Standing on the shoreline of the San Luis Pass lagoon watching a small school of baitfish slowly working their way against an incoming tide the peaceful scene suddenly goes ballistic when a flat fish cart-wheels across the surface like a gymnast at an Olympic meet….. ….âPsssst, the flounder are running folks!!!!!!
With (Paralichthys lethostigma) as its scientific name, it’s a wonder how the beloved flounder ever became so popular among the fishing masses, but just one taste of its delicate lethostigma flavors at the supper table and your doubts are swayed forever.
An unusual looking critter to say the least, the flat sided double eyed flounder with side-ratcheting jaws full of very sharp teeth spends most of its life cycle laying flat on the bottom where they bury themselves in sand and muck to bushwhack passing prey. With the southern flounder, the left (dark side) is the up- side with white side down. This gives them an ability to camouflage themselves in changing situations and conditions.
Perfectly adapted for its lifestyle beneath the surface with both eyes on the up-side of their heads flounder have very small body cavities with no air bladders, which helps them to maintain their flat positions on the bottom. Flounder are in constant search of food and during their annual fall spawning runs to the Gulf of Mexico, this continuous feeding factor provides absolute fishing windfalls for flounder fanciers.
Flounder spawn when they’re about two years old (12 inches) at depths as deep as100 feet. After hatching, the larval stage fish swim in upright positions with eyes set normally on opposite sides of their heads. But as they grow their right eye shifts to the left side of their heads until both eyes are on the same up-side. Millions of hatchlings enter the bays during early spring at about one-half inch in length, seeking shallow, grassy mudflats along the edges of the bays. As they grow they begin migrating further into bays, up coastal rivers, or settle into bayous. Upon growing to adult sizes (about 2 years at 12 to 14 inches) the adult flounder begin their spawning migration back to the Gulf when cooler autumn winds begin to chill bay waters.
This is what ‘flounder pounders’ wait for when cooling waters initiate full blown migrations of flounder from the shallow flats to the deeper waters of the Gulf. The run starts in sporadic spurts at first with better runs occurring during moonless nights. Swimming against incoming tides the flounder begin staging along channels, bulkheads, passes, and jetties where they gang-up in huge numbers along these migration routes. When this happens an alert among anglers is whispered, “pssst, the flounder are running! But it’s not long before flounder reports begin filling the airways and newsprints about the run. And once the secret is out the prime flounder fishing areas begin loading up with thousands of excited anglers. One study revealed that over 187,000 flounder anglers flocked to our coastal fishing areas during a three week run. WOW!!
Easy to catch? You betcha! But like in anything else it’s best to have some knowledge prior to initiating your fishing efforts. I’ve seen everything from cane poles and snoopy rods used to the more efficient spinning and bait caster rigs. But preferences are for medium/light spinning or bait-casters spooled with 12 lb test monofilament lines. Some anglers prefer braided lines for ‘no-stretch’ action, but the mono lines will work just as good. Although flounder will hit spoons and top-water lures for the most part they are bottom feeders. So ‘think’ bottom rigs such as slip rigs, tandem rigs, or jig rigs.
The slip-rig is a bullet or egg shaped sinker with a hole through it. Slip your line through the hole then tie off on a barrel swivel. To the swivel tie on a 2 foot piece of lighter leader line (12 lb main line -use- 8 lb test leader) this allows for the lighter line to break off in case of snags saving you the cost of a sinker and swivel. To the leader tie on a #6 Aberdeen hook (wire-hook). The Aberdeen will bend out if snagged but can be re-bent into shape. Some old time anglers use #8 treble hooks, which WILL catch a lot of flounder; but trebles are easily swallowed and will kill undersized flounder, so it’s best not to use them. A tandem rig is plainly a bell sinker tied at the bottom end of the line with snelled, or leadered hooks tied 6 to 8 inches above the sinker. A jig-rig is simply two micro jigs (32nd to 16th ozs) tied in tandem and tipped with ½ inch strips of cut-bait.
