TexasKayakFisherman.com

Has anyone been this year yet? I got some vacation days coming up and I thinking about participating in this year's flounder run.

Yep. Waded both sides.
People only catching one or two each and they have been small. Only a few keepers. The weather is not set to change drastically to make the bigger females leave the marshes and bays. When the water is about 69 degrees you can bet to find them everywhere. Next week it gets a little cool but not cool enough to change the water temp and the winds are still from the south and east. When they are predominately from the north that is a good sign to don the waders!
Good luck.

kickingback wrote:Yep. Waded both sides.
People only catching one or two each and they have been small. Only a few keepers. The weather is not set to change drastically to make the bigger females leave the marshes and bays. When the water is about 69 degrees you can bet to find them everywhere. Next week it gets a little cool but not cool enough to change the water temp and the winds are still from the south and east. When they are predominately from the north that is a good sign to don the waders!
Good luck.

Thanks for your response. I was torn between hauling the kayak and finding them or just going to Seawolf and either wading or fishing from the pier. I'll keep an eye on the weather and see what it does between now and then. If I'm going to be limited to a 2 per day limit, I want to find some 17-18+ inchers.

On size, as long as you're using lures, you should be able to catch & release to get some bigger fish, but Seawolf before the end of November is usually just a run of small to medium flounder. The bigger fish are still hanging tight or just now starting the trek. Seawolf is near the end of the voyage.

The other places I'd suggest if going later this week is any flat that has several (or numerous) good sized marsh drains emptying onto it. Jones Bay, West Bay, East Bay. Also, the levee shoreline between Dollar and the Moses Gates can be good this time of year and for another month.

Yaklash wrote:On size, as long as you're using lures, you should be able to catch & release to get some bigger fish, but Seawolf before the end of November is usually just a run of small to medium flounder. The bigger fish are still hanging tight or just now starting the trek. Seawolf is near the end of the voyage.

The other places I'd suggest if going later this week is any flat that has several (or numerous) good sized marsh drains emptying onto it. Jones Bay, West Bay, East Bay. Also, the levee shoreline between Dollar and the Moses Gates can be good this time of year and for another month.

Appreciate that advice. I guess I won't really know much until the weather does whatever it does. My vacation starts the 17th and will run through the week of Thanksgiving. I never been to Dollar and Moses Gates. Heard it was dangerous if you're not careful so I've stayed away from it. I have a Hook N Line Map, I'll have to look at that area.

Jhol0988 wrote: I never been to Dollar and Moses Gates. Heard it was dangerous if you're not careful so I've stayed away from it. I have a Hook N Line Map, I'll have to look at that area.

The danger at the Moses Lake Gates is the tidal flow in and out. Once you are 100 yards away or so down that shoreline, the tidal flow strength is diminished to where you'll hardly notice if you don't know what to look for. That gate is not what I was suggesting. Between the gate and Dollar Point (at the big bend in the road on Skyline Drive, the road from the base of the Texas City Dike out to the gate), there's about a mile and a half of shoreline that will have a steady trickle of flounder this time of year. Don't take your kayak, because it's not worth the trouble. Hard sand bottom makes for easy wading and the worst part is you have to walk down a hill (the levee wall) and over about 15 feet of rocks to get to the water. It can be a bit tricky, but only if you're fat and out of shape like I am and I don't let that stop me.

The flounder will be anywhere from right up against the rocks or in between the ones that are scattered out into the sand bottom, to out 10-15 yards from shore. I have waded all the way out to where it has a drop-off and never caught one out there, so I never wade deeper than knee to mid-thigh deep any more. I am tall tho, so that may be mid-thigh to waste deep for others. I throw Gulp! Swimming Mullet on Buggs jig-heads and will usually catch 8-10 fish and keep anything bigger than 17" or 18"

I always appreciate the advice Yaklash. Lugging my kayak around has been an issue since I was rear-ended by a sturdy Tundra truck. Trying to hit up some shore-fishing spots since then.

Yaklash wrote:

Jhol0988 wrote: I never been to Dollar and Moses Gates. Heard it was dangerous if you're not careful so I've stayed away from it. I have a Hook N Line Map, I'll have to look at that area.

The danger at the Moses Lake Gates is the tidal flow in and out. Once you are 100 yards away or so down that shoreline, the tidal flow strength is diminished to where you'll hardly notice if you don't know what to look for. That gate is not what I was suggesting. Between the gate and Dollar Point (at the big bend in the road on Skyline Drive, the road from the base of the Texas City Dike out to the gate), there's about a mile and a half of shoreline that will have a steady trickle of flounder this time of year. Don't take your kayak, because it's not worth the trouble. Hard sand bottom makes for easy wading and the worst part is you have to walk down a hill (the levee wall) and over about 15 feet of rocks to get to the water. It can be a bit tricky, but only if you're fat and out of shape like I am and I don't let that stop me.

The flounder will be anywhere from right up against the rocks or in between the ones that are scattered out into the sand bottom, to out 10-15 yards from shore. I have waded all the way out to where it has a drop-off and never caught one out there, so I never wade deeper than knee to mid-thigh deep any more. I am tall tho, so that may be mid-thigh to waste deep for others. I throw Gulp! Swimming Mullet on Buggs jig-heads and will usually catch 8-10 fish and keep anything bigger than 17" or 18"

I definitely appreciate that advice. I will likely visit that spot when I'm off. I'm right at 6'0 so I'm all for knee to thigh water. Hopefully I'll have a nice report for y'all when I go. Don't really feel like hauling my kayak around right now, so I'll avoid it if I can.

Should have listened to Yaklash and gone to Dollar Point on Friday. A friend and I went to Seawolf since we thought the cold front mid-week would move the flounder.

Was mostly mistaken. We got there a little later in the morning than previously planned and got skunked. Didn't see anyone catch flounder past 8 am and it was crowded. Solitude and serenity at Dollar Point would have been better.

SWP got insanely crowded last few years, especially on weekends. I don't go there anymore.

Crusader wrote:SWP got insanely crowded last few years, especially on weekends. I don't go there anymore.

All of the easily accessible walk-in wade spots get to be mad-houses during the flounder run. One reason I went out and scouted some alternatives. I don't mind sharing them because the vast majority of people I would like to avoid are not the types that would visit this site or even know what it is. Sharing is caring with my TKF brethren.

Rollover used to be as big of a mad-house as any place during the run because you don't even have to get in the water there. Last time I went there during the run was the first time I experienced the full baby diapers next to an empty trash can....SMFH. I haven't been there during the flounder run since....probably more than 20 years. Seawolf probably a little over 10 years.

Yaklash wrote:

Crusader wrote:SWP got insanely crowded last few years, especially on weekends. I don't go there anymore.

All of the easily accessible walk-in wade spots get to be mad-houses during the flounder run. One reason I went out and scouted some alternatives. I don't mind sharing them because the vast majority of people I would like to avoid are not the types that would visit this site or even know what it is. Sharing is caring with my TKF brethren.

Rollover used to be as big of a mad-house as any place during the run because you don't even have to get in the water there. Last time I went there during the run was the first time I experienced the full baby diapers next to an empty trash can....SMFH. I haven't been there during the flounder run since....probably more than 20 years. Seawolf probably a little over 10 years.

It's even hard to find a place to use a boat in the channel (Ship Channel between Lower Galveston and SWP...

The biggest part of the run will happen with water temps around 58.. 69 will help but really need a strong norther with NW or N winds and dropping temperatures.