Fish Patterning by Tom Keer and Kenney Abrames, originally printed in Fly Fishing in Salt Waters

Fish Patterning

you can study its structure. Fish move along structure lines, and it is critical to note where the bars drop into channels, where one bar ends and another begins, where there are grassbeds and where there is higher ground. The bait will follow those edgeswhen the tide floods, and larger fish will follow the bait.

deeper edge.You should spend at least 45 minutes to an hour scouting out the depth line before wetting a line. Resist the urge to cast, even if you see fish.

After several passes,you will begin to notice the baitfish moving along an edge, and you will see their relationship to the water's surface or the bottom. You'll seehow they move along the edgesof current seamscreatedbybottom structure and movingwater. You'll notice their depth and whether they are high in the water column (closer to the surface), low in the water column (closer to the bottom) or somewhere in between.

As you move along the depth line, you will come upon shallow bars and edges that focus the current, consolidating the bait into dense schools.These schools will pause and gather together to move over a bar or through a small rip as they move into the current. Observingthe patterns of howindividual schoolsof baitfish move is significant; this determines how the predators locatebait in orderto feed easily.The patterns of bait change daily, depending on water temperature, light levels,wind velocity and wind direction.

Once you locate the bait and register their patterns, it is natural to look

Then start at the shallowest edgethat you can get to and move along, and head into the current, parallel to the flow. This will do several things for you in short order. It will eliminate water that is not holdingfish in a matter of minutes. Using a depth line as a guide and following it allows you to observe and quantify the Iife on the flat. This is the most important skill you can master.

If you cover an edge thoroughly and find no baitfish, move to a slightly

up-current and notice where the water flow provides an easy place for predators to ambush them. Use your GPS to mark spots, or do it the old-fashioned way and take ranges (line up two vertical Iandmarks, one behind the other,like in a rifle sight, such as a house chimney in the back and a flagpole in front of it).

Once you have identified the baitfish's patterns, repeat the same steps,with the focus turned toward predators. Return to the shallowest water you can get into,

Don'tplay the guessinggame to locate predatory fish.

BY KENNEY

ABRAMES

AND

TOM

KEER

Q f rSH PATTERNING IS a modern term for a very old methodology.It is a reasonable,deliberate and highly effectiveway of fishing. It dependson understandingthe dynamic relationship between predator and prey in their environment. The phrase describesthe essentialsurvival approach to fishing that enabled commercialand professionalfisherman to succeedin their dayto-day quest for a good catch that would ensure their livelihood.

Patterning fish behavior is similar to hunting. With all methods of hunting, you must study your quarry to understandtheirbehavior. Many modern sport anglers simply arrive at a familiar spot and hope to catch fish. Their fishing strategy is limited to chanceoccurrence.

Anglers who fish that way are dependent on happenstancealone rather than observed,fact-based knowledge.

Fish, like all successful predators, base their feeding routines on the habits of their prey. Fish do not starve to death because of poor luck. They have an intimate knowledge of how to find food. Like these fish, the best fishermen are familiarwith their quarry's routines and usethis knowledgeto form strategies that enhance their chance of success.

Learninghowfish findbait in their environment is fundamental to becoming a consistently successfulangler.

Develop a Plan The fast lane to learning how to pattern fish is to studythe flats. Flats have finite borders that are filledwith classicstructures like bars and channels, coves and points, rips, basins, and various bottom types (mud, sand,cobble and grass).And fish are restricted in their ability to move.

They are subject to the boundaries ofthe environment. Flats are first and foremost laboratories for observing fish behavior.

The first task is to develop a plan or a strategy that you can use to find fish.

Simplicity is the order of the day. Start by heading to a flat at slack low tide so

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and this time move quickly along the edgesand start looking for your quarry.

Move along an edgeuntil you have eliminated it, and then move incrementally into deeper water until you find the depth that the fish are moving in. The

likelynotice something, like the current has changed or your pattern was for offshore bars and this one is an onshore bar.

Perhaps there is a point bar forming an uptide rip current that pushes the flow into deeper water. Remember that bar,

Here's the tough part: To learn how to pattern fish, you'll need to leave fish in order to find fish. difference between your shallow-depth runs and your deeper-water runs will probablybe only a matter of inches.Note the depth inwhichyou find fish, forthey will stay at that depth as the tide rises.

