does anybody have any good advice on flounder gigging, im kinda new to it? Where? when to go? special tricks?
Go with an experienced person first if you can. Being on the water at night can be very dangerous if you don’t know what you are doing or what to look for. Safety first always. Things look completly different at night. Know your boundries and where you are always.
As for finding flounder, just like any type of fishing, look for the areas that look “fishy.” Points, structure, moving water, any place that holds bait typically holds predator fish. Finding great spots is always trial and error as with any fishing and you want to be sure not to overfish your spots too. Be selective about what you harvest from the water and when and this resource will last long enough for our grandchildren to enjoy. Don’t stick the ‘barely legal’ fish. We typically stick to a 16" or better rule. If its a good night where we are seeing lots of fish, we’ll bump that up to 18" or better.
Some banks are better than others, some are clearer water than others. I’ve seen fish on shelly, sandy, muddy, grassy, algea covered, you name it I’ve seen fish on it type bottoms. They will be anywhere they can get a meal, I can assure you of that. Typically the weather conditions dictate when we go. An hour on either side of the low tide is best, no wind, and preferrably not on flood tides tend to be the best conditions.
Also pay attention to regulations on harvesting other fish during certain times of the year. For instance, you cannot gig redfish year round…and FYI redfish always look smaller than they really are if you choose to gig one. Flounder is a way better meal IMO, so we typically one gig one if one of my LA buddies is begging for one.
thank you, but do flounder lay on top of oyster beds too or just around them? also I gig them in the head because there are more bones there, is that what i should be doing?