Video goodness: Dr Aaron Adams on decoding mangrove flats

If you’re anything like us here at Fishipedia, you probably spend more time than is strictly healthy watching fishing videos. Usually it’s the regulation mix of screaming drag/leaping tarpon/speeding bonefish/soft rock soundtrack and amounts to little more “fish porn”.

Now don’t get us wrong, there’s nothing wrong with that. However, this video from Professor Bonefish himself – Dr Aaron Adams – is something a little bit different. This is one fishing video where you might actually learn a little something.

Over the course of just five minutes, Adams, the director of the Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, delivers a mini masterclass in reading mangrove flats – decoding the secrets that distinguish fish-filled flats from barren wastes of your time. After all, on any given day, only 10% of the water may hold bonefish. It’s all about eliminating the other 90% and putting yourself in the right place at the right time.

And there’s more to it than you might have thought – algae deposits on mangrove shoots, cracks in the bottom, abundance of shrimp mounds etc. As the man himself says: “Knowing what to look for on mangrove flats can mean the difference between finding bonefish and just taking a long walk in a pretty place.”

Fishing Mangrove Flats from Aaron Adams on Vimeo.