A unique website dedicated to fishing information from Florida's Northern Big Bend. This includes the area from the Econfina River west to the Apalachicola River
I have heard about flounder gigging and am really interested. I already made a good gig out of a small shower rod and cheap 5-prong from Bass Pro. Don't have a ton of money to blow on lights so I was probably just gonna use lanterns and try to walk around in the water near shore. I was thinking about heading out to Dog Island out of Lanark Village. Anybody had any good experiences with gigging out there? If not, where are some good spots to go in the area between St. Marks and Carrabelle? Also, I hear the hours leading up to low tide are the best? Any experience or tips would be great!!
I'm no expert, but her is what I have done in the past. Get a 6-8' piece of small PVC pipe. Run electrical wire through
it to a tail light socket with bulb. Cut a Clorox bottle for a light shield not to blind you and hook with alligator clips to a 12V battery that I put in a small jon boat or tub. When your ready to flounder put the light under the water, a lantern
will blind you. As for the gig, I use something like a broom stick with a big nail on the end, no barb. When I gig one
I put my hand under the flounder, lift and slide it into the tub or boat. Just make sure it a flounder and not a ray. Don't
forget to shuffle you feet when you walk in the water. Don't forget to use electrical tape to fasten the tail light socket
and shield to your pvc pipe. My way is probably not for everyone, but it work for me. Good Luck
I know you are trying to stay "low budget on this -- but the development of the LED presents so many advantages to this application it would be hard to pass by. Being waterproof and producing an extreme number of lumens per watt of electrical power are the main two. If the lighting isn't correct, you will not see the flounder.
We started out like sailcat said. Except use an old style headlight bulb(like cars had in the 70's) with a shroud to block the glare. Just make it waterproof and turn on after you put under water. We also floated a large washtub in a inner tube. With cooler and batt in the tub. And wear shoes oyster shells are no joke.