# Flounder everywhere - even with low tides and full moon



## Redfish Rick (Aug 27, 2004)

This year has been truly incredible for flounder numbers along the middle coast. Even in the worst conditions, I am still able to find limits on most nights. This is truly a testament to conservation and reduced limits and seasons. With tight regulations in place, we should have a "world-class" flounder flounder fishery in Texas in the next 3-5 years, if the current trend continues.

The extreme low tides over that last month have made for some challenges, but being in the right spot at the right time has paid big dividends. The fish are on the move every night, and studying the tide and wind patterns is key to staying on consistent gigging action. Each night, I look at the conditions from a scientific point of view, and try to anticipate where the flounder will be. Some nights, I know where the fish will be early, and on other nights I am waiting for the conditions to get right before I hit a honey hole. Tide level, tide movement, water clarity, wind direction, wind speed, moon brightness, water depth, floating grass, and bait activity are all factors I consider before choosing an area to gig. When I get most of the above variables in my favor, gigging is usually easy. When these variables are working against you, it usually ends up being a long slow grind with only scattered fish.

Tonight, things lined up perfectly, with clearing water on deep mud flats and a strong current nearby. The fish were holding near the faster moving water, an there was abundant small baitfish to keep them happy. The bright moon kept the fish well hidden and deeper than usual, but the clear water made them easy to find buried in the deep mud.

*8/9/2014*
I had the Lindsey D. group of 4 on the boat tonight. Conditions were fair, with South winds at 10-15mph, very low tide, and full moon. With the bright moon, the fish were holding in deeper areas and bedded deep in the mud. The flounder were very hard to see tonight, and we gigged most of our fish in 2-3 feet of water over mud/grass bottom. We gigged our 20 flounder limit by 11:45pm with an average size of 16".

Open dates for August: 17, 20, 24, 27
Plenty of open dates for September....

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)

*Fun night of Bowfishing - Video included*

8/12/2014 - Fun night of bowfishing

I had the Josh H. group of 4 on the boat tonight for some bowfishing and gigging. I told them that anything they shot, we had to keep, and boy did we.... Conditions were marginal with 10-15mph SW wind shifting West after midnight. The night started off slow, with only 1 black drum shot in the first hour. We moved to another area, and got to work shooting some flounder and black drum. Near the end of the second spot, we found a huge stingray. One of the guys drilled it perfectly through the head with an arrow, and the fight was on!!! About 5 minutes later we got the big ray in the boat and removed the barb, it weighed approx 50 pounds. On the last area, we decided to put the bows down for a while and gig some flounder. We gigged our last 10 flounder of the night in under an hour. We ended the night with 17 flounder, 7 black drum, and 1 big stingray, by 2am.

When we got back to the dock, and started cleaning fish, the guys noticed the swarms of hardheads eating the fish carcasses. So they lined up on the dock "Firing Squad" style as I threw a flounder head in the water, shooting into the massive school of hardheads. They got 7 hardheads with 3 arrows fired... I also made them hold their promise to keep anything they shot, so in their icechest they went. Great fun tonight... Make sure to check out the video posted below of the "Hardhead Firing Squad".






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)

*Big flounder were out tonight*

*8/13/2014 - Big flounder were out tonight*

I had good repeat customer, Susan A. group of 5 on the boat tonight. Conditions were fair with 10-15mph SSW wind and low tide. As the pattern has been for the last 2 weeks, the trip was slow early, with only 4 fish in the boat at 11:30. With the water on the flats very hot (90-95 degrees) early in the night, the fish seem reluctant to move shallow until things cool off around midnight. After midnight, the flats came to life as the water cooled to 85-88 degrees, and we started sticking a bunch of big flounder. We ended with 21 flounder by 1:30am, calling it a night a little early because everyone was tired after a long day/night. The average size tonight was 19", with the smallest at 16" and the biggest at 22".

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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