# Green Grass and High Tides Forever - September Flounder patterns



## Redfish Rick (Aug 27, 2004)

*Green Grass and High Tides Forever- September Flounder patterns:*

This time of year for flounder gigging always seems to play out like a familiar storybook, and reminds me of the "Outlaws" song in the title above. Along with Teal and Dove hunting, Late September always brings high tide levels, cooler temps, rain, and great fishing. With the extreme high tides over the last few nights, I have had the opportunity to gig some areas that I haven't seen since the last high tide spell in early June, caused by tropical storm Bill. The high water makes the baitfish seek shallower cover in the back lakes and flooded shoreline grasses. The flounder are still in a summertime feeding pattern, following the bait, and setting themselves up in the shallowest of ambush spots at night. The bay flats continue to look really healthy right now, with an abundance of baitfish, crabs, and shrimp. During extreme high tide conditions, the best areas to focus on for gigging are the far reaches of the back lakes, and along oyster outcrops on the outside beach. Clear water is usually hard to find this time of year, so plenty of scouting is required to find the right water clarity to make a gigging trip successful.

*9/18/2015*
I had the Preston G. group of 3 onboard tonight. Conditions were fair, with East wind at 10mph and very high tide. The high tide levels tonight had the water dirty and deep along many traditional shorelines. We found only scattered fish in small shallow coves over hard sand bottom. Later in the trip, we found more consistent gigging and clear water along exposed oyster reef banks. We ended with a 15 flounder limit by 10:20pm. The average size of the flounder tonight was 17", with the biggest one at 19".

*9/19/2015*
I had the Shorty group of 4 onboard tonight. Conditions were fair, with East wind at 10mph and very high tide. The water conditions were much better tonight, with good clarity on all 3 stops we made. With the high water levels, the fish were scattered, and we had to cover a bunch of ground looking for small groups of fish. We had our best action in the far reaches of the back lakes over mud bottom. The larger fish tonight were buried in soft mud along grasslines in the back lakes. We ended with a 20 flounder limit after 3 hours of gigging. The average size of the flounder tonight was 17", with the 2 largest fish at the 20" mark.

Visit my Facebook page for daily reports and pictures.

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)

*Slower tonight with a hard falling tide*

*9/20/2015*
I had the Howard S. group of 4 onboard tonight. Conditions were fair, with East wind at 10mph and high tide levels. The tide was falling fast, and it made the flounder wary to head shallow, except near drains on the shoreline. The fish were very scattered tonight, mainly holding over mud/grass bottom near active baitfish. We ended with a 20 flounder limit by midnight, 1 black drum, 1 sheepshead, and 1 spanish mackerel that jumped in the boat.


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## Redfish Rick (Aug 27, 2004)

*Slow night and smaller fish*

*9/21/2015*
I had the Daniel S. group of 2 onboard tonight. Condiotions were nice, with East wind at 5-10mph and slightly high tide that was falling fast. The gigging has definitely got tough over the last few nights, and tonight the fish were very hard to locate. We found the majority of our fish tonight on soft mud bottom in the back lakes near small drain creeks. The water clarity tonight was bad, and we were only able to see 3-4 feet from shore most of the night. We worked hard looking for fish, only finding widely scattered groups of fish. We ended with a 10 flounder limit plus 2 sheepshead by 11pm. The fish tonight were smaller, with most in the 14-16" range.

Visit my Facebook page for daily reports and pictures.

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)

*Fast action tonight with clearer water and more wind*

*9/22/2015*
I had the Blake B. group of 2 onboard tonight. Conditions were fair, with East wind at 15mph and slightly high tide that was falling fast. We got on the fish fast tonight over grass/mud bottom. We found our best action near small shoreline drains that had the flounder concentrated in a small area, feeding with the outgoing tide. We ended with a 10 flounder limit after 45 minutes of gigging.


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