# Old School Flounder



## Redfish Rick (Aug 27, 2004)

The wind has been an nagging companion over the last month, making for very tough flounder gigging conditions most nights. I had to cancel my last 3 nights trips due to roaring winds at 25-30mph, making it unsafe to cross any open water. Tonight offered a small break in the wind, blowing South at 20, and I took full advantage of the opportunity. With the tide and water conditions holding nicely, I tried an area that has not produced any fish yet this year. This area used to be my #1 honey hole for flounder 8-10 years ago, but has gone cold for the last 2-3 years. Starting down the shoreline at dusk, we quickly started seeing beds and gigging nice size flounder. It was like seeing an old friend after a long time, and it felt really good to know the flounder were back in the area, after 3 years of absolutely nothing. As we continued, things just kept getting better, with a couple 22" fish hitting the box. And just like the "good old days" of 10 fish limits, we gigged a 30 fish limit for 6 people shortly after midnight.

The wind forecast going into the holiday weekend looks promising with SE 5-10mph from Thursday-Sunday. If the tides stay high or near normal, the gigging is going to get unreal, as we can work deeper sandbars and reefs where the big girls hide during the summer.

*6/30/2014*
I had longtime customer Ralph P. group of 6 on the boat tonight, including his son and 4 of his grandchildren. Wind conditions were poor, with 20mph South wind and normal tide levels. We quickly found the fish right away, gigging 3 in the first few minutes. The fish were very active tonight, with lots of beds and a bunch of fish swimming around on the flats. The water was clear, making it much easier to spot fish through the surface ripples from the gusty winds. Most of the fish tonight were buried in deep mud and sand, and were hard to see at times. We gigged a 30 flounder limit in just under 4 hours, with the average size of 18". The 2 largest flounder of the night were 22", and the smallest was 16".

Capt. Rick Hammond
Night Stalker Guide Service - Rockport, Texas
Flounder Gigging - Bay Fishing - Duck Hunting
361-727-0045
www.nightstalkerguideservice.com

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## Redfish Rick (Aug 27, 2004)

*Back to Back 30 fish limits*

*7/1/2014 - Back to Back 30 fish limits*

Tonight was night #2 for the Ralph P. group, with 6 people on the boat tonight, including his daughter and 4 grandchildren. Conditions were good tonight, with SE wind at 15, laying to less than 5mph by 11pm, and a low outgoing tide. Tonight started off a little slow, with only 11 fish in the first 3 hours. The low falling tide had many fish staying in deeper dirty water and not eager to head shallow. At 11:30pm, the wind went dead calm, and I told the customers things were about to get "Nasty" for the flounder. We made a quick move to a windward North shoreline, and it was ON!!! We gigged our last 19 flounder in 45 minutes, with the best action on big fish I have seen yet this year. We finished out our 30 fish limit by 1:00am, with most of the fish in the 18-20" range.

For the lucky few who booked trips in the next few days.... It looks like we are going to catch a nice wind break over the next 4-5 days, with winds forecasted below 10mph every night through Sunday. If you get a chance, come see how good the flounder gigging is in Rockport. Dates are filling fast, but I still have a few weekdays open in late July, and even a few weekend dates open in August.

Capt. Rick Hammond
Night Stalker Guide Service - Rockport, Texas
Flounder Gigging - Bay Fishing - Duck Hunting
361-727-0045
www.nightstalkerguideservice.com

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## Redfish Rick (Aug 27, 2004)

*Low tide limits*

*7/2/2014*
I had the Sean C. group of 3 on the boat tonight. Conditions were good, with SE wind at 10-15 and a very low tide. We found the fish scattered over grass flats with deep sand potholes. The water started off very dirty, but cleared up fast as the tide went slack. The water got clear enough at one point to gig a couple fish in 4' of water, in deep sand pockets. We gigged our 15 fish limit by 11:45pm, with the average size of 17".


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## Redfish Rick (Aug 27, 2004)

*Double trip - big flounder showing on calm winds*

*7/3/2014 - Double Trip - Best night in many years...*
I ran 2 gigging trips tonight. Conditions were perfect with 10mph SE wind at sunset, going dead calm by 1am, with a very low tide and slow incoming current. The flounder were out in force tonight, with the best action I have seen on big fish in many years.

For the first trip, I had the Barbara T. group of 4 on the boat. Things started a little slow, but the fish really started to move shallow as soon as it got "pitch dark". We found plenty of flounder holding very shallow over hard sand and grass bottom, in very clear water. We gigged our 20 fish limit by 10:45pm. The average size was 17", with a few fish pushing the 20" mark.

On the second trip, I had the Dale R. group of 4. We left the dock at 12:20am, with winds dropping rapidly and the bay smoothing out. The bugs and mosquitoes were absolutely horrible once the wind quit, but the big flounder had moved shallow to feed. We found all of our fish on mud/sand bottom with dirty water. By 2:45am, we had our 20 fish limit, with the biggest average size so far this year. All but 2 of our fish tonight were in the 19-21" range. It was a a perfect night for the "big girls" to come out and play.

Happy July 4th to everyone, be safe out there...

Capt. Rick Hammond
Night Stalker Guide Service - Rockport, Texas
Flounder Gigging - Bay Fishing - Duck Hunting
361-727-0045
www.nightstalkerguideservice.com

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## Redfish Rick (Aug 27, 2004)

*Gigging after the fireworks*

*7/4/2014*
I had the Jay group of 3 on the boat tonight, after the fireworks show ended. Conditions were perfect with light east winds and very low tide. We found plenty of flounder scattered on mud and sand bottom. The tide is very low, making it hard to get anywhere near the shore, thank goodness the winds are light right now. We gigged our 15 flounder limit in 2 hours, and the boys had a great time on their first gigging trip.


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