Flounder gigging

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firemancassidy
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Flounder gigging

Post by firemancassidy »

Im going Flounder gigging thursday night at the back side of san luis pass. Any suggestions, should I do good, anyone wanna go?
Jon
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Milkjug
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Re: Flounder gigging

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You should do good. SLP is a good spot because it has so much shallow sand bottom for gigging at any tide level. Be careful driving down there. As long as the wind isn't howling and you're willing to do some walking, you should get your limit.

I've been limiting out consistantly when the wind and tide are right. Gotta make up for that lost time in November :P I use the kayak to haul around my stuff and jump to islands and skip over muddy or gigged-over spots.

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brianb
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Re: Flounder gigging

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that is a beautiful picture...bring a tear to my eye.
I have not caught a flounder yet in Texas
Even the fish hate yankee's.... :roll:
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Night Wing
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Re: Flounder gigging

Post by Night Wing »

That photo is a sight for sore eyes. :D Plenty of great eating there. Fried, baked or stuffed. It doesn't get any better when it comes to flounder.
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brianb
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Re: Flounder gigging

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when we going nightwing....we need dinner and pics too
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brianb
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Re: Flounder gigging

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I don't get this GIGGING??, Well I get it, but where do you go??? All the water i see here in Texas is dirty, you can not see a thing. Am i just looking in the wrong areas????
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Re: Flounder gigging

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brianb wrote:I don't get this GIGGING??, Well I get it, but where do you go??? All the water i see here in Texas is dirty, you can not see a thing. Am i just looking in the wrong areas????
You'll do better gigging if you pick a night where there is good vertical water movement on a good outgoing tide. I only gig on nights with a good falling tide with at least a one foot or more of vertical water movement. I also try to go on nights where the wind speed is not too bad. I learned to gig for flounder at night at Rollover Bay on the Bolivar Peninsula when I came to Texas. If you can find some sahllow water with a sandy bottom with some structure like pier pilings or near drains, then you'll see flounder beds. One of the best places to gig for flounder this time of the year is near the mouth of the San Bernard River where it empties into the Gulf of Mexico. The water is shallow, the bottom is not too muddy and the water is quite clear. The wind is the only thing that can mess that up.
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Re: Flounder gigging

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Thanks. That pic was from 2 weeks ago. Conditions were as good as it gets. We had a lull between cold fronts where the wind stayed reasonable for some days of the week. We also had a low tide in the evening, which is IMO, the best tide for gigging. I don't care if it's going down or coming up, as long as its low. Gigging is all about covering ground, which is much harder when the water is deep.

I hit it 3 days in a row and limited each time. Took a while to clean them at the end of it all, but its good to get some meat in the freezer. Deboned the 3 biggest for stuffing, gutted and scaled the 3 smallest for baking whole, filleted all the rest. Vacuum sealed them and I'm good to go.

The next day. Girlfriend even got one.
Image

The day after that. (starting to look a bit tired, haha.)
Image

Took a buddy out for his first gigging trip that evening. Took some coordination with two people, but he had some success.
Image

Man, this is getting me worked up again. I think I'm gonna give it one last hard effort this week before I focus my attention on the ducks.

Brian, as far as locations, I already gave you a good one (SLP). The fact that it is a pass is a big plus this time of year (although it is balanced out by the increase in pressure). SLP is good gigging from mid spring until early winter. You are on the right track by hitting it up on a weekday, and your timing is good since Friday brings the passage of another front (bad news for S. shoreline gigging and water clarity in general). A good tactic for front timing is to look at the weather for somewhere N. of Galveston. For example, if I see that the front has hit Conroe, I know I have about 4 hours or so until it hits Galveston. Since it's often calm immediately before a front, this is the golden hour. SLP is no secret spot, so get there as the sun goes down so you don't gig in someone's footsteps.

As far as finding your own spot, I just go fishing to scout. I'll keep my eye out for shallow areas. Make a note of what wind direction protects that place. Firm sand bottom is a big plus. Proximity to deep channels is a plus. Proximity to grass is a plus. Wait until conditions are good (low wind, or moderate wind that the spot is protected from, and low tide if the spot was deeper than mid-shin). Hit it up and go stab your defensless sleeping fish. :lol:
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Re: Flounder gigging

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You'll do better gigging if you pick a night where there is good vertical water movement on a good outgoing tide. I only gig on nights with a good falling tide with at least a one foot or more of vertical water movement
We also had a low tide in the evening, which is IMO, the best tide for gigging. I don't care if it's going down or coming up, as long as its low. Gigging is all about covering ground, which is much harder when the water is deep.
No I'M right! :lol: Good 'ol TKF. Where else could you go for a 1st and 2nd opinion minutes apart :wink:
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brianb
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Re: Flounder gigging

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Milk...if i ever have kid....may he be as cool as you!!!!!!!!!!!!! :clap:
Yo da bomb, if your interested, be there Friday, if the front doesn't make the ocean all rough, I'm gonna try BTB outside the pass o that sand bar the wade and yak book talks about...hopefully get some thing large and fun.
Hit me up if your interested,

I got all weekend to kill stuff....woooooohoooooo!!!!
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Re: Flounder gigging

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Milk...if i ever have kid....may he be as cool as you
God help him if he does. Image
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Re: Flounder gigging

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Milkjug wrote:
You'll do better gigging if you pick a night where there is good vertical water movement on a good outgoing tide. I only gig on nights with a good falling tide with at least a one foot or more of vertical water movement
We also had a low tide in the evening, which is IMO, the best tide for gigging. I don't care if it's going down or coming up, as long as its low. Gigging is all about covering ground, which is much harder when the water is deep.
No I'M right! :lol: Good 'ol TKF. Where else could you go for a 1st and 2nd opinion minutes apart :wink:
I was just "a little quicker on the draw" than you were. :wink:
VaniaTownsley
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Re: Flounder gigging

Post by VaniaTownsley »

I like bolivar peninsula, eagle pass (if you gotta boat with a 2 stroke) and east matagorda around 4th cut. I’m going tonight or tomorrow wind lays down nice according to the meteorologists.
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