rise from 60 to 25 feet, the Jackspot goes from 110 to 55 feet and the Hot Dog from 140 to maybe 85 feet on the top, so in most cases big fish can be found on offshore shoals even during low tides. A very notable aspect of many offshore shoals are the rips or upwellings that occur when the current rushes across the sudden changes in depth. These conditions can consolidate and push plankton and other small food up to the schools of hungry baitfish that are so often found over or around the offshore shoals. While inshore the baitfish might consider the shallows to be a sanctuary, offshore they’re more of a cafeteria. Either way, from an angling standpoint all we have to know is “where there’s bait there’s going to be predators” and that’s just one of the reasons why offshore shoals can at times be very productive places to fish.
That’s also why we chose the Jackspot for last week’s fly-fishing foray. How’d it work out? Well, my client didn’t get his mako, although he did get multiple casts off to a couple of hammerheads and spinner sharks that apparently wanted “meat” not “feathers” for lunch. He did land a bunch of little bonito, a dolphin and as luck would have it - a bluefin tuna. Never underestimate the virtues of a good shoal!
Captain Mark Sampson is an outdoor writer and captain of the charter boat “Fish Finder”, docked at the Ocean City Fishing Center.
