Find the channel, fish the edge
At low water an estuary shows you its whole skeleton: the main channel, the side drains, the mussel beds and the bar across the mouth. That is the map you fish for the rest of the tide, so it is worth a walk with nothing but boots on before you ever bring a rod.
Fish work the channel edges rather than the middle. A bait placed on the drop-off where the drain meets the flat, or where freshwater pushes out over clean sand, sits directly in the food lane. Casting into the centre of a deep channel usually puts the bait past the feeding fish, not among them.
The flood is the window
Unlike an open beach, estuary ground tends to fish the first of the flood hardest, as the tide pushes in over ground that has been dry and predators follow it. Bass in particular run the channel on the making tide and drop back with it.
Water moves hard on the turn here, and it comes in behind you across flats faster than it looks. Know which side of any bar or lagoon you are standing on and leave before the crossing goes. Light leads and lighter gear work because the ground is clean and the fish are close.
Mixed water, mixed rules
Brackish ground brings species that never show on the open coast: mullet over the mud, flounder well up into freshwater, sea trout running the channels. It rewards small hooks, fresh bait and a quiet approach far more than heavy tackle.
Estuaries are also where sea fishing and inland fishing rules meet, and salmon and sea trout in tidal water are not covered by the same permissions as bass or flounder. Check the current position on the rules page before you target them.
