want some good action use Bull Minnows on the bottom with a slow retrieve across sand flats or a channels edge. I used to buy 12 minnows and catch at least 6 flounders in Saint Andrews marina this way... The trick is learning what the bite feels like... you may tend to believe you are just snagging bottom until you get the feel down...
I have only caught one flounder on a chunk of croaker.. I will definitely try using bull minnows.... So would you rig it with a slip weight about a foot off the bottom.
I generally use a Gulf rig leader, weight in bottom and the bait swimming above it. I do a cast, crank to tight line and stop, wait a few seconds and give it a small amount of reeling in and stop again, let the minnow do his circles and repeat... What it amounts to is the weight dragging across the bottom get the attention toward my bait... and generally if the flounder are in the area they just swim over and swallow the minnow and lay back on the bottom... Many times I have started to crank and felt weight resistance so I simply set the hook and either it pops loose from the bottom or the fight is on... its effective as I said when you have a sandy bottom where the flounder lay in wait....
another place to try is around any seawalls or pilings (if there are any where you fish), flounders love the small crabs and barnacles often found hanging around there.... live shrimp or bull minnows work equally well there...
When I began to fish with artificial, I caught nothing but flounder. Oddly, I was 'fishing for flounder' without knowing I was fishing for flounder! Now, I almost always know whether or not a flounder has bitten my rig. Though, occasionally, specks can bite like a flounder in my experience.
Here's my bread and butter rig:
- 1/8 ounce jig head with a 3" Berkley Gulp shrimp (color depends on water clarity, sun exposure) - I generally, but not always, have a 6" leader of heavier monofilament (usually 15-18lb test)
The thing with flounder fishing is to FISH SLOW. I cannot stress this enough. I will cast to a certain area and 'feel' my bait hit the bottom. Let it sit for a sec, if you do not feel 'the bite', tug the rod tip almost parallel with the water to ensure the bait stays low. Do not tug the bait too quickly or too far from its previous point. Flounder are opportunistic predators. They do not want to work for their food. They're just not built to pursue their prey for a long distance. You want that bait right near them to guarantee a better chance for success.
Now onto the right place. EVERYONE and their grandmother knows that flounder can be found around piers and similar structures. A fisherman can be very successful in finding flounder this way. A better way, IMO, and less stressful way (getting hangups) is to look for 'points'. By points, I mean the ends of these little 'islands' we have all along the coast. They are better found in Jackson county (Gautier, Ocean Springs, Pascagoula), but I have seen a few prospective areas in Harrison. By islands, I just mean little bits of land, some no larger than a house, that are sprinkled along the entire coastline. Fish the points of these 'islands' and I guarantee you will come away with a flounder or few.
There is a certain way to fish these points. You will be more effective if the tide is moving. Throw your line past the point, reeling in perpendicular to the point. Smaller fish stay closer to the land for protection. Flounder know this and hang out at these points to wage a suprise attack on these smaller fish circling around the points. Sometimes, if the tide is moving really quickly, I just let my bait swim with the tide, not giving it any action whatsoever. Even the greenest fisher can catch flounder this way. Where there's one, there's sure to be another, and another.....
The bites are what give people fits. Earlier, I said specks can bite like flounder, sometimes, flounder can bite like specks. They can totally DEMOLISH a bait! Most of the time, though, they are finicky biters. All I do is wait for the bump. Just one bump. Just one little, tiny, tug. Then I wait, usually for another, bigger tug, when the flounder is swimming away with the bait. Then I yank out his butthole!
The problem with fishing for flounder is people can get excited and yank on that first bump. A fisherman will almost always come up empty-handed when you yank on the first bump. Let the bait simmer for a few seconds after that first bump. If after a few seconds, nothing happens, ssssllllooowwwlllyyy reel in your bait making sure not to pick up your rod tip. If you feel resistance, continue reeling slowly until you get a fight, then yank. Sometimes, you might be on a hang, sometimes, a fish might be hanging on.
I have basically written a novella, but I promise you, this is the best way I know how to fish for flounder sans live bait. It is super fun, too, because it is mano a mano. You are working the bait instead of the bait doing the work for you (ala, live bait). It is also pretty simple once you get the hang of it. My buddy and I specifically fish for flounder if we have had no luck with reds and specks. We are almost always coming away with nice-sized (15+ inches) flounder using this method. If you do not have success using these methods, I guarantee your money back!
Gigging founder is popular around here. Dark night. Little, or no wind. Tide low and rising. I havegigged flounder in 15 to 20 winds , but I go way up the bayou. Behind trees in the lee of the wind. -- Edited by Sea_Stork on Tuesday 26th of May 2009 04:09:25 PM
-- Edited by Sea_Stork on Tuesday 26th of May 2009 04:12:19 PM
