fishing for flounder

8/12/2019 Fishing for Flounder

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SOUTHERN FLOUNDER Natural History and Fishing Techniques in South Carolina by

Dr. Charlie Wenner and John Archambault Educational Report No. 20

John Kuczma tied the state record with this17 lb. 9.6 oz. Southern flounder on 11-22-03 at Marlin Quay Marina, Murrells Inlet

Marine Resources Research Institute Marine Resources Division

South Carolina Department of Natural Resources Post Office Box 12559 Charleston, SC 29422


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The Natural History andFishing Techniques forSouthern Flounderin South Carolina

ByDr. Charlie Wenner

AndJohn Archambault

Marine Resources Research InstituteSouth Carolina Department of Natural Resources

P.O. Box 12559 - 217 Fort Johnson RoadCharleston, SC 29412

June 2005


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The Natural History and Fishing Techniques of South Flounder 3

PREFACE

Several years ago, the Marine ResourcesDivision of the South Carolina Department ofNatural Resources (SCDNR) began the produc-tion of a series of booklets for the general anglingpublic. The rst was entitled Natural Historyand Fishing Techniques for Red Drum in SouthCarolina. This publication presented a sum-marization of the biology of red drum based onSCDNRs research in South Carolina as well assome techniques for catching them. The secondbooklet was directed at the spotted seatrout,and it followed the same general outline as the

rst. I was pleasantly surprised by the favorablereception both of these received from anglers.Presently, there are somewhere in the neighbor -hood of 20,000 plus copies of each in circulation.

These booklets were distributed to the publicat no charge, mainly at public events ( shingexpositions) and tackle shops. The purpose ofthese booklets was for the SCDNR to provideanglers with materials that will increase theirunderstanding of the species they sh for as wellas (hopefully) increase their chances of catchinga sh. The costs of printing, as well as the smallcharges involved with their distribution, werepaid for by funds obtained from the sale of salt-water shing licenses.

Most anglers prize southern ounder morefor their wonderful characteristics in a frying

pan or under a broiler rather than for their ght -ing abilities on the business end of a shing line.The esh is white, mild and rm. My idea of anice ounder is a three-pound sh, lleted andskinned, placed in a shallow baking dish. Theleft and right llets are separated by a generouslayer of crabmeat stuf ng. A small shot of whitewine, a sprinkling of fresh ground black pep -per and a couple of pats of butter complete thetop decorations. After a short stay in the oven,the avors of the ounder and crab meat blendtogether to provide a treat for the dinner table.Other folks approach their ounder llets in amuch simpler fashion - a breading followed by abath in hot cooking oil. Either way, fresh oun -der is a treat.

We hope this booklet will provide anglerswith a better understanding of southern ounderboth in South Carolina as well as throughouttheir geographical range. Just remember, aswith the spotted seatrout booklet, I wrote thesection on the biology of the species whereas

John Archambault contributed the how to catchthem section. So if you cant catch them, blameJohn, not me.

As with the previous booklets, funds for theresearch came from the National Marine Fish-eries Service (MARFIN Program grant numberNA77FF0550) administered by the SoutheastRegional Of ce, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser -

vice (Sport Fish Restoration Fund) and the SouthCarolina Saltwater Fishing License. The latteralso paid for printing and distribution. We hopeyou enjoy this booklet, and if you have any sug-gestions or comments, please pass them along.

Many people participated in one way or an -other in this project. Our fellow workers in theInshore Fisheries Section of the SCDNR providedassistance in more ways than could be counted.

Among these folks were Bill Roumillat, ErinLevesque, Chris McDonough, Gina Perez, RichieEvitt and Robin Freeman. Karen Swanson pro -vided both graphics expertise and the nal lay -out. The efforts and expertise of Anna Martinin editing the original manuscript are greatlyappreciated. Numerous anglers allowed us tosample their catch and cooperated in our questfor data needed to tell this story.

A special thanks is warranted for formerSenator Fritz Hollings who helped us with ourinshore projects for many years. If it were notfor the Senator, much of the work on which thispublication is based, would not have been done.

Thank you for all your assistance, Senator Hol -lings.

