Drifting Easy by Sue Foster

Some really nice flounder are caught during the month of May. They’re not 
always plentiful, and some days they don’t bite at all. But when you catch a 
dozen flounder in May, there’s a good chance that over half of them will be 
keepers! (At least they will be in Maryland where the size limit is not as 
large as it is in some states!)

As I mentioned in last week’s article, water temperature is a critical 
factor during the early fishing season.  The optimum temperature range for 
fluke (summer flounder) is between 62 and 66 degrees.  They like for the 
water temperatures to be at least 56 degrees for a decent “bite.”

 The daytime sun beating down on the waters in the upper reaches of the bay 
warms the water by at least 10 degrees on a sunny day. When the tide moves 
out, the water temperature can be 10 degrees warmer than when the tide is 
coming in. So, if the water temperatures are on the “edge,” fish the 
outgoing tide in the spring.

“How do I figure out when to go?”

Look at a local tide table. Find high tide and add two hours to it. That’s 
when it will be PEAK high tide.  If the tide table reads that high tide is 
at 2 P.M. then you know the peak high tide will be around 4 P.M.  If you go 
out at 4 P.M. the tide should just be starting to go out and that’s when you 
want to be fishing, JUST AS IT TURNS. Now, a fact of life about tide charts 
is this. They are not “to the minute” accurate because lots of factors can 
affect tides like the wind and the moon.  So if I were you, I’d be out there 
at 2 P.M. and wait on the tide. Besides, it could be one of those days when 
the water temperature is NOT that critical and the flounder may bite on the 
last of the incoming!

“What other tides do flounder bite on this time of year?”

Flounder can also bite on the low tide in the spring!  For example, the 
flounder may bite on the first two hours of the high outgoing tide, then 
stop biting for two hours.  Then, just as the tide starts to slow up and 
gets close to dead low tide, (two hours before dead low tide) they may bite 
again for a couple hours. (That’s called, the “last of the outgoing tide.) 
Sometimes they bite when the dead low tide starts to come in. (That’s called 
the beginning of the incoming tide.)

One thing is for sure. When the tide gets running really hard in either 
direction, the fish usually “turn off” and won’t bite again until the water 
slows down! Being out on the water every day will give you an “edge.” If the 
flounder bite one day at 1 P.M. it is REAL likely that they will bite the 
next day at 2 P.M.!  (Tides run 50 minutes to an hour later every day!)

Some anglers “cheat” the tide by doing a slow “troll” against the current 
when it runs too strong and they feel they are drifting too fast. This only 
works on a nice day. You can certainly get wet “bucking a tide” when the 
wind is up!  Also, if the tide is dead still and no breeze is moving you 
along, a slow troll will keep your bait moving slightly and make it look 
more natural to the feeding flounder. You will also be covering more 
territory.

Some anglers choose to “cast and retrieve” their baits when the tide is 
slack. This, of course, works well if you are fishing from the shore. 
Anglers fishing from the Route 50 Bridge use big plastic or Styrofoam 
bobbers to drift out their baits along the edges of the sand bars with very 
good results. Spreader type flounder rigs work well when doing this. It is 
just like drifting in a boat!

Flounder are “site feeders” so if they don’t see the bait, they won’t bite 
the hook. That’s why flounder fishing is always better when the water is the 
cleanest and the clearest. Windy weather that stirs up the bottom making the 
bay water murky and full of debris is the worst possible scenario for a 
flounder fisherman.  Some winds are worse than others. Winds that come over 
the land make the water the murkiest. Strong west, south, or north   winds 
are not favorable for flounder fishing.    Any easterly direction brings 
clean water in from the ocean. So unless we recently had a bad storm 
offshore, easterly winds are good.

“What do you consider a strong wind?”

Five to 10 miles per hour from any direction is perfect for fishing. Five to 
ten miles per hour is not enough wind to cause any problems with water 
clarity. When the wind gets up past 15 miles per hour the water is affected. 
Twenty miles per hour is barely tolerable. More than that, is just plain 
uncomfortable!

“What tide is the water the cleanest?”

About two hours before peak high tide we usually see the water look the 
cleanest. When the tide turns and starts to go out is when it slowly starts 
to get dirty again. It usually takes two hours into the outgoing tide before 
we start to see the grass and muddy conditions. This is why we have always 
said that the best time to go flounder fishing is two hours before and two 
hours after high tide. The water is the cleanest and the clearest.

The second best time to go is one or two hours before and after low tide. As 
the outgoing water slows down, it tends to clean up a bit. Low tide is 
rarely ever the clearest water, but it can be clean, meaning there’s no 
grass or mud because the tide is running slower.

IF we have had a storm with rain and wind the night before, the flounder 
fishermen might find the water quite dirty in the upper reaches of the bay, 
but see cleaner water closer towards the inlet. If this is the case, FOLLOW 
THE CLEAN WATER.  Sometimes the water is dirty in the Thorofare but clean in 
the east channel around Convention Hall Channel. GO TO THE CLEAN WATER!

“The water up by the Route 90 Bridge is never really clear! I can never see 
the bottom like I can sometimes close to the Route 50 Bridge.”

The water in the upper bay never really seems to be crystal clear. The same 
holds true for the bay behind Assateague close to the Verrazano Bridge. This 
is probably because the bottom there is muddy rather than sandy.  As long as 
you don’t see globs of grass, white foamy slicks, or light brown mud 
floating on the surface, I would consider it clean water and give it a try 
before moving elsewhere.  In the spring when water temperature is a crucial 
factor, the shallower waters in the upper reaches of the bay can produce 
more flounder than the colder, deeper holes closer to the inlet.

“What are the best baits in the spring?”

Flounder always like a live minnow hooked through the lips with a strip of 
squid trailing beside the minnow.  Frozen shiners are the other “old 
stand-by” flounder bait. Anglers hook shiners through the eyes and often add 
a strip of squid beside the shiner ON THE SAME HOOK.  Anglers fishing for 
BIG flounder like to use frozen smelts. They look almost like a shiner but 
run larger. These got very popular last year and are popular again this 
spring, especially in DE and VA where the flounder size limits are larger 
than Maryland.  Other spring baits are cut strips of mackerel or herring. If 
you use Fishbites strips of squid use the new “Fast Acting” variety in the 
red packages. These will work in cold water.

“What kind of flounder rigs should I buy?”

There are a large variety of flounder rigs on the market made with either 
one or two hooks. All of them work well. Since flounder are site feeders 
they usually like color. Pink seems to be a “hot” color in the spring. Rigs 
made with pink squids or bucktail hair   always seems to be good in the 
spring. Rigs made with white bucktail with a little Mylar always works well 
no matter what the time of year or conditions. When the water is clear, 
chartreuse can be the ticket.

“What kind and weight of sinkers do I need?”

Use just enough to hold the bottom. Buy an array of sinkers in the one to 
three-ounce range in either bass cast or bank styles. Bass cast are best for 
drifting in a boat, while bank sinkers are better for casting from the 
shore.

Flounder fishing in the spring! A good time to go!

Good fishing!


 
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