Flounder gigging 9/8/16

[Spoonbill]

I've been wanting to get back out and gig for so long, but I've had truck problems, then the nights I COULD go the winds were stronger than I like. Finally got to go early this A.M.

Usually I take a single, barb-less gig. My dad left his smaller, 3-prong, barbed gig at my house last time, so I decided to use it. South shoreline, S wind at 3-8, maybe up to 10 at times. Water was pretty clear, tide was a bit high.

Gigged my first about 30 minutes in. I have a system for transferring them to the stringer, but fiddling around with the new gig the flounder spazzed out and two of the prongs jabbed into my forearm. Barb-deep . One took a quick hard yank to get out, and I thought great, trips over. Throbbed a bit, but it wasn't bleeding much, and it hit muscle not vein, so I was good to continue.

Saw a coupla dozen 4"-8" flounder scattered about. Normally I don't see that many tiny ones. For several minutes a pelican tailed me a few yards back, taking advantage of my light to scoop up fish. I see the neatest things when gigging, and it's very peaceful out there.

Anyway, over the next 3 hours I passed on about 7 or 8 borderline flounder. Ended up with a small group (15",16",16",17", and 18"), plus a couple of blue crabs. One crab was over 18" claw to claw, it's in the steamer right now.

[TigerLandSportsman]

Very nice report

Still something I need to try.

[Yaklash]

Wow, that's determination, hey, no blood, no foul....

Nice crab, a meal for one dang near.

[Spoonbill]

I steamed the 2 crabs, and picked out the meat to weigh. Very surprisingly, it was 16 full ounces

Got about 5.5# of meat from the 20 boneless, skinless flounder filets, which is about what I expected.

[TigerLandSportsman]

What areas do you look for when it come to flounder gigging?

[lahai1dj]

Nice! What does your kayak set up look like (lights, anchor, etc)? I may like to try this.

[Spoonbill]

What areas do you look for when it come to flounder gigging?

Prefer sandy bottom, not too much mud, not too much shell. Winds under 10 mph. Seems to me when there's a lot of moonlight, the flounder move around more, whereas on other nights they stay pat more.

I'm in Friendswood, and don't like to drive more than at most an hour or so for fish, so might go as far down as Follett's, or all the way up to north Trinity Bay. I think maybe the best way to find spots is, when you are out fishing, make note of all the spots you could comfortably wadefish up to your waist, that don't have a ton of shell. Also, a lot of times I'll check tides online. If it's gonna be ripping, then there's a good chance the water will be a little dirtier than you'd like, or the ripples on top will mess up visibility.

Nice! What does your kayak set up look like (lights, anchor, etc)? I may like to try this.

I don't gig from my yak, I wade. Yak is good for carrying cooler and stuff, and paddling between spots. My yak is a 10' Pelican, can't stand up in it. Otherwise I probably would rig up some yak lights.

You might have a good open spot for gigging, then it might be mud/grass/shell for hundreds of yards or more, so you can paddle over those to the next spot.

Gig gear includes gig, light set up I made myself (PVC handle down to two LED lights, wired to a 12V deer feeder battery I carry in a small backpack), stringer with carabiner, boots, headlamp, and sometimes a bait bucket if I wanna get blue crabs. And maybe a can of mosquito spray.

When I first started, I carried a small stick measured to 14". I could actually reach down and measure the fish. After just a few fish you can pretty accurately guess fish length within a half inch.

[Imjustziggy]

Thanks for all that info Spoonbill, I'm currently gathering gear for gigging and can't wait to go try it out. Have been reading and looking at maps but haven't pulled the trigger on going gigging yet.

[lahai1dj]

Thanks for all that info Spoonbill, I'm currently gathering gear for gigging and can't wait to go try it out. Have been reading and looking at maps but haven't pulled the trigger on going gigging yet.

I'm planning to go this weekend if you want to join me. I'm also in Central Houston (Rice Military).

[Yaklash]

Thanks for all that info Spoonbill, I'm currently gathering gear for gigging and can't wait to go try it out. Have been reading and looking at maps but haven't pulled the trigger on going gigging yet.

Spoonbill gave out some really good info, and the examples he gave for where he heads to find those types of bottom are dead on. I'd add that the south shoreline of West Galveston Bay, from Terramar Beach subdivision, all the way to SLP, has such sandy bottom, along with another trait I look for when hunting flounder - rod and reel or gigging - and that is the "washboard" effect. It is common where the bottom is hard sand and comes from wind waves. These ripples form a series of guts and bars and flounder love to sit down in the low guts and wait for bait to come by. That part of West Bay is riddled with washboard bottom. The trouble is finding access to a lot of it.

It may be a little early yet for the flounder to be stacked up out there on the bay flats, but there are flounder in those ripples from spring run to fall run; just not as many as will be there once the run kicks into gear.

Also, there are a few videos out there that cover the more specific act of sticking a flounder, in case you've never done it. The key is to put the gig under the water's surface first, and then hover over the flounder's head before you make the stab. I suggest you look on YouTube for some of those videos.

And get going!! You only have a month and a half before gigging gets shut down in November.