Charlie Wenner


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4 The Natural History and Fishing Techniques of South Flounder

INTRODUCTION

Because the names of shes frequently varyregionally, the American Fisheries Society main -tains a list of shes in the United States in orderto standardize their of cial common and scien -ti c names. The scienti c names are generallyderived from Greek or Latin and are assigned toa species by the person who discovers it. Somescienti c names describe a trait of the new sh;others may be assigned to honor a biologist whohas contributed to knowledge of the group.

When classifying shes or assigning them tothe proper group, those with a similar physicalappearance are placed in the same assemblage.The southern ounder is in the family Bothidaeand is characterized by having the pigmentedside up with both eyes on the top, left side of thebody. Some at shes have the reverse conditionwith both eyes on the right side. The scienti cname for the southern ounder, which is the of -

cial common name, is Paralichthys lethostigma .The genus name ( Paralichthys ) is derived froma combination of two Greek words (Paral + ich -thys); translated, these mean parallel sh. Thespecies name ( lethostigma ) comes from a combi-nation of two Latin words (letho + stigma), whichmean forgotten spots. Translating both the ge -nus and species name and putting them together,we have a parallel sh with forgotten spots, re -ferring to the lack of spots on the attened sh.

There are many ounders in the family Both -idae in coastal South Carolina, most of whichare small shes that are relatively distinct fromthe southern ounder and rarely hooked by an -glers. However, two other members of the genus

Paralichthys are found in our inshore waters, thesummer ounder ( Paralichthys dentatu s) andthe Gulf ounder ( Paralichthys albigutta ) both ofwhich frequent estuarine and near shore waters.These sh are less abundant and can be sepa -rated from the southern ounder by coloration aswell as counts of n rays and other bones.

Visually, the southern ounder can bequickly separated from the summer and the Gulf

ounder by the lack of spots (Figure 1) on thepigmented surface. The Gulf ounder has threespots that form a triangle near the tail; the sum -mer ounder has ve spots. In coastal SouthCarolina, the southern ounder is far more abun -dant, larger and caught in greater numbers byrecreational anglers than the other two species.

As mentioned before, members of this genusof shes are known as the left-eyed ounders.

As you look down on a southern ounder, youwill see that both of the eyes are on the left side

of the body (Figure 2).The southern ounder is found along thesoutheast coast of the United States from Albe -marle Sound, North Carolina to the lower eastcoast of Florida. The species is absent in theFlorida Keys, but, once again appears in the shcatches on the Florida west coast near St. Peters -burg. Southern ounder are found throughoutthe near shore and estuarine waters of the north -ern Gulf of Mexico to northern Mexico.

Figure 1. The three species of paralichthid oundersfound in South Carolina waters.

Gulf ounder - Paralichthys albiguttaNote three spots forming a triangle.(Ilustration by Diana Rome Peebles for the Florida Fish & WildlifeCommission, Division of Marine Fisheries)

Southern ounder - Paralichthys lethostigmaNote absence of spots.

Summer ounder - Paralichthys dentatusNote ve spots on the body near the tail.


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THE FISHERY The southern ounder supports valuable

commercial and recreational sheries throughoutthe geographic range it inhabits. Since 1991, thetotal recreational catch in North Carolina, SouthCarolina, Georgia and Florida (east coast) hasranged from a low of 432,000 to a high of 830,000

sh (Figure 3) and appears to be quite stablefrom year to year throughout the region. An in -teresting aspect of the recreational shery is therelatively large number of southern ounder that

are caught and released alive (Figure 4). For ex -

ample, in 2003 about 30% of the estimated totalcatch was released alive, the annual average was24% from 1991 through 2003. This translatesinto one of every four southern ounders caughtby recreational anglers along the southeast coastis released alive.

In South Carolina, the estimated total catchof southern ounder in the recreational sheryhas ranged from a low of about 25,000 sh in1981 to a high of about 275,000 individuals in1985 (Figure 5). The long-term average catchover a period of 23 years (1981 - 2003) was about

eyes

mouth

gill cover(opercule)

pelvic npectoral n

anal n

caudal n

lateral line

dorsal n

Figure 2. Exterior anatomy of the southern ounder.

Figure 3. The estimated annual total catch in numbersfor southern ounder in the recreational shery along the

southeast coast of the US. Dashed line is the averageannual total catch from 1991 through 2003. Source of thedata is the MRFSS (Marine Recreational Fishery StatisticalSurvey) of the National Marine Fisheries Service, Depart-ment of Commerce.

