Photo courtesy of Capt. Scott Maxwell
Get Out And Stick’em!
Gigging, or the art of using sharp spear-like implement to harvest flounder in shallow environments at night, is gaining popularity. More fisherman are beating the heat by harvesting the flat fish in the cool of the night. Let’s face it, it’s August and it’s HOT! Gigging was once enjoyed only by a small percentage of adventurous fisherman and commercial harvesters. Now gigging is growing in popularity, and the skill set of finding the fish at night is expanding.
There are a lot of things an angler can learn about the flounder while gigging. Many of the things we learn are blowing age-old myths right out of the water. For example, there was once a myth that flounder did not like to lie on the surface of an oyster reef—busted! They will; they’ll also lie on top of a matt of sea grass if it’s shallow enough (rare) and the grass is already bent over.
Flounder, like redfish, are very current oriented. They are going to look for the right current with forage to select areas to ‘bed’ in order to maximize their predatory advantage. And while loads of mullet on the surface won’t be passed up in the way of forage, flounder are looking for a literal buffet and will eat anything that passes over their hungry mouths from crabs, eels, killifish (mud minnows), to their favorites like shad, menhaden and shrimp. Altogether they are somewhat un-selective. As long as you find a shoreline with decent water clarity to see them, current and sufficient forage of any species, you should be able to find some flounder to “stick.”
In the late summer, most wading to gig flounder will be using sealed Oznium.com LED lights. The best shorelines are somewhat protected during the day from moderate to high winds and have a sandy or silty bottom that’s easier for walking in the shallows. These areas will also typically clear faster.
Always be safe and keep an eye out for stingrays any time you wade, and continue to shuffle or scoot your feet across the bottom.
Capt. Scott Maxwell, in Galveston, Texas, knows that August also means the beginning of the transition months, when flounder will begin staging for the fall run. Scott likes to gig for flounder now while it’s hot and the transition is just starting, then switch to rod and reel, or both, during the cooling fall months.
Capt. Maxwell said, “Gigging now is a great way to start locating the first of the staging areas, and it’s a great way to learn how the fish feeds and utilizes current. Shorelines near marsh drains, and even better, those areas also having an eddy effect on the shoreline from the marsh drain will increase the odds of finding the flat fish. Just like redfish, flounder are lazy and will position themselves in areas that will concentrate their forage.”
Capt. Maxwell knows his flounder.
Written by Sun Coast Marine (LaMarque, Texas) field staff.
