THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 12, 1994 TAG: 9406090187
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 38 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Ford Reid
DATELINE: 940612 LENGTH: Medium
It was a perfect day for flounder.
{REST} The only thing left was to find out if the flounder knew it was a perfect day for them. Fish, as you might know, don't always turn up when and where they are suppose to be. These Outer Banks fish want to be cooperative, I'm sure, knowing that you've come a long, long way to catch them. They just get confused, that's all.
A couple of casts produced no results, but finally something took a bite, then let go before it came into view.
It was enough to keep me going.
A few casts later, I landed a flounder. It met the 13-inch size minimum, but I released it anyway. On that day, I felt more like catching them than I felt like cooking them.
Small flounder in the surf are not particularly good fighters. They strike hard and tug a bit, but that's about all.
The challenge comes in finding them and tricking them.
The fun, for me at least, comes in watching it all happen.
That is why I especially like clear and calm water for flounder fishing. In that kind of water, particularly if you are wearing a pair of polarized sunglasses, you can often see a flounder, or several, follow your bait before finally deciding that, yes, it is indeed a tasty little morsel.
The sunglasses, especially the lightish brown shade, cut the glare on the water's surface and allow the angler to see what is going on below.
The glasses needn't be fancy or expensive ones. I wear plastic clip ons that I buy at the drug store for seven or eight bucks. They might make me look like a nerd, but the fish don't seem to mind that.
Just make sure that they are polarized. It will say that on the label.
The biggest problem, even with the glasses, is picking up the bait in the water. As an aid in doing that, I put some color on the rig. A tiny bit of dyed bucktail helps, but what I like best is a few beads of the color called day glow or international orange.
Cast to the edge of the bar and keep your eye on the line, jigging slightly with the rod tip as your retrieve. The jigging action ought to make the bait look just like a little, swimming fish.
At some point, you will be able to see the rig chugging along near the bottom and, if you have been living right, you might see a flounder or two following it.
Don't panic.
Keep up the jigging motion. The fish is most likely to strike as you pull the bait away from it. The flounder thinks its meal is escaping and that makes it very aggressive.
Fishing for flounder in this way has another advantage. Flounder caught with a still bait on the bottom might swallow the hook and under sized fish will be difficult to release in good condition. Fish caught on a moving bait are more likely to be lip-hooked and easy to return to the water with a minimum of damage.
It is also a lot of fun to see it happening. Watching what is going on can add a whole new dimension to your fishing.
by CNB