What is the best time to catch fluke/flounder?

Question

in north carolina

Answer 1

We used to fish in Jersey for flounder quite often. We always had the best luck right after the tide changed, so the time varies each day. High tide switching to low tide was my favorite time to fish, but low switching to high was pretty good too. I have tried many different baits and lures, but a live minnow hooked under the chin on a plain flounder hook always caught me the most.

Good luck fishing, and have FUN!

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
What is the best time to catch fluke/flounder?
in north carolina

Answer 4

Best time to get summer flounders is when the tide is moving, either the ebb or flood tides. I wish I was fishing for flukes in N. Carolina, up here in NY it's a 19.5 inch keeper size minimum.

Answer 5

YOU NEED CLEAN WATER FIRST. fish the tide,2hrs before high and a hour after. spring and fall fish the flats, the summer try the deeper holes. BIG baits catch BIG flounder

Answer 6

Best Of Fluck

Answer 7

NIGHTIME FISHING


To catch a flounder, you nearly have to hit him in the head with the bait. Flounder ambush their prey from hiding spots along the edges of bars, channels, oyster beds and in the surf. They also like to hide along the edges of grassbeds, beneath docks and piers and beside coral, rock ledges, artificial reefs and wrecks.



The fish begin biting in May, when concentrations of small fish show up. By June, the fishing is wide open, with anglers catching fish at inlets by drifting or trolling tactics. Both summer and southern flounder are caught at inlets. Southern flounder dominate the catch in inshore waters, while summer flounder dominate the catch in offshore waters north of Cape Hatteras. Last season, anglers caught very high numbers of southern flounder from the state's southern coast offshore ledges and artificial reefs at Topsail, Swansboro, Morehead City, Southport and Carolina Beach.



Live baits are the ticket to catching flounder. Many flounder are caught by surf- and pier-anglers using cut baits and some are caught by anglers using jigs. When jigs are used, they work best when tipped with fish, shrimp or a live or dead mullet minnow.



Anglers drift live baits by letting the boat go with the current flow. A 1- to 3-ounce trolling sinker keeps a live minnow "tickling" the bottom. The hook is the most important part of the rig. Anglers use Kahle-style, wide-bend or wide-gap hooks to catch flounder because they have mouths that open wide. The hook must penetrate far back inside the mouth or the fish can toss it during the fight.



Drifting is also a good tactic for finding fish at offshore structure. However, snags are common at ledges and wrecks. Once the fish are located, anglers usually anchor and cast live baits around the area. The fish will often be concentrated in a small dropoff at the edge of a ledge. So many fish can come from one spot it seems they are stacked like flapjacks and that is what many divers report seeing.



A GPS and electronic depthfinder are of no consequence to inshore flounder anglers because of the shallow nature of the territory. However, for offshore fishing, electronic equipment is vital to the success of a trip. Finding an offshore structure can be tricky to difficult without electronic gear.



A flounder bite is subtle compared to any other game fish. Instead of streaking off with the bait, he engulfs it with his huge mouth and holds it for a few seconds before turning it around to begin swallowing it. The initial strike is often no more than a tap or heavy sensation. Because of the way flounder feed, more of these fish are missed by anglers who set the hook too soon than are missed for any other reason. When in doubt about whether a hook is hung on the bottom or in a flounder's mouth, it's best to wait up to a minute or two before moving the bait or setting the hook.

Flounder make a regular migration to deeper water, and settle in the sandy bottom as far as 25 to 30 miles offshore. They will lay in the sand around any natural structure, or around any of the numerous artificial reefs and wrecks. Spearfishermen take some huge flounder around these wrecks in the winter months.

My style is to catch them during their migration. From about September through the end of November, they begin to move out of the creeks and rivers and into the ocean. They have spent the spring and summer months spawning and last year’s crop is now large enough to make the migration with the older brood fish. This years hatch is left in the estuaries to grow another year before making any moves. This is why we still catch a large number of very small flounder all the way through the winter. And it is also why longer length restrictions can play a big part in increasing the stocks. [h3Tackle
My standard tackle is a medium stiff semi-fast taper 7 foot casting rod with a small baitcasting reel – I like the Abu Garcia 5500C on a freshwater bass flippin’ stick. I use 14-pound test line, small enough to be somewhat invisible, and yet large enough to handle other larger species that may take the bait.The terminal tackle is what I call a standard flounder rig: a 4/0-circle hook on a 15 inch 30 lb. test monofilament leader. The leader is tied to a trolling sinker, and the sinker is tied to the line. These sinkers are the type that look like they have a small beaded chain on each end. They are long and slender, and are ideal for dragging across the bottom.
My style is to catch them during their migration. From about September through the end of November, they begin to move out of the creeks and rivers and into the ocean. They have spent the spring and summer months spawning and last year’s crop is now large enough to make the migration with the older brood fish. This years hatch is left in the estuaries to grow another year before making any moves. This is why we still catch a large number of very small flounder all the way through the winter. And it is also why longer length restrictions can play a big part in increasing the stocks. [h3Tackle
My standard tackle is a medium stiff semi-fast taper 7 foot casting rod with a small baitcasting reel – I like the Abu Garcia 5500C on a freshwater bass flippin’ stick. I use 14-pound test line, small enough to be somewhat invisible, and yet large enough to handle other larger species that may take the bait.The terminal tackle is what I call a standard flounder rig: a 4/0-circle hook on a 15 inch 30 lb. test monofilament leader. The leader is tied to a trolling sinker, and the sinker is tied to the line. These sinkers are the type that look like they have a small beaded chain on each end. They are long and slender, and are ideal for dragging across the bottom.
If I can’t find any finger mullet, I will opt for mud minnows. With mud minnows, I switch from the terminal tackle I described. I remove the sinker and tie a 2/0-jig head to the end of the leader. If mullet and mud minnows are both scarce, I will opt for live shrimp and use them with the jig head. And if there simply is no live bait, I will go with a pink or red plastic grub tail on the jig head. There have been days that the fish would hit the grub tail better than live bait! Go figure!
With the mullet bait, I will work an area where the water is moving on an outgoing tide. I look for the areas around structure that provide a break to the water movement – areas that create an eddy. This is where the flounder will lay and wait for an ambush.
They often will strike out at moving baitfish into the current and move back to their relative safety. I work the mullet along the bottom slowly, casting beyond the eddy and dragging the bait across. I will do this from several angles, looking to draw a strike.
If I am using a jig head with a mud minnow or shrimp, or even with a grub tail, I will do they same thing. I slowly move the bait on or just off the bottom.
A flounder’s strike will never take the rod out of your hand. It is subtle, and sometimes it just feels like some extra pressure – like maybe your sinker is hung on something. The trick to catching more flounder is to NOT set the hook right away. When you feel that pressure the flounder usually has the bait in his mouth, holding it in his sharp teeth. He may swim 10 feet or more to his safety zone before trying to swallow the bait. If you set the hook when you first feel the fish, you’ll come back with half a mullet!
The great thing about circle hooks is that you can let the flounder go ahead and attempt to swallow the bait. The design of the circle hook is such that it will pull right out to the corner of the flounder’s mouth and then set itself! You never really set the hook – and that is a very hard thing to learn about circle hooks. Simply start reeling slowly and increase speed. As you increase reeling speed, the hook does all the work.We catch flounder using this method and these baits all the way up to very cold weather. We look for the current breaks on an outgoing tide, anchor up and begin working an area.

Answer 8

nothing