Fishing for Flounder

How to catch some of the tastiest fish in Louisiana

~Calcasieu Lake Flounder update August 2011~

Flounder are being caught at the southern end of the lake and in the mud flats along the ship channel, right against the banks in 1 foot of water early in the morning. Many are being caught at the Cameron jetties too.

     As with any other saltwater fish, the flounder will usually feed most when the tide is moving.  I've found that a slowly rising tide is usually best, but they can be caught on a falling tide, especially at the edge of a weedy marsh.  I prefer light to medium tackle when fishing for flounder because it's more fun. I think it gives me the best chance for catching fish.

     Flounder will bite artificial lures or natural bait. They are usually found on mud flats or in the Intercoastal canal, near Lake Calcasieu. However, many large flounder can be taken by rod and reel in almost any portion of any southern bay. The Cameron jetties or mud flat edges of the Calcasieu ship channel also are productive flounder fishing spots.  Flounder don't normally swim continuously so they tend to accumulate in such places in their search for food. The mouths of small bayous and sloughs often yield flounder, particularly on a slowly falling tide.

    During the spawning season, they all come out of the marsh and head out into the Gulf to spawn.  This usually occurs in late fall or early winter in Louisiana. It's a great time to fish near the Cameron jetties because the ship channel will be full of flounder.

Flounder Tackle

     I prefer light tackle, so I use my speckled trout rig, a fast tipped 7 foot light saltwater casting or spinning rod ( I prefer Castaway rods), with a Shimano Calcutta 200A bait-casting reel or one of their 2500 series spinning reels.  Normally I use 14-pound test mono line. Terminal tackle is usually a #3-5 circle hook on a 12 inch steel leader with as light a weight as I can get by with, depending upon the current speed at the time.  It must stay on or near the bottom because that's where the flounder like to lie in in ambush.

     If using a 1/4 oz jig head with a small 3 inch finger mullet or live shrimp, slowly move the bait on and off the bottom....which should be a mud flat, clear of grasses.

    A Flounder's strike is usually ( but not always)  subtle, and sometimes it just feels like maybe your sinker is hung in some weeds. The trick to catching more flounder is NOT to set the hook right away. Sometimes the flounder already has the bait in his mouth, and will swim a few feet before trying to swallow the bait. If you set the hook when too early, you’ll miss him.  That said, I've also had large Southern Flounder slam a live shrimp hard when using on a 1/4 oz jighead.  This happened more than once while fishing the SE corner of where the Calcasieu ship channel and the Intercoastal canal meet. That's a muddy corner and during a moving tide, you can catch all types of saltwater fish by sitting on that spot and being patient.  Just let the tide pull your bait around the corner.

     As for using circle hooks, you never really set the hook while using them.  Just start reeling. The circle hook does all the work and ends up in the corner of the fish's mouth.

Flounder Bait

      I like live finger mullet between 3 and 4 inches long. Mud minnows and live shrimp work too.  Work an area where the water is moving on an outgoing tide. I look for the areas around structure that provide a break to the water movement – areas that create an eddy. This is where the flounder will lay and wait for an ambush. Breaks at the edge of a grassy marsh are excellent spots....such as those in Oyster Bayou, the southern entrance to West Cove. They often will strike out at moving baitfish into the current and move back to their relative safety.  Work the mullet along the bottom slowly, casting past the eddy and dragging the bait across. I will do this from several angles, looking to draw a strike.  Even a small gold spoon will work in these areas.  I've even caught flounder on the Texas coast using a rattle trap.

     Southern flounder eat a wide variety of food items, including shrimp, mullet, anchovies, croaker, and pogies. When southern flounder feed on fish, they seem to prefer smaller fish. Unlike most predatory fish which eat larger fish as they get larger, flounder just eat higher numbers of small fish.  Keep that in mind while fishing for flounder and selecting your hook size.

    I hope these few flounder fishing tips help you catch more fish. Thanks for visiting me. 

Until next time...

Go catch some flounder this weekend and try my stuffed flounder recipe.

~Froggy~

Part Time Louisiana Food critic and beach bum in training.