Sand flats

I know this topic gets brought up every year but I will try to ask it a little differently this time! What do you look for in a sand flat! What makes a good one from a bad one! I picture the bottom of the river as one big sand flat! Someone please explain this to me!

A sand flat is a dinner table to a walleye as minnows like to be on the sand flats [that where minnows can find their food]. One [flat] close to deep water will be better. For example: picture a walleye laying in the deeper water resting in the secure place [deep water] and then gets hungry for lunch. He then gets up out his lazyboy chair and heads for the kitchen [flat] to get a bite to eat. He can corner his lunch very well on the flat as the closer to shore that minnow gets trying to get away from the walleye he will find himself running out of water and ends up being eaten by Mr. walleye. The walleyes are up there for one reason which is to eat. Same reason you go to the dinner table-to eat. When he is done he will go back to his lazy boy chair and relax. Basicly shallow fish are hungry fish [active]. If the flat has a few weeds or even a couple branches or maybe a few rocks scattered all the better. These little ”extras” on the dinner table attract the minnows etc. which attract walleyes. [sort of tells them which part of the refrigerator, [flat], to check out first for their food]. For example: say you are fishing up at the dam. You may notice alot of people drifting in lets say 12 ft of water. Lets say the top part of the flat starts in twelve ft. of water. What you have here is fisherman fishing the top edge of the flat catching the fish as they come up from their lazy boy boy chair [deeper water] to the dinner table. The fisherman you see casting to shallower water are the guys who are fishing the active walleyes who are up shallow enjoying their meal of minnows etc. that are cornered up shallow. As for the bottom of the river, say the channel, that is a highway for walleyes to travel on to their next town [flat, point, next group of downed trees, etc.]. Fishing the edge of that highway [channel] can produce walleyes too. Walleye when traveling like to relate to something just like we do when we drive our car. We relate to the edge, center line on the left side or our car and the edge of the concrete on the right side of our car. We don’t [hopefully] drive down the middle of the road. So it is with eyes, they relate to the edge too. The old saying goes, find the food and you find the walleyes. Same with us, when we are hungry you find us at the dinner table too. Another example: you see alot of pictures on the site of James and Dustin holding big fish. Alot of the fish are caught casting B-Fish-N Tackle plastics to shallow water. Thats where those big eyes were as they are up shallow eating. Now I don’t know if you know me and my son son Nate but if you do you will know that I’m alot bigger of a person than Nate is. Its the same with us as with the big fish. Which one, me or Nate, are you going to find at the dinner table more often? Simple-me, the fat one [big fish]. lol. Hopefully this will help explain it a little better to you. Good luck and don’t forget to post some pics of the walleyes you catch this year. Thanks, Bill

Sand flats are productive because of the fact they are a sand flat. Basically created in areas of slower current thus the deposit of sand and the construction of the flat. We all know that the fish will relate to these areas of slower current, waiting for food to be washed in from the stronger current areas. Flats on the upstream and downstream sides of islands, inside corners on bends in the river and flats around inlets all can be very productive. As Bill stated in his very descriptive analogy the fish will move on and off all of these flats so give them all a try. Flats with added attraction as Bill stated, rock, grass, clams all tend to hold the baitfish the current washes into these areas.

You picture the bottom of the river as one big sand flat, which is kind of true. What I want to look for is where I can find a shallower flat.
The bottom of the river around here is mostly sand and the current is always moveing that sand, eventually the sand gets hung up somewhere and keeps building and building and sooner or later you have a sand flat.
Around here (POOL 4) every couple years you will see a dredger out digging out the main channel to keep it deep enough for barge traffic, but anyway…

From what I have noticed you find more bait fish in the shallow flats that dont have alot of current, my guess being the sun heats that shallower water up faster which keeps the bait fish around, which turns that flat into a great feeding area. And if you can find one with deep water near I would work it!

Yet I have found some nice sand umm maybe you can call them flats,no we will call them (sand shallows)/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ where you get the ups and downs on the inside corners of the river, where it is much shallower then the main channel but not really flat. But in them ups and downs the fish lay in and hide from the current.

So what I would do if I had not fished an area before is get a map find your flats and go drive over them and see if you mark bait fish, and see if you can find a flat with rock piles or dead trees.

Hope this helps a little!

Another thing you might want to do is on the top of your page click on SEARCH then click to all post and type in sand flats.

Good Luck

Holy cow Bill. What a lesson. You are like the Mr. Rogers of the fishing world. Can you say “WALL-EYE”? I knew you could.

Gator Hunter

Quote: Can you say “WALL-EYE”?

Gator Hunter, I can do better than that. On my livingroom ”wall” I have a plaque that has a big ”eye” on it and a name plate below the eye that says ”Walleye.”

Thanks, Bill

ps. You can’t read the word Walleye in the pic as its engraved in a shinny gold plate that reflects the light from the flash on the camera.

Very well put Bill …Even I could understand that. Sometimes I have trouble with the terms people use, but you made it simple.
THANKS
JIM

Heres another that works for me on the shallower rivers where i live and the miss. I use my rule of thumb and if thier not hitting deep than i try shallow [and or] faster water, it works 80% of the time or better. The more active fish will be in the shallower, faster water, washboard sand bottom or sand flats and be feeding. They lay in the troughs of the washboard and feed in the shallower water where the food is. In the spring thats why wingdams treat me and a couple of guys i fish with so good, its eigther in the deeper water below or out on thier ends or the sand flats above them. If thier not hitting there we look for underwater humps, ridges any change in the contour of the bottom. No luck there eigther?, we look for gills and weeds to pass the time until the bite starts again. To me Its hard to beat shallower water for a food source.

Thanks for the input guys! I think I am starting to get the picture! I usually come down to redwing 3-4 times a year and just started fishing pool 2 a couple times last spring! I will let you guys know how I do! Thanks again!

Rainman

Mossydan
You said in your post that if the walleye aren’t biting deep then you try shallow water. That is just the opposite of me. I will always try to look for shallow walleyes first. When walleyes are shallow they are there to eat. I find that the average size of walleyes from shallows tends to be bigger than fish taken from deeper waters too.
With bigger fish that are active and willing to bite in the shallows, I don’t see any reason to fish the deep water before trying the shallows. My two cents.

Gator Hunter

The way Bill explains feeding habits,I must be part walleye..

I understand guys, its the way we fish the shallower rivers here. Deep here is 10 ft. We start on the bottom and go shallower. The adivce i gave was for shallower rivers around here that works here. If i was to fish shallow water first it would have to be late in the day, at night or early morings where they come into feed from the deeper water where they lay during the day. Me mentioning the wingdams on the mississippi probably threw some off. Out on the tips of the wingdams and above them produce better for me then the deeper water. I start there for any fish laying deep then work to the shallows. This is probably habit from fishing for walleyes here on the local rivers.