# Big flounder during the "Dog days of Summer"



## Redfish Rick (Aug 27, 2004)

The last 6 nights of flounder gigging have been incredible, and customers are making great memories gigging at night, while avoiding the mid-summer heat. Limits in 2-3 hours have been happening every night lately, with lots of clear water and fish easy to see on most trips. The size of the fish this week was really impressive, with the majority of the flounder in the 17-24" range. Already low tide levels have been dropping lower each night over the last week, with water levels reaching extreme summer lows we haven't seen in several years. Winds have been steady South at 10-20mph most nights, making for some choppy open water gigging. Fish have been holding on hard sand near deeper water, often 50-100 yards from shore and around outer sandbars. Things are looking very good going into August, with lots of fat healthy flounder moving around on the flats each night.

*7/25/2017*
I had the Brian L. group of 3 onboard tonight. Conditions were fair, with SSE wind at 10-15mph and low tide level. We ended with a 15 flounder limit plus 1 sheesphead by 10:45pm (1 hour 45 minutes of gigging)

*7/26/2017*
I had the Ronnie M. group of 4 onboard tonight. Conditions were fair, with SSE wind at 10-15mph and low tide level. We ended with a 20 flounder limit plus 1 sheesphead by 10:45pm (1 hour 45 minutes of gigging)

*7/27/2017*
I had the Trey T. group of 6 onboard tonight. Conditions were fair, with SSE wind at 10-15mph and low tide level. We ended with a 30 flounder limit by 11:50pm (3 hours of gigging).

*7/28/2017 - Double Trip*
For the first trip tonight, I had the Nick M. group of 5 onboard. Conditions were poor, with South wind at 15-20mph and low tide level. We ended with a 25 flounder limit by 11:20pm (2 hours 20 minutes of gigging). The largest flounder on this trip was 22".

For the late trip tonight, I had the Brian group of 2 onboard, leaving the dock at 12:45am. Conditions were poor, with SSW wind at 15-20mph and low tide level. We ended with a 10 flounder limit plus 1 black drum and 1 sheesphead by 3am (2 hours of gigging). The largest flounder on this trip was 24".

*7/29/2017*
I had the Malcolm G. group of 6 onboard tonight. Conditions were marginal, with South wind at 10-20mph and extreme low tide level. We ended with a 30 flounder limit by midnight (3 hours of gigging). The largest flounder tonight was 22".

*7/30/2017*
I had the Jimmy B. group of 5 onboard tonight, including his 7 year old and twin 8 year old sons who did all of the gigging tonight. Conditions were nice, with SSE wind at 5-10mph and extreme low tide level. We ended with a 25 flounder limit by 11:45pm (3 hours of gigging). We had 8 fish over 20" tonight, and the boys did a great job spotting and gigging the big flounder.

*Upcoming open dates for the remainder of 2017:
August: 23, 27-30
September: 7, 10-13, 17-21, 24-27
October: 1-5, 7-10, 12, 19, 22-24, 29
November: closed season
December: 11-14, 16, 18-23, 27-31*

Prices: $450 for 2 people, $100 each additional person, up to 6 people

Capt. Rick Hammond
Night Stalker Guide Service - Rockport, Texas
 nightstalkerguideservice.com
361-229-6053


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## Redfish Rick (Aug 27, 2004)

*more pictures*

more pictures


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## Redfish Rick (Aug 27, 2004)

*Rising tide and moving flounder*

The last 3 nights of flounder gigging have been good, with limits in 2-4 hours each night. The tide levels have been on the rise quickly the last few nights, making each night a new challenge with the rising water levels. Areas that were hot one night have been dead the next, and fish have been rapidly moving to new areas, following the bait. With rising water levels and moving fish, trips the last 3 nights have started slow. As each trip progressed, I noticed the prevailing pattern for that night and made my moves accordingly, resulting in full limits and happy clients each night.

*7/31/2017*
I had the Dennis R. group of 2 onboard tonight. Conditions were nice with East wind at 5-15mph and extreme low tide levels. Things started slow, with 2 fish in the first hour, and a hard falling tide pushing most of the fish and bait off the shallow flats. After making 3 moves, we dialed in on the fish over deep mud bottom in 2-4' of water near major deep-water drop-offs. We ended with a 10 flounder limit by 11:15pm ( 2 hours 15 minutes of gigging), and the largest fish was 22".

*8/1/2017*
I had the Brandon H. group of 4 onboard tonight. Conditions were ideal, with SE wind at 5-10mph and slightly low tide level. With a hard rising tide, we found lots of murky dirty water early, doing the best we could to gig a few fish. After 2 hours of gigging, we had 12 flounder, not a bad start, but slow compared to recent nights... We made another move, and it was on over deep hard sand bottom. We gigged our last 8 fish for a limit here in 10 minutes. We ended with a 20 flounder limit by 11:20pm ( 2 hours 20 minutes of gigging).

*8/2/2017*
I had the Corey Z. group of 7 onboard tonight (1 person along for the ride, not gigging). Conditions were ideal, with ENE wind at 5mph and normal tide level. We had a good start tonight, gigging 10 fish in the first hour in murky water. After that, things got slow, and we moved around a bunch looking for fish. Lots of good areas with clear water were devoid of life tonight, and we covered a bunch of ground with no fish to show. At 12:30am, we had 14 flounder, and made yet another move. The last spot was the ticket, with fish holding deep in groups over hard sand bottom in 2-3' of water. We ended with a 30 flounder limit by 1:30am (4 hours 30 minutes of gigging).

*Upcoming open dates for remainder of 2017:
August: 9, 28, 29.
September: 7, 10-13, 17-21, 24-27
October: 1-5, 9, 10, 12, 22-24, 29
November: closed season
December: 11-14, 16, 18-23, 27-31*

Prices: $450 for 2 people, $100 each additional person, up to 6 people

Capt. Rick Hammond
Night Stalker Guide Service - Rockport, Texas
 nightstalkerguideservice.com
361-229-6053


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