Figure 4. Estimated number of southern ounder caughtby recreational anglers and released back into the wateralive along the southeastern coast of the U.S. (NorthCarolina, South Carolina, Georgia, east coast of Florida)from 1991 through 2003. The dashed line represents theaverage for the thirteen year period. Source of the datais the MRFSS (Marine Recreational Fishery Statistical Sur-vey) of the National Marine Fisheries Service.


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105,000 sh. During this same time interval,there has been an increasing trend for recre-ational anglers to release a substantial part oftheir catch alive. Since 1999, between 20 and32% of the southern ounder catch has beenreturned to the water. These numbers are aresult of both an increasing conservation ethic aswell as adherence to the minimum size limit of12-inches total length.

One aspect of the recreational harvest forwhich there are no data is the gig shery. Inthis method of harvest, shers patrol the shal -lows at night in shallow draft boats equipped

with lights mounted on the bow. The lights aredirected at the bottom, and as the boat is poledacross the shallows, an individual standing onthe bow spears the southern ounder made vis -ible by the light. Gigging occurs at night inmany remote areas of the coastal waterways,and there is little information on the number ofparticipants, the amount of sh harvested or thesizes of ounders in the catch. North Carolinahas an extensive gig shery for southern ounderin the southern sounds (Core and Bogue Sounds).Some estimates have put the total catch of thegig shery to exceed the hook and line sheryby a substantial amount. North Carolinas rec-reational anglers harvested 236,648 pounds ofsouthern ounder in 2002. That same year,recreational gig landings were estimated to be361,539 pounds, about 1.5 times the hook andline landings.

It is well known that the gig shery in SouthCarolina is relatively extensive; however, wehave no information on the total landings of this

shery to compare with the catch by hook andline gear. In order to more fully understand the

ounder shery, additional data on the gig sh -ery are needed. The magnitude of the landingsin number and weight, the number of partici -pants in the shery, the sizes of the sh in theharvest, and an average catch per trip would beextremely helpful in the determination of thehealth of the ounder population in South Caro -lina.

The average length of the southern ounderslanded by anglers since 1990 was over 14 inches(Figure 6). The largest sh (on average) wereseen in 2003. These averaged slightly less than16 inches. The trend since 1990 could be the re -sult of recreational anglers releasing the smaller

sh (12 inches or less in total length).

Life History: Early Life Stages

Southern ounders spawn in offshore watersduring the late fall and early winter. The fertil -ized eggs are pelagic, that is, after the sperm and

egg fuse and development begins, the eggs oatto the surface. The eggs hatch in 48 hours whenheld at 70 F and the resulting larvae are a tenthof an inch long. The larvae are suspended in thewater off the bottom and as they drift with oceancurrents, the small southern ounder feed onvery tiny animals related to crabs. In the larvalstage, southern ounder swim like any other sh,and the eyes are located on opposite sides of thehead. Also, they are largely translucent, whichmakes them less visible to potential predators.

Figure 5. The estimated annual total catch of southernounder in the South Carolina recreational shery. Source

for data is the Marine Recreational Fishery Statistical Sur-vey (MRFSS) conducted by the National Marine FisheriesService.

Figure 6. The annual average total length of southernounders in the South Carolina recreational hook and linesherys harvest. Dashed line is the average total length

from 1981 through 2003. Source of the data is the MRFSS(Marine Recreational Fishery Statistical Survey) of the Na-tional Marine Fisheries Service.


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The young are transported to the coast byocean currents, and they begin to enter SouthCarolinas estuaries in late January. Once in-side, they settle out of the water and begin theirlife on the bottom in the shallow tidal creeks.Figure 7 shows the early life stages that thesouthern ounder passes through as they changeto a bottom-dwelling sh.

The initial stage is the yolk-sac larvae (A),which develops right after fertilization when thesh embryo feeds off the yolk. Note that the de -

veloping eyes are on opposite sides of the headat this point. In this stage, the mouth and thedigestive track are not yet completely formed.

