Flounder Report

[Red Beard]

Flounder Flounder Flounder ... what’s there to say. I dedicate premium sleep time to chase your flat face up and down the hill night after night. Usually with every trip ending in “Oh yeah, tomorrow is gonna be the night; the moon wasn’t quite right tonight; if that wind would have chilled out..” kind of thinking.



But here lately I have went back to basics and found success. I’m talking wading, leavin the flounder rig parked at the house and getting some sand in your toes. Wading has given me the advantage of tracking fish bed to bed and allows for a good feel of where the fish will be.

Watch out for those rays!
••TIP••
I’ve found by pushing my gig into the sand close to the ray swimming/laying by they will usually sense it and swim away. Good way to get their attention without poking them and causing them to freak out kicking up the bottom.





I have had great success on a good sand bottom with grass beds even producing real tree camouflaged flounder. With the rain runoff flushing bait and fish out the river and creeks I have found higher success rates at creek/bay mouths. Or any area with clear water and a good bottom.




Now that we have the moon filling back in with a low tide to match I believe it’s about to bust wide open. Been a little bit a slow start this season with three super moons (Mar, April, & May) and wind/tides fighting every step of the way. It should produce more favorable conditions for wading or boat gigging.

Best nights this year have produced almost twenty pounds with seven to ten flounder. The average night is closer to seven pounds three to four flounder. Looking forward to more fifteen pound averages nights!






Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[silverking]

Thanks for the report. We used to wade and gig around the base when I lived in Pensacola. Love flounder with crab meat stuffing. Fried ain't too shabby, either.

[Red Beard]

Thanks for the report. We used to wade and gig around the base when I lived in Pensacola. Love flounder with crab meat stuffing. Fried ain't too shabby, either.

I’m with ya, I like frying the smaller ones up whole with some red potato fries!





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Hit-n-Miss]

Very nice. Reminds me of when we gigged matanzas inlet.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Dub]

Wow! Well done,sir! Been a couple years since doing any gigging for me. Gonna have to hit Dog Island soon, nothing like wading along the bayside on a warm summer night! That’s the way to fry them up right.

[Ted in Tallahassee]

Is a bright high moon good, or not good, for flounder gigging?

You want low tide, right? Or does it matter as long as it's shallow? Incoming or outgoing tide matter?

Is it better earlier in the evening versus later in the evening?

I've never flounder gigged before but I think I'm going to try it this year. I'm envisioning a dead still summer night and slowly tooling around creek mouths or anywhere it's sandy with clear water with the trolling motor in my jonboat with a Q-beam and gig.

[Red Beard]

Is a bright high moon good, or not good, for flounder gigging?

You want low tide, right? Or does it matter as long as it's shallow? Incoming or outgoing tide matter?

Is it better earlier in the evening versus later in the evening?

I've never flounder gigged before but I think I'm going to try it this year. I'm envisioning a dead still summer night and slowly tooling around creek mouths or anywhere it's sandy with clear water with the trolling motor in my jonboat with a Q-beam and gig.

Ahh don’t get caught up in the details. You will never know unless you go. I make note of the conditions as they change, but I don’t let it over-rule my gut.

Looks like you have a good plan of action envisioned go give it a try and report back with the results.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Reel Addiction]

If you are going to wade / walk and gig, may I suggest you invest in some ray guard boots and leg protectors. I have been gigging and walking for flounder for years and one finely got me last year. I saw him and moved him away with my gig but he spun around and nailed my ankle. You do not want to be hit by a stingray!!! After that I got my ray guard .

[Red Beard]

If you are going to wade / walk and gig, may I suggest you invest in some ray guard boots and leg protectors. I have been gigging and walking for flounder for years and one finely got me last year. I saw him and moved him away with my gig but he spun around and nailed my ankle. You do not want to be hit by a stingray!!! After that I got my ray guard .

That stinks. You must have walked right up on him, it can happen quickly.

They make a slow dissolving stingray repellent called “Ray-Pel” that clips to your shoe/boot. I have not tried it so I can’t say if it works or not.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[WetBandit]

Awesome, thanks for the report. Any advice for gauging water clarity desktop style? Is there anything you consider a no-go that isn't obvious? I know a lot of spots will never be gin clear. I'm not near enough to the coast to just know from observation and I feel like at least half the time I go out I have a hard time finding manageable visibility despite my best efforts. I'm limited to what I can hit on foot.

[Red Beard]

Awesome, thanks for the report. Any advice for gauging water clarity desktop style? Is there anything you consider a no-go that isn't obvious? I know a lot of spots will never be gin clear. I'm not near enough to the coast to just know from observation and I feel like at least half the time I go out I have a hard time finding manageable visibility despite my best efforts. I'm limited to what I can hit on foot.

If you find out a way to know the conditions from the computer that are accurate let me know!

It’s hard to say, depends on nearby creek/river runoff, winds, and tides. All can play their own part in the waters clarity.

You won’t know unless you go!

That’s the best advice I can give to anyone. The water does what it wants when it wants. Nights I know it should be dirty water it’s clear! And other times I’d bet the house it’s going to be perfect conditions, I’m glad I didn’t.






Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[WetBandit]

When I lived in Texas I used this app called SwellInfo. It was for surfers originally but was good for water conditions. It wasn't perfect but generally when I saw a couple days of 'clean' surf and the weather forecast looked prime during that period, that usually correlated with the bay water being clearer and indicated an opportunity to gig if the wind was right for your spots and it hadn't stormed just before. It wasn't perfect but it helped.

I haven't found that method to translate here and I haven't been able to devise another strategy yet. In Texas I lived on Padre Island so I had a lot more opportunity to relate the weather to observations of water clarity.

Sometimes online surf cams can be helpful but I haven't found a good one the use for the Panacea/Ocklochonee/ St. Marks area.

[teebig]

Where did you get the flounder gig? It looks bad to the bone.

The fried flounder looks absolutely amazing.

[Red Beard]

Where did you get the flounder gig? It looks bad to the bone.

The fried flounder looks absolutely amazing.

That gig is a tank. Bought from Outrigger Outdoors website. Good company out of Texas I believe.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[DixieReb]

Nice! Did any of yall see what the new regs for flounder are now? I think it is 5 for recreational anglers now and 14'' min. size.