"Flounder season is back open in Maryland and I want to catch a big one!"

Well, so does everyone and now is a good time to do it. The pressure has
been off flounder for 18 days so there ought to be some whoppers out there.
Now is your chance to pick some of them up and try to make it into the
"Coastal Fisherman!"

In mid- to late August, and on into September, we see a lot of natural baits
in the bay. Alewives, small finger mullet, spot, and big striped minnows
abound. Your little baits of live minnows and shiners will produce
flounder, but if you want to try for big flounder, give these other baits a
try.

"How do I get these baits?"

Your best bet is to buy a cast net, a couple 5-gallon buckets, and an
aerator. Get up early before your tide to fish and cast net off the bow of
your boat in your canal, marina, or lagoon where you keep your boat. If one
person drives slowly and the other person, wearing a pair of polarized
sunglasses looks for bait, you will usually find it easily this time of
year. Alewives are the easiest to find and catch. You can see them
flashing beneath the water. Mullet are faster but still not too hard to
catch.

"I'm by myself and couldn't find bait there. "

You can also try beaching your boat on a green marshy island in the bay, and
wait for the bait to come by. Or you can anchor your boat on one of the big
sandy bars. The schools of small finger mullet and big striped minnows
frolic around on the edge of the bars. Catching the bait in shallow water
is easy for the novice thrower because he or she does not have to worry
about getting the net to sink fast. All you have to concern yourself with
is getting the net open. (Practice at home casting on a target like a
basketball in the yard.)

I find bait is easiest to catch on a running incoming tide. Catch the bait,
get it in an aerated bucket, and go fishing! If you catch finger mullet,
put a lid or wet towel over the bucket, as they will jump out. Generally,
about 24 baits to a bucket are all you want.

"How about spot?"

Spot can be caught with crushed crab in an umbrella net. Let the net sink
to the bottom, then pull it up quickly every 10 to 15 minutes. If you are
in an area that has a good spot population, you may want to invest in a spot
trap and bait it with crab for fresh tuna scraps. You can chum them up with
sardines, and cast net them. Or you can catch them with little hooks and
pieces of bloodworms. This is lots of fun for the kids. You can do this
right in the canal or marina where you keep the boat, or you can anchor the
boat in 3 to 5 feet of water near, but not too close, to a green marsh and
catch spot. (If you get too close to the marsh, you will start catching sea
bass.)
We have had good luck "hook and lining" spot to the west of Horn Island just
north of the Route 50 Bridge, along the green marshes just west of the
Thorofare, and in the shallow water just north of the Route 90 Bridge.

"I caught some live bait at night, but need to keep it alive until the next
morning."

If you live on the water, you can buy a spot keeper or make one out of fine
mesh wire or a big trash can with holes drilled in it. You can make it
float if you like by tying crab floats to the top or by using a big slab of
Styrofoam. If you are not on the water, you can set up an igloo cooler in
your garage or porch. Buy a simple aquarium pump at a pet store or pet
section of a department store along with a long air stone. Plug the air pump
in the wall and fill the cooler with salt water. (Spot, eels, and regular
bull minnows will live in treated fresh water, but striped minnows, mullet,
and alewives need salt water.) Drill a hole in the cooler if you like for
the clear tubing. (I have set tanks up for around $25- not including the
cooler.)

"What do you mean by treated fresh water?"

You need to buy the solution at the pet store that takes the chlorine and
other minerals out of the water. Tip: You can let fresh water sit for 24
hours and usually many of these things will dissipate.

"What kind of rig should I use with live bait?"

Simple is best. Use a long leadered hook from 30 to 36 inches set up with a
fish finder rig or an egg sinker. (Larger bait tends to spin, so you want
to your sinker to move freely on your line by using one of these types of
rigs.)

To make an egg sinker rig, slide an egg sinker (1-½ to 3 ounces) onto your
line directly from your reel. Then tie a barrel swivel to the end of your
line. Attach a 30 to 45 inch leadered #4/0 to #5/0 Octopus styled hook to
the barrel swivel. This is a basic "live bait rig." (If you want to make
these rigs in advance, tie your rig with an egg sinker sliding between two
barrel swivels, and then attach a longer leadered hook to one of the barrel
swivels.)

"How do you hook the live bait?"

If you are drifting or are in a running current it is best to hook the bait
under the chin and up through both lip or to hook the bait through the eyes.
Some people hook the bait through the back, and this is fine if you are
anchored and the tide is not running too hard. Anglers sometimes hook bait
like this if they are throwing it towards the rocks at the South Jetty.
(When you are doing this, you are not usually using weight or very little
weight and are letting the bait "free swim.") But when you pull the live
bait back through the water 4 or 5 times, you can kill it when it is hooked
through the back because you are pulling it sideways through the water. You
put much less strain on the live bait when you hook it through the lips or
the eyes.

Keep in mind that the larger live bait is larger than traditional minnow or
shiner bait. You have to give the flounder a chance to turn the larger live
bait around and to get it in its mouth. (Flounder take bait headfirst.)
When you feel the flounder mouthing the bait, feed it some line or give it
some slack so it can take the bait. The harder the current is running, the
more important it is. (My husband always tells me that flounder do not have
hands to hold on to the bait- so do not snatch it away!) When you feel the
weight of the fish on the other end, pull up on your rod tip and set the
hook. If it is not there, let it back down quickly. It may come back!

"I can't get any live bait!"

Then go back to the live minnows or shiner bait, but be sure to use a large
bait on the longer leadered rig. Use a live minnow or shiner with a long
strip of squid on the SAME hook. Other anglers use frozen finger mullet and
fish them the same way as the larger live bait. When you catch a lizard
fish (that ugly brown fish with prehistoric looking teeth) don't throw it
back overboard! Flounder love them. Either use it live on a "live bait"
rig or fillet the two sides and use a nice big strip of the lizardfish.
Flounder also like fillets of large spot, mullet, or snapper blue. When
using fish bait for flounder, always scrap off the scales.

Big flounder usually hang out in deeper water or in shoal waters close to
deep water. Work the Thorofare, deep hole near 33rd Street, the Inlet, or
the main east channel from 9th Street to the draw of the Route 50 Bridge.

Flounder's back open. Catch one! Good fishing.