It is the start of Flounder season, so Flounder will be the target species of the week. Flounder are here all year but September marks the beginning of the off-shore migration back to the shallows of our creeks and waterways. These fish tend to be much bigger and because there are so many, they are usually easier to catch.
Flounder, reds, and speckled trout follow the mullet migration into our estuaries from the ocean. They position themselves in ambush spots such as cuts in the spartina grass, oyster beds, out going water at the mouth of feeder creeks, and drop offs in the ICW.
My favorite and most productive times to catch them are the last hour of incoming to high tide and the first 2 hours of outgoing.
Use a ¼ oz. to ⅜ oz. jig head in chartreuse or pink color tipped with a mud minnow or live shrimp. The best bait will be live mullet if you can catch them with a cast net. Try to cast as close as possible to the target area allowing your bait to reach the bottom. Fish it very slow… just dragging about 6 inches at a time. Flounder will bite hard but not move so if you feel pressure like your stuck on the bottom set the hook. They have a unique way of slipping off the hook if you don’t set it.
Good luck and I will see you out on the water. Capt. John Eggers, Rock-N-Reel Charters.
Target: Flounder
Bait: Live Mullet
Rig: ¼ - ⅜ oz. jig
Where: Outgoing water of feeder creeks
