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Gigging-What am I doing wrong
Alright, been out twice, once on a low tide the other on a high tide. little to no wind, wading the shorelines about a mile before the pass on the galveston side. Water clarity is about 6 inches and in 2 trips have only gigged one flounder. Any pointers or tips would be greatly appreciated as to what I am doing wrong. Wading on mostly sand with grass and shell mix, seen plenty of stingrays but very few flatties.
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Keep trying different spots until you find one that works for you. -
In my opinion its all about covering ground to eliminate spots. There are spots that you will find where fish pile in. The name of the game is getting across that water that holds no fish to get to the spots that hold concentrations of fish.
Flounder will not be in a spot just because its easy to wade and the water is clear
Its tough and with every change to the conditions the productivity each spot changes.
Just like any other fish they do what they do for a reason.
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Shorty hit it on the head.
It's all about covering water. You see pics and people bragging about easy limits, and many would have you believe that it is so easy to the point of being unsportsman-like. However, more often than not, I put in LOTS of walking and limiting-out is not the norm.Comment
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Thanks GuysComment
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He's saying its not easy...We are West End Anglers, a saltwater tribe!Comment
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W-- are you talking about?? did you not get the picture of the casino girl two nites in a row this last week? you think its hard? hahahahaOriginally posted by WestEndAngler View PostComment
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keep at it.it will get good soon.the fishing was good,it was the catching that was bad.
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A few suggestions. Agree with the need to cover a lot of water.
1. Go when the tide is moving. I prefer the last few hours of a strong falling tide because if the bay water is off color the clearer water drains out of the marsh grass improving the visibility.
2. Find areas where small "channels" or "drains" leave the marsh grass -- flounder tend to stack up in these places and attack the bait as it flows past.
3. When you find one, scour there area. There are likely others in the vicinity.
After a while you will get a feel for places flounder like and don't like and you will spend less time focusing on unproductive water.Comment
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alright so we got in the water last night (9/9) at around 930 at the west end near the pass, waded the shorelines and the guts. Water clarity was very nice, and wind was minimal, ended up with 1 fish it was on up shallow on sand/shell mix. we left there at midnight and made a ran over to 8 mile road, didnt wade down to sweetwater, but saw about 5 juvenille flounder in about an hour. called it a night after that.Comment
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There you go stick and move, stick and move.
Find.you a couple more place to walk in and you can keep on stickin and movin. Comment
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Another key element is amount of bait - clear water, incoming or outgoing tide, light wind will not produce fish if there is a lack of bait in the area your fishing/gigging. If you are in an area and there isn't any bait around (small fish, shrimp, tiny crabs, etc.) you just won't have the flounders either.
Been gigging since 1965, my grandfather and dad were tops at it and I learned a ton from both of them. I do like sand, but not entire sand bottoms, inter-mixing of oyster shell clusters and sand is one of me favorite locations to seek out. Forget about any bottom with clay, flounder just won't be there since they are unable to cover and/or mimic the bottom. Hard shell I never did like, but the flounders do like it and sure have a pretty camo-coloring when sitting atop of hard shell.
Oh, if you are seeing a high percentage of small flounders 10" or less, you most likely won't find larger/legal size fish nearby or at least that has been experience flounder gigging.
Good luck and a lot of great information from many above.Comment
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Oh, if you are seeing a high percentage of small flounders 10" or less, you most likely won't find larger/legal size fish nearby or at least that has been experience flounder gigging.
Interesting point singleprong I do not remember ever gigging a keeper near concentrations of small fish.
I have heard reports of people seeing nothing but small fish............ Comment
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