That means if you find them at2a/qfeet, theywill constantly move in a depth of 2Vq feet, regardless of their physical location on the flat as the tide rises. If the depths are uneven, then the fish will reposition to move at a depth of 2r/+feet.

Theywill mill at abar and only passover itwhen the water rises to their preferred depth of 2t/s feetforthat day. Theymay go around the bar rather than wait, but that type of movement is not hard to notice. Once they go over the bar, they will continue to move at their preferred depth and searchoutbaitfish astheygo along. This depth orientation is one of the most amazingly consistent patterns fish display on flats and an important one for you to know.

Here's the tough part: To learn howto pattern fish, you ll need to leave fish in order to find fish. Now is the time to see if the patternyou observed is correct. If you find fish on the southeastcorner of a pointbar at 2Vsfeet,go to the next southeast corner ofa point b ar at2t/qfeet and see if they are there. They probablywill be. As the tide rises,the bait and the bass will alsomove up the bar in that 2t/+-foot zorte.They will follow the structure line until it ends.Then theywill use a current line to bridge their move to an adjoining structure, always maintaining the same amount of water over their head.

Leapfrog your way across the flat, and observe as you go.

Pay Attention to Subtleties If you have a pattern that is producing consistently and you find a similar structure or current that does not produce fish, do not assume that the pattern has changed. So why is this area barren of fish? Try to discern a difference. You'll

becauseit mayfit into adifferent patlern thatyou learn about later on. While that bardid not containfish on the floodtide, it maybe an escaperoute forthe fish once the tide ebbs.

Now you can make your first cast.

Becauseyou patterned the fish, you can station your boat or yourself so that you can catch them consistently.You'llknow where they are coming from and where theyare movingto. You can deliberately position yourself above them to make a proper presentation. You will not spook them becauseyou are waiting for them, not chasingthem.

By patterning fish, you will notice the different mannerisms of fish. You will become aware of whether fish are positive, neutral or negative.Positive fish are easy to catch. Negative fish are spooky fish, jittered by even a sea-gull shadow.

Neutral fish are inquisitive and can be caught if you make them interested enough to strike. Hunger governs positive fish, wariness governs negative fish, and indifference governs neutral fish.

Positive and neutral fish can be caught through patterning. Negative fish can be caught ifyou use patterningto intercept themwith stealth.

When the tide drops, the direction of the current reverses,and fish will slowly drop back off the flat, always facing into the current. They will move off the flat at the same depth in which they came onto the flat.

To learn to pattern fish, you must get rid ofyour preconceptions.Just go to the water and observe.Avoid routines. If you return to the same spots you alwaysfish, you won't broaden your skill set.Instead, notice the current, examine the wind, and note how the two interact. Watch how the current and the wind move on structure and form edgesand pathways for fish. Look for those edges,and lookfor bait. Ifyou incorporate observationslike these into your fishing, you'll be able to

readwater and understand the structure of every flat you encounter.

Fishingis much more than just catchingfish. If itwere passive,thenwe might as well go and watch a spectator sport.

Sometimeswhen we go fishing, we spend the entire day and make only a handful of casts. Our day is spent studying the baitfish, the environment and then the fish to see how they interact. When we do make a cast,we hook the fish deliberately.As you spend time patterning fish, test out all hunches. no matter how irrational they seem.Ifyou are wrong about a current or a location today, you may findthat it is useful tomorrow. Whenyou are right, log the pattern. You'll quickly become a sawyangler.

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Current Events I f, fhen the water beginsto U U move,studv the current to see which direction it is going.Thefish will move intothe current,Note if the current is movingto the left or to the right.Observehow the wind interactswith the current.An onshorewind will pushthe current and the fish closerto the structure,while an offshorewind will pushthe current and the fish farther out. A wind that blows intothe current slows it down, and a wind that moves with the current increasesits speed,lf the wind is faster than the current, it will form a surfacecurrenr that predatoryspeciesmight move into.Noticewhat speed of current the fish prefer, See if they favor the hard currents aroundthe end of a point bar or if they prefer the softer current in the middleof a shoal.

Look for edges where currents meet and join or where they separateand split,Cardinal points are criticah use these compass dircctions to note how fish apploach bars and which side of the humps they use to move into the current. These behaviorsmay seem random,but they are patterns that are predictable and consistant.

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