# Flounder gigging in high winds and dirty water - Rockport



## Redfish Rick (Aug 27, 2004)

Lots of wind over the last week from every direction, and it hasn't let up for very long before blowing hard again. During this time of year, planning your gigging spots in advance based on the wind angle and speed can pay huge dividends. High winds and dirty water conditions call for more of a run-and-gun approach, and if you don't find fish or clear water in an area, its best to move on quickly. Leaving clear water to go elsewhere is usually a bad bet when gigging, but in high wind conditions, the flounder usually prefer dirtier waters. Earlier this week I had two back to back 20 fish limit trips in 20-25 mph SE winds. Tonight the wind was 20 mph NE, and we still manged a limit with very dirty water. Weather conditions look to improve greatly early next week, and I still have a few open nights next week.*

4/4/2014*
I had Jacob and his friend Wally on the boat tonight. Conditions were poor, with a strong gusty NE wind at 15-25 that blew all day and a hard incoming tide. The incoming tide during high winds pushes dirty water from the open bay up on the shorelines. We worked several areas early with only a couple fish to show and very dirty water conditions. Once we found clear water, there were no fish in the area, and we worked for another hour without seeing a flounder. Reluctantly, I made another move back to a shoreline with dirty water, and that's where the flounder wanted to be tonight. We searched hard in the murky water to finish up our 10 fish limit by midnight (4 hours of gigging). Conditions look the same for tomorrow night, with an added chance of rain in the forecast. Lets hope it goes well...

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)

*Weather went from bad to worse - Humble pie*

The last 2 nights of gigging proved that despite the best plans, the weather can always throw you a curve-ball, and a dish of humble pie.

On Saturday night, we left the dock with high hopes in 15-20mph NE winds. On the way out, the winds steadily picked up into the 20-25mph range with a few light rain showers. We checked out 3 spots, never seeing the bottom well for more than a few feet. The water was shredded everywhere we went, and with more misty rain starting to pour down, we called it off after 2 hours with 0 fish.

The forecast for Sunday night was for light North winds less than 5 mph. Leaving the dock, we were greeted with 15-20mph North winds, and COLD temps in the mid-50's. With the hope that the winds would drop later in the night, we went only to find very dirty water on the protected shores and an extreme high tide. We worked two spots protected from the wind, finding a few flounder holding in deeper dirty water. Around 11:00pm, the wind picked up to 25 mph with frequent gusts over 30, tearing up what was left of any clear water I had found. We gigged for three hours and ended with 5 flounder, calling it quits when the wind picked up.

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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