Six Tips For Late Summer Flounder

Right now can be a challenging time to catch them as they seemingly lie dormant during summer’s hottest days but you can catch them.

Here are a few tips.

Small Diet: Big flounder can eat bigger fish than smaller ones but they often do not. Unlike speckled trout, which start seeking out bigger baitfish than their smaller counterparts do, flounder are opportunists that eat what is presented them and typically just keeping eating more of the same size prey.

Deep Dwelling: The biggest flounder tend to hang out in close proximity to deep water. Target a large percentage of efforts toward deep-water access points in ship channels and in areas where passes and channels intersect with bays. This is true year-round.

Territorial: Tagging studies have shown flounder are at least semi territorial and this author believes they stay in a small area throughout their tenure in the bays. If you have lost a big flounder in a certain spot keeping going back there. Chances are the fish is still close by.

Strikes: Do not think the biggest flounder will hit the hardest. Actually, many times the biggest fish hit the lightest because their mouths are large enough to take in a bait. The flounder’s throat is not large enough however to easily swallow a big baitfish so give any flounder 15-20 seconds when you are purposely seeking out the big ones and do not ignore what seem like tiny taps. That might be the next state record.

Line Shy: All flounder are line shy when the water is clear but big flounder are super line shy. Always use fluorocarbon leaders or pure fluorocarbon line is you can see more than about 18 inches in the water when in pursuit of monster flatfish.

Chumming: If you are fishing deep water where you have shallow flowing to deep or into a tidal marsh pool you cannot reach consider chumming. It is possible to bring flounder to you and in areas where their numbers are not necessarily high this can be an advantage. Flounder have large olfactory glands that allow them to smell so give chumming a try and see if you can bring in the big ones.

Chester Moore