We all know about the fall flounder run that occurs between the months of October and December. Flounder leave bay systems coast-wide predominantly following forage species like shrimp and menhaden as they exit bay systems during dropping temperatures and flushing tides of late fall and winter. Flounder return into the bays in the spring much earlier than many anticipate. While it may not be a run that the fall fisherman experience, the spring’s return of flounder into the bays are a welcomed site to those fighting spring winds.
Flounder return back into the bays the same way they left, through passes, jetty cuts, and channels. At the peak of the spring run those areas can be prime and will concentrate flounder moving back into the estuary, which could yield higher results. However, as I mentioned above the spring run is more a trickle back into the bays and it is spread out over a several month period. This broadened time period will have fish seemingly spread out over the entire bay from the inlets to the back marsh bayou cuts.
One of the reasons I’m bringing this up is because many anglers won’t venture to fight spring winds in search of fish and will wait till stable summer patterns. Spring is a great time to be on the water and there are a lot of places one can find to get out of the wind and try your prowess for flounder.
Early in the season Late February through Late March fish deeper channel ledges and bottoms in areas close to the inlets. Many of these areas are protected from open water swells and can be accessed through harbors (another early flounder local) near the bay inlets. The deeper fishing pattern leads itself to well to lures that sink quickly such as Flounder Pounder (flounderpounder.net) original and split tail. These lures where designed by commercial and tournament flounder fisherman Phil Ortiz. Phil made his living catching flounder and made a system that worked effectively for that type of fishing.
Later in the spring season (April and May) many flounder will already be located in back marsh guts in search of juvenile menhaden, shad, shrimp and crabs. Flounder are very adept at locating edges of current and in this scenario can be in extremely shallow water rivulets all the way to the bottom of upper marsh bayous and guts. A favored lure for shallow habitat has been the ChickenBoy Shrimp lure from Chickenboylures.com.
And don’t let the springs off colored water deter you from giving it a go. Flounder are very adept at eating silent baitfish and crustaceans in nearly all colors and ranges of water conditions that occur in the spring. Darker colors are great for off color water and dark days. Bright colors can be used in clear water or bright conditions in dirty shallows. So this spring, get out there and find a way to get out of the wind and go catch some flounder.
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