The two following stages of larval develop -ment (B and C) begin after the yolk sac has beenconsumed in early development. Now the mouthis formed, the digestive track is complete, andthe ns start to develop; however, the eyes arestill on opposite sides of the head. Next, theright eye begins to migrate across the skull (D)but does not complete its move until the nextstage in which the eyes take on a typical oun -der appearance and the body becomes pigmented(E). The larval southern ounder then settlesout of the water column and begins life as a bot -tom-dwelling species (F and G).

As a result of this metamorphosis from larvaeto juvenile, the left side of the southern ounderbecomes the top, pigmented side, and the rightside has become the unpigmented bottom. The

eye movement results in the top of larvae C (Fig-ure 7) becoming the right side and the bottom theleft side. Now in their nal pigmented form, thesouthern ounder settles to the creek bottoms.

Southern ounder spawn in offshore watersduring late fall and early winter. The youngare transported by ocean currents to estuariesalong the coast. In South Carolina, the youngmove inside the estuaries and settle out in theshallow tidal creeks that meander through ourcord grass marshes. Our samples in this habitat

showed that the juvenile southern ounder wereleast abundant during the fall; their numbers in -creased in January and February and peaked inMarch. They showed a general decline in num -bers through the late spring, summer and fall(Figure 8). Part of this decline is natural mortal -ity, i.e., they die from disease, unsuitable envi-ronmental conditions, or are eaten by predators,and the remainder is movement from the nurseryhabitat to other areas of the estuaries and bayswith increasing size.

Young southern ounder move into the shal -low creeks from January through March. Sincethe water in the creeks does not warm up untilsometime in March, the growth rate of the sh in

Figure 7. The stages of the southern ounder from earlylarva through the settlement as a juvenile. Source South-ern Regional Aquaculture Center Publication No. 726,

Species Profle, Southern Flounder , H.V. Daniels. N.C. StateUniversity.

Figure 8. Average monthly catches of young southernounder in the nursery habitat, i.e., the shallow tidal

creeks. Note the rapid decline in their numbers after March, and their absence in December. Source SCDNR survey data.

A

B

C

D

E

F

G


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the nursery habitat is quite low for these months.Most shes are unable to regulate their bodytemperature. When sh that live in temperatewaters go into cold water, they decrease or stopfeeding and reduce their growth. Southern oun -der show the same behavior. As waters warm in

April, the growth rate increases. The juvenilesdouble in size between April and June (Figure9). At a size of about 7 inches total length, the ju -veniles exit the shallow creeks and take up resi -dence in the main branches of the estuaries.

Although juvenile southern ounders arefound throughout South Carolinas estuaries,there is a tendency for them to be more abundantin shallow creeks that are further from the in -lets. Many go to areas of very low salinity 1, andsome have even been found in fresh water. TheFreshwater Fisheries Division of the SCDNR hasencountered small southern ounder in their sur -veys of the freshwater areas of the South EdistoRiver.

The diet of juveniles in the nursery area var-ies according to size. Those about 2 inches inlength feed on mysid and grass shrimp (Figure10), while those between 2.5 and 8 inches eatmainly small shes such as juvenile spot, youngstriped mullet and mummichogs (mud minnows).

After leaving their nursery habitat, the youngsouthern ounders tend to be found over mud -dier bottoms. As they consume more and larger

shes, their growth rate increases until theyreach about 10 inches in length at the age of one.However, these sh are still immature and donot spawn.

Life History: Reproduction

There is a great deal of interest in culturingsouthern ounder because it is highly desirableas a food sh. For example, in North Carolinathere is a Japanese market for both freshlycaught and bled southern ounder and live sh.The sh are caught by commercial operators whouse mainly gill nets 2. For the freshly bled mar-ket, the area just before the tail n is cut deeply,and the sh is placed on chipped ice. The shsblood on the ice indicates that the ounder wasalive at the time of packing. For the live market,the sh are held in special shipping containersthat are saturated with oxygen, and then ownto Japan. These sh are then served in the sushirestaurants, and they fetch a very high price.The Japanese have buyers at the commerciallanding points who inspect the ounders to in -sure the best quality.

With the increased value of southern oun -ders, attempts have been made to acclimate the

sh to laboratory conditions and induce themto spawn. Most shes of South Carolina have

discrete spawning seasons. For example, reddrum spawn in late summer (August throughearly September), and spotted seatrout spawnfrom late spring until the end of summer. Thesespecies have environmental cues such as day-length and water temperature that stimulatereproduction.

