Bait is another consideration. Bait movement is frequently tide-dependent, making it valuable to know on what tide phase bait flocks to a certain shoreline. Sounds tricky, but it’s not. Keep a log of where and when you fish and include moon phases, tide flows and other pertinent information you deem important. As we all know, bait attracts predatory fish and fishing bait-less waters rarely produces the desired results.

Trout ambush biat and lures along the vars.

Angling travels in North Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas revealed another fishy fact: There are plenty of spots along the banks of the Intracoastal Waterway in the Southeast U.S. that have similar characteristics, varying only slightly from state to state. You’ll find three such scenarios described below. In many instances, one or more of these bottom layouts are located within a short distance of launch ramps.

Creekmouths

You’ll find prime ambush points anywhere a tidal creek enters the Intracoastal Waterway. Generally, one side of the creekmouth has a flat formed by deposits carried by the tide. Often, the shallower flats are situated on the south side of an Atlantic ICW creekmouth, but that’s not always the case. Some mouths have flats that flank both sides of the tributary opening. Then again, some creeks have sharp dropoffs flanking their mouths.

Once you figure out the lay of the land, tailor your approach accordingly. One that works for me is to idle the boat uptide of any creekmouth I plan to plug and let the current carry me into position. Use the electric troller to control your drift speed or stay in the bite zone. Keeping a light anchor ready on deck is another good idea. If you run into a school of trout or reds, simply slip it quietly over the gunnel, cleat it off and continue reeling in fish. Hint: Predatory fish often hang on the uptide side of Florida creekmouths due to back eddies that form where creek and ICW flows converge.

Scalloped Bays

Take a close look the next time you run down the Intracoastal and you’ll notice lots of irregularities along the riverbanks. One of my favorites is the scalloped flat, a shallow sand-and-oyster bar bordered on both ends by a spartina grass point. These flats make fine ambush zones and offer flounder, reds, snook and gator trout refuge from strong currents. Scalloped flats also seem to attract bait.

Stop a decent distance off the shoreline and study the flat before you charge in. Determine if bait’s on hand, how it’s moving and if it seems concentrated in any one area. Sometimes the north point has more bait than the south and some days it’s the opposite. On the coldest days, bait often congregates in the middle of the scallop, particularly over dark-bottom mud banks.

Approach scalloped flats from the downtide side via trolling motor. Run it as slowly as you can while still making headway. Cast jigs and topwaters and retrieve them over the channel dropoff. Pay special attention to spartina and grassy points bordering the flat. Redfish and snook often roam the entire flat, waiting to ambush bait in the path of least resistance.

Sand Banks

Sand-bottom fishing holes come in many forms along the ICW. I gravitate to narrow sandbars jutting off the bank that drop quickly into deep water. Narrow sandbars that parallel the riverbank are located along straight sections; they are hard to discern, but the payoffs can be great.

Parallel bars are often close to creekmouths. The typical setup is a slendor strip of sand that drops abruptly to deeper water and submerged structure such as an underwater oyster bar. You can find some of these spots by watching your fishfinder or you can take the time-tested approach and plumb likely haunts with a jig. That bouncing leadhead will convey bottom characteristics that your electronics might miss.

Cast jigs and plugs to sandy shallows and work them straight back to boat. Bounce jigs on the bottom (extremely slowly when it’s frigid) and retrieve topwaters and suspending lures with an erratic action. Every so often, let the tide carry your lure into deeper water downstream. Trout often hit when the lure comes tight on the line and starts rising in the current.

SWA