Waves or current can be your friend when trying to sort out safe routes in dingy water. If you see foot-tall waves breaking in the middle of a bay, you can bet there’s a bar or hump there. The little riffle created by tide running over these same areas can also clue you in, though this can be tough to see on breezy days. In general, in dingy water, it’s wise to carry a chart and check your route regularly, staying well clear of any risky areas. A chart plotter, not often seen on flats boats, can be a super addition if you regularly fish this type of water. This gizmo will let you know exactly where you are in relation to the deep water—and to the shallows—at all times.
Boulders are common in Northwest Florida shallows. So it's best to stand while running to see them, or avoid running in such areas althogether.
“Tall” birds are another clue. If a heron can stand up without wetting his belly, you shouldn’t be running on that flat. Crab-trap markers, on the other hand, can be useful channel markers; crabbers usually put their traps in the deeper routes across a flat, so if you follow the floats, you’re likely to stay in good water on all but the lowest of the low tides. And keep an eye out for big schools of belly-flopping mullet; they like to gather in water that’s too shallow for the porpoises to get at them during low tide. Where you see a mullet school jumping on low water, it’s probably too shallow to run.
Polarized sunglasses are standard operating equipment for all flats boat skippers these days, but not all of us get the most from this glare-cutting eyewear. First, in order to see through the surface, you need to prevent as much light as possible from getting behind the lens. Cup your hands around your glasses and you’ll immediately see a huge improvement in your underwater vision. Of course, you can’t drive a boat with no hands, so eyeglass side-shields are a must. The best ones are those leather jobs that slide on the earpieces. You can also make your own out of dark-colored cardboard or plastic sheeting—make ’em vee shaped, cut two slits and slide them down the earpieces to the proper position. Glasses with built-in sidepieces are a good second choice, though they don’t seem to block quite as much light as add-on shields, and don’t look very cool at that dockside party.
Regarding lens colors, I’m inclined to think that amber provides maximum contrast to show slight depth changes on the flats, and maybe to spot fish, too. I wear gray a lot, mostly because I wear the same glasses offshore, but the amber/yellow/green shades seem to have some advantage on the flats.
Paying a hundred bucks for sunglasses makes my eyes water, but this is one area where you get what you pay for. Good glasses have greater clarity both in the lenses and the interior polarizing layers, and also have hardened outer surfaces, which makes them greatly outlast the cheaper jobs. Wear a neckband “keeper” so that your expensive shades don’t go in the drink, of course, and simply hang them from your neck when you’re not wearing them. They’ll soon be ruined if you toss them on the console. Besides, sunglasses hanging below your chin will save those bits of Vienna sausage you drop otherwise!
A long-billed hat will shade your lens and give you that “shade tunnel” that maximizes your ability to see what’s below the surface. Choose one that fits tightly enough to stay on your head while you run along at planing speed—a hat that has to be hung on the throttle until you stop does no good.