In the late fall as inshore water temperaturescool, maturing southern ounder migrate fromthe estuaries along the coast. They travel tosome presently unknown locations on the conti -nental shelf offshore where they spawn duringDecember, January and February. Biologists es -timate that the water temperature where spawn -ing takes place is about 68 Fahrenheit (20 C).

Figure 9. The average total length in inches for south-ern ounder sampled in the nursery areas (shallow tidalcreeks) by month. Source SCDNR survey data.

1 Salinity is a measure of how much salt is present in the water. Ocean waters may have from 32 to 36 parts per thousand ofsalt. As you go up-estuary, the freshwater from the rivers owing into the estuary, cause the salinity to decline. The seawater isdiluted by the freshwater which has zero parts of salt per 1000 parts of water.2 With regard to southern ounder, most sh, especially the larger ones, do not get gilled by the nets. They generally hit the netand settle to the bottom, merely laying on the net. The sherman picks up the net carefully so that the ounders are pursed up.Most of these shes are alive when hauled onboard the boat.


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Biologists at the Marine Resources ResearchInstitute of the SCDNR performed a spawningstudy on southern ounder caught in the wild.These sh were transported to the laboratorywhere they were acclimated to tanks, and fedeither mysid, grass shrimp, mud minnow, stripedmullet, spot, anchovy, menhaden, live animals(mud-minnow, shrimp) or cut sh such as stripedmullet and Atlantic mackerel (see Figure 10).The water temperature was decreased gradually

mysidgrass shrimp

spot

mummichog( of New Hampshire Fish

& Game, photo by JohnCraig Cloutier)

menhaden( Don Flescher andwww. shbase.org)

anchovy

striped mullet( John E. Randall and

www. shbase.org)

Figure 10. Favorite foods eaten by southern ounder.

to simulate the seasonal decline in the fall, andthe length of daylight was reduced to simulatethe day-length at that time of year. As condi -tions progressed to those experiences by southern

ounder in the fall, the reproductive organs ofboth the males and females began to develop.The sh spawned in the laboratory and fertilizedeggs were produced and hatched into larvae.

Although these sh did spawn in the labora -tory, many dif culties remain in the productionof sh large enough to be marketed. Variousinstitutions in North Carolina as well as theJapanese are devoting substantial resources toaddress the major problems associated with themariculture of this species. At the present time,the technology is not available to produce sh foreither commercial enterprises or for stocking.

Late Juveniles and Adults

After moving from the shallow tidal creeksthat serve as the young southern ounders nurs -ery area, the sh move to the larger parts of theestuary where most feeding and growth takeplace.

The southern ounder shows a great differ -ence between the growth rates of males and fe -males. In order to study the growth of a speciesin length and/or weight, some reference to timeis required, since growth is a rate of inches orpounds per year. Therefore to describe growth,we need to know the length or weight and the pe -

riod of time.Fishes go through periods of fast and slow

growth, which are re ected in areas of differentdensity on many of the calcium containing struc-tures in the body such as the otoliths, vertebraeand n rays among others. Most shes cannotregulate their body temperature with respectto the water they are in. Fish that normallythrive in warm water have a preferred range oftemperature. Cold water results in inactivityand the reduction or cessation of feeding, which

then slows the growth rate. As the waters warmin the spring, the sh begin to feed and growthresumes. When there is this break in the growthpattern, a check mark or ring is deposited onmany of the hard parts like the otoliths.

The process is much like that seen in trees.Periods of slow and fast growth are shown by dif -ferent rings in slices of the tree. The same phe-nomenon is seen in the boney structures of many

shes. In southern ounder, examination of thelargest of the ear-bones (Figure 11), the sagitta,


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when sliced through the center, shows a patternof light and dark bands. The darker or denserbands re ect periods of slower growth whereasthe lighter or translucent areas represent periodsof more rapid growth. By counting the number ofdark rings, you can calculate the number of win -ters that the sh passed through and, therefore,obtain an estimate of the age (Figure 12). Byknowing the age and the date of capture, biolo -gists are able to assign the sh to a yearclass. Ifa southern ounder has two rings on its otolithand was caught in June of 2005, the sh belongsto the 2003 yearclass. These are sh that result -ed from the spawning in the winter of 2003.

