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| This beefy flounder was taken on fly in the surf off Manasota Key. |
Now,
that doesn’t mean for a second that I’m not succeeding or just aimlessly
casting a lure. Not at all.
What it
means is that I’m targeting flounder, a
strange looking fish that’s both a strong fighter and delicious. There aren’t
many fish around that can top flounder on the table.
Most
people don’t think you can purposely fish for flounder in this part of the
world. But, obviously, you can.
I
learned about targeting flounder when I first arrived in Florida in 1971. I
would fish the waters in and around East Pass near Destin. I figured out that
if you drag anything tasty slowly along the bottom, sooner of later and
flounder would latch onto it.
And
that’s particularly true in November when the flat fish gather in numbers along
sand bottoms on the edge of grass flats, channel and potholes.
For
this type of fishing, I prefer to use a combination of light jig heads and soft
plastics. I most often will use a D.O.A. CAL 1/16-ounce jig head with a D.O.A.
paddle tail or MirrOlure Little John.
Key to
success is allowing the lure to drop to the bottom and s-l-o-w-l-y retrieving
it; the slower the better.
When a
flounder takes your lure, it will feel as if you’re hung up. Your instinct is
jerk your lure loose from the snag.
Don’t!
Simply
pull back slowly. Most often, the flounder will respond by pulling back, too.
That’s when you set the hook.
The
battle won’t start until the flounder sees the kayak. When it does, it will dig
for the bottom and pull line from the reel.
You can
identify a flounder long before you see it by its fight. The fish will stay
deep and hug the bottom. At first, it will come in easily.
Flounder
are ambush attackers. They lie along the bottom and attack unsuspecting prey as
it swims by. Flounder are naturally camouflaged and blend into the sand, grass
or gravel nicely.
I
prefer to use medium-light to medium spinning rods. I like braided line because
of its sensitivity. I like 8- or 10-pound PowerPro or Fins.
In
southwest Florida, we have two species of flounder: summer and gulf. Summer
flounder are the most common. They’re also the largest species, averaging 2-4
pounds. Florida and world record is 20 pounds, 9 ounces.
Gulf
flounder can easily be identified by three distinctive eye-like spots on its
back. Southern flounder do not have these “eye” spots. Gulf flounder average a
pound and reach 5 pounds or slightly larger.
No
matter what species you catch, flounder are arguably the tastiest fish in our
bays. Of course, they’re great fried, but I try to stay away from fried food.
I
prefer to sauté fillets in olive oil with lemon juice, garlic and chopped
onion.
It’s
flounder time in southwest Florida.
