Dept. of Wild: Hit and Run Flounder

Flounder are the most finicky fish we pursue on the Gulf Coast.

Snook will probably top them in terms of being overall aloof but the many strikes of a flounder are unique and represent entirely different things in their feeding dynamic.

A number of years ago I was given some footage by the University of Texas Marine Science Institute to look at regarding flounder feeding. My friend Jeff Kaiser a biologist there said some of the writings on flounder matched up to behavior with captive populations. The clip that truly blew my mind was this one of a flounder hitting the sardine put into the tank and quickly running off with it.

Captive settings are NOT exactly like wild settings but the behavior of fish is not much different in many cases than in the wild. Seeing this footage reminded me of how flounder occasionally responded with a hit and run type of action. Most flounder hit and sit. Some hit and run. This video shows how understanding this could lead you to more flounder.

In many ways they are a vastly underrated species with very little written (other than the late A.C. Becker and me) about their unique traits and behavior. I know there is a lot of knowledge of flounder out there among you so please feel free to share tips with us.

After watching the video ask yourself a few questions.

Have you experienced similar things with flounder?

What other odd strikes have you gotten?

How will you apply this to your fishing?

E-mail me at cmoore@fishgame.com and let me know what you think and how you plan to catch more and bigger flatfish during the coming months.

(The Department of Wild is a unique video series seeking to dig deep into the behavior of wildlife. Wildlife expert and TF&G Editor-In-Chief Chester Moore has a deep passion for wildlife and weekly he hits the field to seek out the most unique video opportunities to present here at fishgame.com.)