Once we have determined the age of the shand we know its length, weight and sex, we canshow how growth changes in accordance withthese three factors. In the southern ounder,females have a faster growth rate, reach a largermaximum size and live longer than males (Table1). The differences in growth, size and life spanare equivalent to those of two different species.

At every age, females are larger in bothlength and weight than males. The oldest twomales examined were age ve. Only 7.6% of the1,361 males were three years of age or older.Females lived to at least age seven. Graphiccomparison of the growth rates in length (Figure13) and weight (Figure 14) of the sexes by ageshowed dramatic differences with males reach -ing a very small size and a limited weight in ve

years.The percentage differences between the

sexes, especially in weight after age one are stun -ning. For example at age 1, males are a verysmall percentage less heavy than females. Afterage one, the differences widen with time untilage four when females weigh approximately200% more than males. The long-term averagesize for southern ounders in the recreational

catch is approximately 14 inches total length.Knowing the aforementioned facts about growth,this gure translates into an average age of twoyears.

One question that is frequently asked by rec-reational anglers is how the length of a sh isrelated to its weight. Although male southern

Figure 11. X-ray photograph of the southern ounder.The opaque area is the location for the otoliths. Source:A practical handbook for determining the age of Gulf of

Mexico shes by the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commis sion, 2003.

Figure 12. Section of a southern ounder otolith; whitelines denoted by arrows are annual marks.

Age Male Length Female Length Male Weight Female Weight 1 9.7 12.3 6.2 12.8 2 12.0 15.8 11.3 27.7 3 12.7 17.7 13.6 39.6 4 13.5 19.4 15.4 53.6 5 13.6 20.7 17.9 64.0 6 21.8 84.0 7 23.3 87.0

Table 1. Comparison of the average size (total length in inches, weight in ounces) according to age of male and female southern ounder in South Carolina waters. Source SCDNR.

otolith

center


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ounder grow dramatically slower than females,males at one length weigh about the same as afemale of the same length. For example, a 12-inch male weighs 11.1 ounces whereas a femaleof the same length weighs 11.2 ounces. Weightestimates of southern ounder at a given length

are in Figure 15. It is interesting to note that ash of 18 inches total length is more than doublethe weight of a sh that is 14 inches long. A

ounder that is 14 inches long is about 2 yearsold, one that is 18 inches is about 3 years old. Ina period of a year, the average female ounderwill grow from 14 to 17 inches, which corre -sponds to an increase in average weight from 18to 33 ounces (1.1 to 2.1 pounds). The sh almostdoubles in weight in a period of about 7 months.

People involved with the handling of seafood,especially sh, have found that about one-thirdof the total weight of a sh is made up of ediblemuscle tissue. A 14-inch (total length) southern

ounder would yield slightly more than a thirdof a pound in sh meat whereas a 17-inch shwould produce more than double that amount

demonstrating the rapid increase in weight cor -responding to an increase in length.

As mentioned earlier, juvenile southern oun -ders feed on small crabs and shrimp-like animalsand begin to consume more shes as they grow.Older and larger southern ounder feed mostlyby ambushing their prey (see Figure 10). Byblending the coloration of their pigmented sideto match the color of the bottom, they becomenearly invisible. For example, on dark-colored,muddy bottoms, they have a darker mottling

than when on a sandy bottom.Southern ounder have a special type of

cell called a chromatophore in the skin on theirpigmented side, which provides them with thisadaptation. This cell contains a dark pigment(black and/or brown) called melanin. When the

ounder is against a light bottom, the dark pig -ment is aggregated in one area of the cell, givingthe sh a light coloration on the pigmented sur -face. When the pigment is dispersed through-

Figure 13. Comparison of males and females by lengthaccording to age. Dashed line portrays the growth offemales whereas the solid line is for males. Source SCDNR.

Figure 14. Comparison of males and females by weightaccording to age. Dashed line shows the trend in chang-es of weight with age for females whereas the solid line isfor males. Source SCDNR.

Figure 15. The relationship of total length in inches toweight in pounds for southern ounder in South Carolina.To obtain the estimated weight of a sh at a given length,go to the corresponding total length measurement onthe bottom axis, then proceed vertically to the curve andthen go to the weight axis on the left. The numbers onthe left scale will give the estimated weight for a sh of

that length. Note that these are average weights, ateach length some sh will be heavier and others lighterthan the average. Source SCDNR.


