It’s December now. Many are deer hunting this month and consider fishing to be over until June. We’ll miss them.
All kidding aside, there is a lot of fishing that happens between October and June, probably some of the best fishing of the year. But what about flounder? The run may be almost over, and it usually totally wraps up by Christmas. Right?
First of all, the best part of the run is toward the end, and that’s when you’ll typically see some of the biggest flounder caught with rod and reel. Just ask Scott “The Flounder Man” Maxwell in Galveston, Texas. He’ll be out there searching for those big doormat flounder. Just make sure you check your state’s regulations. If you go in December, some states have reduced bag limits for flounder during November and December to support the increase of females getting to the spawning grounds. Scott will use large live mullet to hunt for the biggest flounder, and he’s caught some real monsters.
Flounder are available for catch all months of the year. While the majority migrates out of the bays to spawn offshore, enough stay inshore to make both fishing and gigging worth the time and effort. Many seasoned big-trout hunters have certainly caught their fair share of late season/winter flounder on slow-sink twitch baits. Places to look are muddy bottom coves with a little weak current passing through them and some mullet present. It may be the only time of year that actually seeing baitfish can help you for flounder. The rest of the season they are feeding on forage that moves across the bottom like small crabs, shad and shrimp, but in the late winter those are typically gone. Oh, and don’t be surprised if you catch a big trout while you are hunting up a flatty. Heck of a by-catch on that deal.
You can also gig for flounder in the late winter and all the way through spring and summer. Some states have banned gigging in November, and allow a reduced take during December. Again, check your state’s regulations for specific bag limits during this time. That said, it’s still a great time to gig flounder if your state allows it.
The latest rage is building a lightweight LED flounder light. Most are using the Oznium 20 watt, sealed, green light. Angler Mac Jank created his own setup and has helped many others build them, as well as built them for some. Mac said both the green and the warm white work well, but the green spooks the fish less. The green seems to penetrate water that is more turbid, or dirty. For trying this, find shorelines that are shallow and protected from that day’s wind. Preferably an outgoing tide is best to pull the fish farther away from their shoreline hiding places. Grab a light, a gig, and a stringer, and go to it.
Submitted by Sun Coast Marine Works, LaMarque Texas field staff writer.