Breakers

The calmer waters between the place where big waves crash and calm water starts are called breakers. The crashing waves create a sort of trench in the shore. Food settles in the trench, bait fish come for the food and game fish come for the baitfish. This provides an ideal location to find fish but anglers must understand that fish that come to feed in these areas will feed very briefly in one location and move on to continue searching for food.

Tidal Flats

Sand and mud bottom tidal flats are very shallow areas that are typically a few inches to a few feet deep and are sometimes even exposed at lower tides. These flats are commonly found in many estuarine areas and are highly productive for fishing. These areas are protected from wave action and are often comprised of mud or sand transported by tidal channels.

Saltwater and Tides

Tides raise and lower the water level approximately two times per day and affect where fish are located and how they feed. The timing of a high or low tide changes daily and is also different for each coastal area.

A shallow area that might hold fish and be a very good spot to fish during a high tide will become a bare mud bank during low tide conditions. A slough (a slight depression in the bottom) that might be perfect for bottom feeding fish during a low tide situation might not hold fish on a high tide.

Running tides (rising or falling) are best since they cause bait to move and promote active feeding among coastal fish. Changing tides, time of day and location are also important when you’re fishing in brackish water—coastal water that’s a mix of salt water and fresh water and contains a mix of saltwater and freshwater fish. Brackish water is found in most tidal creeks and rivers along all coasts and is highly affected by tidal movements.

In general, the best fishing is almost always on a rising or falling tide—not the dead low or dead high, also referred to as "slack tides" when there is little or no tidal current.

Backflow (backwaters)

When the tide moves into a small inlet, or point, it slows down and moves in a different direction than the main flow for a short period of time. Fish will feed where the backwards flow slows down and the food settles.

Jetties and Breakwaters

Waves crash up against jetties and breakwaters, and create ‘holes’ as the wave recedes and carries sand out with it. Since the hole is deeper than the ocean floor, it attracts small shellfish and baitfish looking for calmer water and a place to hide. These hiding spots create ambush spots for predatory game fish. Man-made structures like jetties and breakwaters also give shore anglers better access to deeper waters.

Baitfish Patches

Surf and shore fishing takes a good eye. If you can spot a school of baitfish, then you might be able to catch bigger fish that are following them. But hurry, game fish strike fast and leave. When you locate a school of baitfish, look for the openings or lighter colored circles in the schools of bait. Often times, if a predatory fish is in the midst of a school of baitfish, the bait will try to keep a safe distance on all sides of the larger fish to avoid being eaten. This is what creates the holes in the bait schools. If you cannot locate these holes, cast your bait or lure to the outside edges of the baitfish schools.

Bays and Estuaries

If you’re fishing in a bay or estuary, you better have a big tackle box. These bodies of water contain a mixture of fresh water and salt water. They also contain a mixture of freshwater and saltwater fish. Bays and estuaries can be fished from shore or from a boat. Estuaries are locations in which the mouth of a river meets the ocean. Estuaries support saltwater fish such as tarpon, snook, redfish and striped bass. Other saltwater fish like shad, herring, salmon and sea-run trout can also be found in estuaries because they need to find saltier or fresher water when it’s time to mate. Freshwater fish like largemouth bass can also survive in the salty waters found in estuaries.

Weather can also affect the mix of fish in combined waters. Stormy weather pushes fresh water from the rivers closer to the ocean, causing freshwater to move farther downstream. Dry weather pushes salt water and saltwater fish further upstream into the rivers.

Bays

Ocean bays don’t have much freshwater influence. But because they are protected from severe ocean conditions, they become ideal nurseries for many species of baitfish and shell fish, which can draw bigger saltwater fish into the bays to feed.

Channel Entrances

Anywhere water is forced to move through a smaller opening, currents run faster and dig deeper into the bottom. Fish will be attracted to these places because the water is deeper and the supply of food is more concentrated in the “pinched’ area.

Man-Made Structures

It’s only natural, baitfish and other marine creatures gather around piers and pilings because they’re looking for food and protection from currents. This attracts larger game fish species like snook and tarpon that feed on the bait surrounding these structures.

Surf and Shore

Surf and coastal shore fishing can be done right from the edge of the ocean, from man-made structures like jetties and breakwaters or from a boat. Some surf anglers actually wade right into the waters to cast to fish that may be lurking under the waves.

Surf and coastal shore fishing is challenging. There’s very little structure to attract fish. So surf and shore fisherman must be able to read the waves, look for color changes in the water, monitor water temperature and understand migration patterns.

Mangroves

Prominent in the state of Florida and other areas of the Gulf of Mexico, mangroves provide an important ecosystem for a variety of species. Mangroves can be found in sub-tropical zones in areas where saltwater meets land. Usually, mangroves appear in areas of heavy sand or mud deposits that provide a breeding ground for many organic bacteria. As this happens, a more complex food chain will develop. An additional benefit of mangroves is their ability to provide structure and protection for young fish. For this reason, many species use mangrove forests as a nursery habitat; however, small fish are not the only fish to inhabit this ecosystem. Many large predators make mangroves their home, preying on the small fish. To effectively fish a mangrove, fish the falling tide as bait and predatory fish are forced out of the roots of the mangrove system.