# Low tide flounder gigging - Rockport



## Redfish Rick (Aug 27, 2004)

I have been guiding flounder gigging trips in the Rockport area for 12 years now, and I have never seen the tide stay this low for this long during the summer. We usually have some periods of summertime low tides, but they rarely last for more than a week before rebounding. Water levels have consitently been 1 1/2 -2 feet below normal for 3 weeks now, and only get lower with each passing day. It doesn't help that low tide each night for the last 2 weeks has occurred around midnight, only allowing us to work the "bottom" of the tide. The water has been very dirty in most areas until the tide bottoms out and changes to incoming around midnight. As soon as the incoming tide hits, the flats seem to come to life, with most of my recent trips seeing the best action between midnight and 3am.

Drastic prolonged periods of low tides really hurt the gigging prospects in much of the northern Rockport bays. Most of my better gigging areas are literally dry ground right now, limiting me to a few areas with deeper water that will hold clear on South winds. On some nights lately, I have been working sandbars over 1/4 mile from the shoreline, and bumping bottom with the boat in less than 6" of water.

The low tide is also heating up the water temps on the flats, and this is bad for oxygen levels and all the fish that frequent the flats. With so much exposed mud and shallow "sheetwater" over the grass/mud flats right now, my water temp gauge on the boat consistently shows 90-92 degrees, AT NIGHT. We really need a large tide surge or cloudy/rainy weather to cool things off. In the meantime, gigging remains challenging, with 10-15 flounder a night being the norm. I look for quick limits to return as soon as the tide rises or we get some rain/clouds to cool off the flats.

*7/23/2014*
I had the Wes R. family group of 3 on the boat tonight. Conditions were fair, with South wind at 5-10mph and extreme low tide. The flounder were scattered tonight over hard sand bottom in deeper water between sandbars. The fish did not want to come shallow with the hard falling tide, staying buried in the "guts". Black drum were surprisingly abundant tonight, and we had plenty of shots at them, only hitting a few. We worked hard looking for fish tonight, and ended with 10 flounder and 5 black drum by 2am.

*7/21/2014*
I had the Cindy S. group of 4 ladies on the boat tonight. Conditions were poor, with 15-20mph South wind and extreme low tide. As has been the case the last few nights, the water was dirty everywhere until around midnight when the tide changed and started coming in. At midnight we only had 2 flounder, and once we found some clearing water, we put a few more fish in the boat. We ended with 10 flounder by 1:30am, and the girls had a great time enjoying the night-life.

*7/20/2014*
I had the Roy C. group of 5 on the boat tonight with Texas Boys Outdoors TV. The crew consisted of 2 dads and 3 young men: Aden, Clayton, and Roy Jr, all ages 7-10. Aden recently lost his father, and the guys at Texas Boys Outdoors wanted to show him a good time outdoors and maintain positive male influence in his life. Conditions were poor, with 20mph South wind and extreme low tide. We had trouble finding clear water tonight in many areas. Once we located some nice water, the boys quickly started putting some nice flounder in the boat. The boys had a blast spotting flounder and alligators on the flats tonight. We worked hard until 2:30am, finding 14 nice flounder to take home. Roy Jr. ended up with the biggest flounder, at 20" long.

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)

*High winds and low tides - grinding it out.*

*7/24/2014*
I had the Glenn W. group of 4 on the boat tonight. Conditions were fair, with South wind at 10mph and extreme low tide. The fish were very hard to find tonight, with most located near drains with flowing water. The low water level tonight really hurt things, with miles of flats reduced to sheetwater, and almost all of my good areas unfishable. We worked hard until 2am to find 7 flounder and 7 black drum. 
(No picture)

*7/25/2014*
I had the Glenn W. group of 3 on the boat for their second night in a row. With the bad low tide conditions and scattered fish in the northern bays, I decided to head south tonight to the Aransas Pass area. Conditions were poor, with South wind at 15-20 and hard outgoing low tide. We found flounder in dirty water around area drains, and open bay sandbars. We gigged our 15 flounder limit by 11pm. Tonight was a nice change of pace from the all-night grind on some recent trips.

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)

*Still getting them in the wind*

*7/26/2014*
I had the Cathy L group of 4 on the boat tonight. Conditions were poor with 20-25mph South wind and very low tide. We found the flounder hanging near the dropoff of major flats where theie was abundant bait. The fish were sitting on sand and mud bottoms, with a bunch of undersize fish holding around oyster shell. We gigged our 20 fish limit in 3 hours, with and average size of 17" (No pictures)

*7/27/2014*
I had the Tony D. group of 4 on the boat tonight. Conditions were poor, with 15-20mph South wind and very low tide. The fish were very scattered and hard to locate tonight, finding only 3-4 on each stop. Lots of areas that have held clear water on recent nights were muddy tonight. Most of our fish were holding in deeper water in small sand pockets in amongst the grass flats. We gigged our 20 fish limit by 1am, with an average size of 17".

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)

*Dirty water tonight*

*7/28/2014*
I had the Mary E. group of 2 on the boat tonight. Conditions were poor, with 20mph South wind and very low tide levels. There was lots of dirty water hanging around the flats tonight, and the fish were using it to their advantage, hanging near changes in the water clairty. We got off to a slow start, but the fish seemed to move in better about an hour after dark. We gigged our 10 flounder limit by 11:45pm, with an average size of 17".


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