# Flounder pounding after the front - Rockport



## Redfish Rick (Aug 27, 2004)

This last cold front was a real game-changer on the flats, and exactly what we needed to shuffle the deck in terms of water level and gigging locales. Due to high winds, high tides, and thunderstorms, I had to cancel my last 2 nights of gigging trips. Tonight was not looking promising, with 20-30mph North winds blowing all day, shredding the bay waters. The winds relaxed to 5mph right at dusk, and it was "game-on" to try to find clear water and flounder on the hard falling tide. After trying a few areas, only to find dirty water, I located an area with better water falling over oyster reefs, making a clear water "wake" down current. The fish were set up on the down-current side of the reefs and sandbars where the sand meets the shell in deeper water (2-3'). The cool temps and light winds sure felt nice, after battling a lot of hard SE winds lately.

*5/14/2014*
I had the Dan S. group of 3 on the boat tonight. Conditions were good with light North winds, low tide, and hard outgoing current. The wind blew at 20-30mph out of the North all day, before relaxing to under 5mph near sunset. This left the water very dirty, but rapidly clearing in some areas. The bright full moon put a damper on most of the fish moving shallow, and we gigged most of our fish bedded down in deeper water. Finding areas with strong current and clearing water seemed to be the ticket tonight. We gigged our 15 flounder limit plus 2 bonus sheepshead in 2 1/2 hours.

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)

*Solid size flounder tonight - ultra clear water*

*5/15/2014*
I had the Stan S. group of three from Odessa on the boat tonight. Conditions were good, with South wind at 10-15, normal water level, and a hard falling tide. We worked protected hard sand shorelines with very clear water, finding the fish active and moving around a lot. As soon as the full moon got above the horizon, the fish started moving deeper, abandoning their beds near the shore. The last 3-4 fish took a while to find, as the majority of the flounder had already left the shallows with the moon getting higher and brighter. We got our 15 flounder limit plus 3 sheepshead in 2 hours of gigging. All of the fish tonight were very nice size, in the 17-19" range.

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)

*WINDY night, a few big flounder*

*5/16/2014*
I had the Fields A. group of 4 on the boat tonight, 2 dads and their 11 year old son and daughter. Conditions were bad, with 20-30mph South winds and low tide. Areas that produced the night before were dead, with a much lower tide than expected. We worked hard through dirty water in the back lakes and drains to find a few larger flounder. The kids each gigged their limit, but the fish were hard to come by. We ended the night with 11 flounder up to 21", and everyone was happy with that, considering the rough conditions.

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)

*Tough conditions - still gigging fish*

*5/18/2014*
I had the Garret B. group of 5 on the boat tonight from Odessa, TX. After cancelling Saturday night's trip due to high winds and dirty water, I was concerned that good water conditions would not return for Sunday night. Conditions were much better tonight, with SE wind at 15mph and clear water everywhere we went. The only problem was the severe low tide that was still going out all night. We found 14 flounder on our first stop, but it was very obvious that the fish were already starting to move out to deeper water with the falling tide. Our next 3 stops only produced 6 more flounder, with plenty of fresh beds left from fish fleeing the falling water. We ended the night with 20 flounder and 4 sheepshead. We found all the fish over hard sand and grass, with most being in deeper water or near sandbars far from shore. The average size was 16-17".

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)

*Windy night = Big flounder*

*5/19/2014*
I had the Bill K. group of 3 on the boat tonight, from Sun City retirement community. Conditions were poor, with SE wind at 15 gusting to 25mph and plenty of dirty water. We keyed on windblown points holding clear water with lots of current. The fish were holding extra shallow tonight, a good sign after coming off some tough full moon patterns over the last week. We gigged our 15 flounder limit in 3 hours, with 2 fish hitting the 22" mark.

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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