1. Don't rock the boat.
Ever see a dolphin get up in skinny water, well he generally makes a wake while do so. These pressure waves are one way that a redfish know something is coming and if they are a little on edge as soon as they feel the slightest pressure wave they become more worried about safety and less about feeding. I have seen tailing fish stop tailing and I seen a school of 500 reds all pick up and run the other way just because of a few pressure waves. When casting on the front of a flats boat you need to make sure that you are not swaying back and forth, this not only causes pressure waves but is often how the foot brake on your cast gets applied because the sway lifts part of your foot enough to get fly line under it.
2. Don't cast a fly and wait to strip. (unless...)
When fishing many situations here in the low country you will encounter oyster shells and oyster shells don't care if you have a weed guard or not. Most of the time when a fly gets stuck on oysters it is actually wedged not hooked. So if you are doing some blind casting or you are around a school of fish not targeting a specific one then cast and start stripping. This is something that can be practiced and should be. While practicing (for a right hand caster) as your fly lays down bring the line from your left hand into your right hand. Done correctly you should be stripping the fly almost before it hits. The 'unless' parts of this are if you are sight casting to a single fish and you have to wait on that fish to catch up, or you need a lighter fly to sink a little. Even if you are in one of these two situations you should still be in the position to strip, rod down, line between finger on right hand and rod handle, and line in left hand ready to pull. Again this is something that can be practiced.
3. No knocks or bumps.
No matter if you are fishing, taking a picture, poling, getting a drink from the cooler, opening a hatch to get out something, if you are on a flat looking for fish don't make knocks or bumps on the boat. Keep your feet as quiet as possible when you are on the front casting, when line is caught up on something back in the boat don't step hard down into the boat to untangle it. When taking a picture make sure that you know where you are standing and what is around you so when you are focused on the camera you won't make the mistake of bumping something or losing balance for a second and having to take a hard step. Close the cooler and hatches quietly. This all sounds a little picky until you see a school of fish a little ways from you pick up and run away as soon as knock occurs or a bump from a rushed caster steps hard back in the boat to get the fly line off something. I fished with a guide some where (remaining unnamed) not to long ago in one of the best bonefish fisheries in the world and we didn't see very many fish any of the days we fished. I would put money on the fact that part of this was due to the fact that instead of pushing the boat in many situations he would get the wind to push him down a flat sideways and use the pole on the side of the boat to somewhat control it. So we had a fairly constant knocking going on letting those fish know we were coming. How nice of us!
2. Don't fish muddy water
This might be best stated as, fish the clearest water you can find because there are times when most everywhere is muddy. When you can't see a gold fly any more than an inch deep in the water then the fish most likely can't either. Fish also become more spooky in water they can't see well in. It is like being afraid of the dark you can't see what is coming so everything is a more heightened in how you sense the things around you. Muds from fish and muddy water are two different things. There are times when the fish will have their backs out in muddy water making it easier to follow them and if this is the case and you can cast pretty far then use a fly that is quiet on entry like the dupree and get it in front of the fish tring to bring it right across it's nose.
1. Don't stop paying attention but don't get over focused
Things happen fast in the salt. When you are trying to find fish on a flat don't stop looking around. Obviously you can't see everything but if you stop paying attention you most likely won't see anything. What I mean about not getting over focused is if you stop using your peripheral vision by overly focusing straight where you are looking then you are severely limiting your range of what you can see and react to. You react to peripheral vision much faster as a defense mechanism so often that is the best way to see things anyway. A flash from a redfish or a tip of a tail can tell you where a 100 of them are sitting while a shrimp jumping can tell you that one is in a little spot you would have never even thought a fish would go.