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out the cell, the shs color becomes dark. Bothnerves and hormones control the concentration ordispersal of the pigment in the chromatophoresin the skin of the sh. When the eye senses thetype of bottom, it passes that information to thebrain through the nerves. The pituitary glandat the base of the brain then releases a hormonethat causes the pigments to move within thechromatophore. It is remarkable how quicklythis change occurs in southern ounder movedfrom a dark background to a light background.

The southern ounder can also conceal it -self by exing its dorsal and anal ns to make aslight depression in the bottom causing the sedi-ments to cover its back. The combination of thismovement and the expansion or contraction ofthe chromatophores conceals the sh from bothpredators as well as prey.

This camou age conceals the southern oun -der and puts the sh in a position to strike preyas it passes overhead. As small juveniles, south -ern ounders feed on small crustaceans and ju -venile sh. After growth and movement from thecreeks to other areas of the estuaries, their dietchanges both in the types of food eaten as well asthe size of the individual food items. The prima-ry food item of ounders 8 inches or less is grassshrimp (Figure 10). Other shes consumed by8-inch ounders include mummichogs (mud min -nows), small striped mullet and spot. The diet oflarger southern ounder consists mainly of these

same shes, which are consumed in a greatervolume and larger size.In an examination of over 300 stomachs from

southern ounder, the following species of sheswere seen: tarpon, Atlantic menhaden, bay an -chovies, mummichogs, silversides, silver perch,spotted seatrout, Atlantic croaker, star drum,white mullet and southern ounder. Southern

ounder 16 inches or larger ate shes almost ex -clusively.

The species in the diet tell something about

the feeding locations of southern ounder in theestuary. Southern ounders feed where theirprey is most abundant. Two of the dominant

shes (mummichogs and striped mullet) thatwere seen in the stomachs are found in tidalcreeks, on ooded marsh surfaces, and along theedges of the marsh. They are not shes of theopen waters.

The most abundant prey species on themarsh surface are striped and white mullet aswell as mummichogs. As the tide ebbs and water

ows off the surface of the marsh, many of theshes found there move off with the tide. Our

tidal marshes have gullies through which muchof the water from the surface drains. As the tideebbs, prey species use the shallow creeks ashighways to get from the marsh to deeper wa -ter. Frequently southern ounders can be foundat the mouths of these gullies. Southern oun -ders are found in the shallows using their camou -

age (partially buried in the sediment with onlytheir eyes visible with their color blending withthe bottom color) ready to ambush an unsuspect-ing prey species (Figure 16).

In our sampling of shes in the shallow wa -ters of South Carolinas estuaries, the southern

ounders were the last of the large shes to leavethe shallows with the tide. In general, they arecreatures of the shallows. For example, in addi -tion to most of their diet being made up of shesfound along the fringes of the marsh, gig sh -ermen stalk the ounders in shallow water atnight.

When making recommendations to sherymanagers, shery biologists often stress the im -portance of delaying the harvest of a species untilthey reach a size and age at which it is able tospawn. In many instances, the minimum sizerestrictions of a sh re ect the size at which50% of the population is sexually mature. At thepresent time in South Carolina, the minimumlegal size for the recreational harvest of southern

ounder is 12 inches total length.

Figure 16. Gulf ounders blending into the bottom nearan off-shore reef as well as a southern ounder partiallycovered with sediment. Source SCDNR.


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A few male southern ounders are maturebetween a length of 8 and 9 inches, 50% of the

sh could spawn between 10 and 11 inches. Allmales are mature at a size of 13 inches totallength. At 12 inches total length, about one- fth(20%) of the female southern ounder are sexu -ally mature. Half the females about 14 incheslong were able to spawn. All shes 16 inches andlarger in length were mature.

Southern ounders are what biologists referto as serial spawners. This species producesclutches 3 of eggs over the spawning season, thatis, the sh spawn the mature eggs and spermproducing a group of fertilized eggs that hatchinto larvae, rest a period of time that varies ac-cording to the species of sh, and produce an -other clutch of mature eggs. In general, largerfemales produce individual clutches with moreeggs, have more clutches and spawn over a lon -ger period of time than the small females. Thenumber of eggs produced by a female during aspawning season is called the total fecundity.