The best baits for flounder is always live bait such as shrimp, small croaker, mud minnows, or finger mullet, with mud minnows being the best. Flounder will hit dead bait but live bait assures the better catches. Flounder are picky eaters for the most part and will ‘mouth’ or nibble at their food before deciding to eat it. They will almost always clamp their teeth on a live bait to kill it first before flipping it around to swallow it headfirst. When this happens the fish will start moving off, which is the signal for the angler to set the hook. When using jigs just set the hook at the first sign of a bite and you should have it hooked.
One very productive trick for catching these flatfish is to fan cast an area with slip-rigs and live minnows where the flounder may be staging. Cast out and let your minnow sit for a few minutes. Then every 3 minutes or so, slowly drag your bait about 2 to 3 foot and let sit again. Keep doing this within 5 foot spans. If your bait comes within 2 foot of a bottom laying flounder it will usually rush over to eat your minnow. The slip-rig allows the line to freely slip through the sinker without alerting the flounder, which in turn allows you time to set the hook before the fish feels any unnatural pressure.
Ultra lite tackle fanciers can also get in on the action with their âfairy-wand’ rigs and micro-jigs tipped with soft plastic baits or ½ inch strips of fresh cut-bait.(flounder belly strips are best) I use a 5ft Browning Gold Medallion ultra-lite rod with a Shakespeare ultra-lite rear drag spinning reel spooled with 4 lb test mono. YEP, that’s right â4â pound test’. As long as you don’t put any heavy pressure on the line and allow the drag (rear-drag control very important here) to do its work, the flounder are actually easier to catch. But this is done by wade-fishing hip-deep shallows, which allows you to finesse your presentations and landing skills.
Best fall flounder fishing areas for land-lubbers and boaters will be Rollover Pass located on Hwy-87 on the upper end of the Bolivar Peninsula, the north Galveston Jetty, the intra -coastal barge basin area located near the ferry landing, the South Galveston Jetty, Sea Wolf Park on Pelican Island, the concrete ship near Sea Wolf, Texas City Dike jutting some five miles out from Texas City, Dollar Reef, the Seabrook/Kemah area where Clear Lake empties into Galveston Bay, and San Luis Pass on the Galveston beach side and across the bridge on the Cold Pass side. The San Luis Pass RV park and the San Luis Pass Fishing Pier would be excellent choices as these two areas annually produces some of the largest flounder during the fall run that occurs from late September thru October to mid-November. I’ve personally seen more 6 to 8 lb ‘saddle-blanket’ flounder caught from San Luis Pass then from any other floundering spot.
It’s hard to grade a flounder’s taste when you don’t have any other fish that can match its incredible flavors, so I won’t even try. Once you’ve plated a flounder on your table you will be very well entertained by its delicate flavors and extremely fine taste. Lightly fried in tempura, broiled to a golden brown, deep fried in Cajun seasoning, smoker grilled with seafood stuffing, lightly sauted in virgin olive oil, or even deep-fried in your favorite beer batter recipe, the flounder becomes the ultimate seafood cuisine for your enjoyment.
Anglers must remember to have valid Texas fishing licenses as well as a saltwater stamp to be able to fish Texas coastal waters. Flounder must be at least 14 inches minimum to keep with a 10 fish daily creel allowed. Be sure to keep your catch on ice to preserve their fine eating qualities and you’ll be assured of a treat from one of Texas’ finest.
For Rollover Pass flounder reports call -North End Bait & Tackle-(409)-286-5067
For San Luis Pass flounder reports call – San Luis Pass RV Park- (979)-233-6026
For San Luis Pass Fishing Pier reports call- (979)-233-6902
This Ed Snyder/Outdoors Report sponsored by; Fishing World.com- The Stump Restaurant & Club- Bass Buster Inn– LSRPA-By: Ed Snyder / Ed Snyder Outdoors
