Tips for flounder fishing?

J

JustABaiteater

New Member
Hi lads,

I recently joined this forum for advice regarding flounder fishing.

I love catching those little buggers, but they always seem elusive and catching one larger one is already a good day for me. Especially this month has been bloody awful for me as I only caught the kiddies with no parents in sight. So I am wondering if there are any tips?
 
JustABaiteater said:
Hi lads,

I recently joined this forum for advice regarding flounder fishing.

I love catching those little buggers, but they always seem elusive and catching one larger one is already a good day for me. Especially this month has been bloody awful for me as I only caught the kiddies with no parents in sight. So I am wondering if there are any tips?
Click to expand...
Look for a sandy bottom.

What area are you fishing in?
 
From shore ? You will get a lot of small ones if that is the case, however try jigging a small lure in 30-70 ft of water if you have a boat. The bigger ones can be found on a Sand /mud bottom . Bait is optional ...but thinking back many years ago--- seaworms, mussels , a thin strip off a bullhead all work. And dont hesitate to move if you dont get anything . ( one other thing you might want to consider---- large starry flounders can get strong tasting .... )
 
My one buddy does well with a small hook , with bait, below a buzz bomb about a foot. As stated candy or gravel bottom, 60 to 100 feet or more. Try deeper/ move if getting small fish.
 
Hardy Guy said:
My one buddy does well with a small hook , with bait, below a buzz bomb about a foot. As stated candy or gravel bottom, 60 to 100 feet or more. Try deeper/ move if getting small fish.
Click to expand...
I don’t have a boat so casting from shore is the only option. But moving around is definitely a good idea
 
JustABaiteater said:
Barnet Marine Park, size 2 octopus hook. Chicken rig and 1 1/4 oz pencil weight.
Click to expand...
Grew up in the area and Barnett is a bit of a wasteland. i spent many days sun up - sun down at Belcarra wharf fishing for whatever i could catch. Summer is always going to be a better bet off the more shallow piers , but if you venture to Belcarra, fish off the left side of the dock. We used to fish from the Upper gangway and cast out to the left, its sand/eelgrass on that side. Dew worm on a 2 foot leader with a long shank bait hook, swivel to a half ounce or 3/4 ounce sliding weight is all you need. have caught all sorts of fish doing that there, all varieties of flounder( English sole , starrys, sand dab , rock sole ) /greenling ( painted and whitespotted) / herring/big searun cutthroat / pricklebacks/ big staghorn sculpins. Brings me back just talking about it!
 
Flat fish are surprisingly aggressive. From shore I would try a trout spinner or spoon slowly retrieved near the bottom on a low gradient beach.
 
From shore these will help you learn how to read the water. They’re geared more toward surf perch but still works for flat fish. These are awful dry, but they will help someone new. Warning, you can feel your brains dripping out your nose by the time you watch them all.




I think this is the right order in the series. Talks about fish holding and behavior in the areas you are looking for. More geared toward surf perch but also works well and is good info for flat fish too

This guy even though being an east coaster has a lot of flounder info in his videos. Flounder are flounder no matter where you find them.



Owl
 
JustABaiteater said:
Hi lads,

I recently joined this forum for advice regarding flounder fishing.

I love catching those little buggers, but they always seem elusive and catching one larger one is already a good day for me. Especially this month has been bloody awful for me as I only caught the kiddies with no parents in sight. So I am wondering if there are any tips?
Click to expand...
 
Flounder are suckers for any bait dragged along on the bottom. Lots of fun to catch. I would be surprised if you can catch anything in the winter months as they and the bullhead seem to move out in October or so. Best time for me was May September.
 
Haverodwilltravel said:
Flounder are suckers for any bait dragged along on the bottom. Lots of fun to catch. I would be surprised if you can catch anything in the winter months as they and the bullhead seem to move out in October or so. Best time for me was May September.
Click to expand...
I did catch some large English soles in December but nothing so far in Jan.
 
Haverodwilltravel said:
Try fishing for cutthroat in the mornings.
They use to ne around all the time.
Click to expand...
There are a lot of streams running into the Barnet Beach area. I used to fish there a lot in the late ‘60’s🤣. Anyhow, we fished at around where the Barnet Beach Marine Park is now. There used to be a place called “The Inlet View Motel “. We would cut through the property and make our way down to a floating dock and fish from there. In the mornings there were fish jumping when it was flat calm. We caught hundreds of flounder and bullhead.
 
Good thread gents.. Just want to make sure when DFO IREC survey you that you are putting the right species down as we have had a problem of them being misidentified as halibut :)
cheers
 
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