Public Fishing Area. OK, stop for a moment and erase all preconceived notions. You’re about to find out what a PFA is supposed to be—and how to make the most of it. Flat Creek State Park and Public Fishing Area lies just south of Perry in Houston County, hard by I-75. For the fisherman, it’s one of those love at first sight deals: 102 acres of standing timber, submerged bushes, grassbeds, flats, drop-offs, rip-rap, golf-course-trimmed banks and easy access to all of the above. You will see bank fishermen, dock fishermen, kayaks, jonboats, bass boats... And, most importantly, fish. The afternoon of May 12 was overcast, and an easterly breeze blew rather cool over Flat Creek as siblings Taylor and Hannah Branham launched a trolling-motor-powered jonboat to search for bream. A third member of the family, brother Hunter, was already afloat in a kayak, paddling gently and pitching the banks for bass among flooded...