# April transitions for flounder



## Redfish Rick (Aug 27, 2004)

April is a transition month for the bays and the fish that live there. The spring to summer pattern change can often happen quickly, and can be held back a few days by late-season cold fronts. For flounder, Summer patterns are already developing, and the fish have made a strong move to hard sand and shell bottom in the last few days. With a cold front forecasted for this weekend, I suspect the fish will shift back to mud and grass bottom for a few days before returning to their summer haunts. April is one of the best months for flounder gigging, as fish emerge into new areas on the flats and back lakes, following the influx of baitfish and shrimp.

*4/18/2017*
I had the Debbie S. group of 5 onboard tonight. Conditions were nice, with SE winds at 5-10mph and high tide levels. Water clarity was good tonight, but we seemed to find more fish in areas with poor water clarity. We got on the fish right away, gigging 8 in the first 20 minutes over hard shell bottom. After that, things slowed down some, only finding scattered schools of fish on hard sand and shell bottom. The fish tonight were tightly bunched, and when you found one, there was always a few others in the immediate area. We ended with a 25 flounder limit plus 3 sheesphead by 11pm (2 hours 20 minutes of gigging). The flounder tonight were nice size, all in the 15-19" range.

***** I have tonight (4/19) open for a trip, the weather looks good and limits should be easy. Call me ASAP if you want to book for tonight. I also have "late trip" slots open the rest of this week and this coming weekend.*****

*Upcoming open dates:
April: 19, 24-27
May: 1-4, 6-10, 14, 15, 17, 18, 22-24, 29*

I also do "late trips" on request, and this is the best way to get a trip in on short notice when I am already booked. Just call and ask...

Visit my Facebook page for daily reports and pictures.

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


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## Redfish Rick (Aug 27, 2004)

*Big fish in the back lakes*

*4/20/2017*
I had the Steve Y. group of 3 onboard. Conditions were marginal, with SE wind at 15-20mph and high tide levels. We got on the fish fast again tonight, finding active flounder moving and chasing bait-fish. Despite gusty winds, the water clarity was good, and action was best over mud/grass bottom in the back lakes near smaller drains. We ended with a 15 flounder limit plus 2 sheesphead in 1 hour 30 minutes of gigging. The fish tonight were big, with the 5 largest in the 20-22" range.

Capt. Rick Hammond
361-229-6053


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## Redfish Rick (Aug 27, 2004)

*Windy pre-front night, Double Trip*

*4/21/2017 - Double Trip*
For the first trip tonight I had the Jeremy F. group of 4 onboard. Conditions were poor with South wind at 20-25mph with gusts to 30mph and very high tide levels. After a long 40 minute boat ride out, we found very clear water over hard sand and grass bottom. The flounder here were widely scattered, and we had to cover a ton of ground to find the fish. The gusty winds made things tough, with lots of ripples and cloudy water out deep. We ended with a 20 flounder limit plus 3 sheepshead by 11:30pm (3 hours of gigging).

For the second trip tonight, I had the Dustin D. group of 4 onboard, leaving the dock at 1am. Conditions were still bad with 20-30mph South winds, but we endured the rough water to get to the fish. Things started slow on the second trip, with only 2 fish in the first 45 minutes. After making a couple moves, we got dialed in on some larger flounder holding very shallow on mud and grass bottom. We ended with a 20 flounder limit by 3:30am (2 hours of gigging). The fish on the second trip were larger, with four over 20".

*Upcoming open dates:
April: 24-27
May: 1-4, 6-10, 14, 15, 17, 22-24, 29*

I also do "late trips" on request, and this is the best way to get a trip in on short notice when I am already booked. Just call and ask...

Visit my Facebook page for daily reports and pictures.

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


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## Redfish Rick (Aug 27, 2004)

*Post cold front, low tide limits*

*4/23/2017*
I had the Austin T. group of 3 onboard tonight. Conditions were nice, with North wind at 5mph and low tide levels. The tide was still falling hard during the trip, making the flounder wary to head shallow and making the water clarity poor in many areas. We found scattered flounder holding on sandbars and grass bottom near deeper dropoffs. It was a little slower action than usual, and the last flounder took 30 minutes to find, but it paid off with big flounder and plenty of sheepshead. We ended with a 15 flounder limit plus 6 sheepshead by 11:30pm (3 hours of gigging). The flounder were big tonight, with 8 fish over 20".

*I still have this Monday-Thursday open, and the weather looks good, especially Monday night....*

* Capt. Rick Hammond
361-229-6053*


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## donzilla (Apr 21, 2017)

Great post. Thanks for sharing


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## foster6234 (Feb 14, 2017)

You are a badass! You have these flounder figured out for sure.


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