Although SCDNR biologists have been unable todetermine the number of eggs produced in oce-anic waters by southern ounder in the spawn -ing season, research from holding three femaleswith an average weight of six and three quarterpounds in the laboratory and conditioning themto spawn under arti cial conditions gave esti -mates that from 17,000 to 260,000 eggs wereproduced by a female in a single batch. The labo-ratory spawning lasted forty days, and the threefemales produced slightly less than 18 millioneggs. Fertilized southern ounder eggs oat inseawater, whereas unfertilized eggs sink. Scien -tists estimated that one-third of the total numberof eggs produced had been successfully fertilizedby separating the eggs that sank from those that

oated.The movements of southern ounder from

tag-recapture work have been studied by Northand South Carolina as well as Georgia sherybiologists during the past two decades. In SouthCarolina, SCDNR scientists tagged 882 southern

ounder that ranged in size from 7 to 24 inchesin total length. Of these, recreational anglersrecaptured 26 individuals, and SCDNR sam -pling recaptured an additional 98. Many of the

sh were within the same general area as theywere marked and released. Some sh, however,had moved considerable distances. Three shestagged in Charleston Harbor had moved southto Georgia (St. Catherine Sound ~ 110 miles;Hampton River ~150 miles) and Florida (Matan -zas Inlet ~250 miles). The sh that moved fromCharleston Harbor to St. Catherine Sound madethe trip in 17 days (averaging 6.5 miles per dayduring its travel). Surprisingly, this was a smallsouthern ounder (11 inches total length) . TheFlorida ounder was a larger sh (16 inches) andwas recaptured after 15 months in the wild. Aspreviously mentioned, most of the other recap-tures were relatively near the point of the initialtagging.

In Georgia waters, DNR personnel marked1,078 sh and received 75 returns. Their ob -servations followed the same trend as seen inSouth Carolina some individuals demonstratedlong distance movements . Thirteen individualsmoved farther than the others, averaging ~110miles from the point of origin. Of these, one in-dividual traveled 350 miles to the north beforebeing recapture in Surfside Beach, North Caro -lina. The remainder moved to southern Georgiaor Florida. Fish tagged in North Carolina gen-erally moved inshore in spring, offshore in latefall with the seasons, and were captured closeto where they were rst tagged and released.Those marked southern ounder that demon -strated longer movements usually swam south toSouth Carolina and Georgia waters. The studiesshowed that this species is capable of long-dis -tance movements, mainly in a southern direction.

In general, tag returns from marked southernounder have been relatively low when compared

to those from red drum. Along the southeastcoast, the tag returns to various agencies con-ducting the tagging studies were less than 10%.Some of the blame for the low rate of returns canbe attributed to the tags themselves which oftenfell apart, as was the case with the failing of theGeorgia DNR tag. The tag we rst used in SouthCarolina was also inappropriate.

Spawning takes places in offshore watersfrom December through March. The exact loca-tion is still a mystery and probably will remain

3 A clutch of eggs is a group of mature eggs, those that can be fertilized, that are released by the female each time it spawns.Many shes have spawning seasons that might extend over a month or two. During this period, each female will release severalclutches of eggs.


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as such. In my estimation, shing on a group ofsh that are actively spawning is not the wisest

thing to do 4.Juveniles leave the creek systems in late

April through June and move throughout theestuary. As these ounder grow, we are ableto catch them with our nets to determine theirabundance. Examining our catches of southern

ounder in net surveys shows a seasonal pat -tern in abundance that follows a predictablecycle each year. Our lowest catches were in thecoldest months (Figure 17), began to increase inMarch and reach a peak in August. The catchesshowed high numbers in July, August and Sep -tember. In general, when a sh become moreabundant it is found in more locations. Only35 of 393 net sets (9%) made in January caughtsouthern ounder whereas 56% of our samples inMay and June had southern ounder.

When we analyzed the net catches by watertemperatures, the trends followed the same pat -tern as the monthly net catches (Figure 18). Aswater temperatures warmed to between 86 to90 F, the catches increased to a maximum. Thelowest catches occurred in waters colder than50 F. Southern ounder were present in only3.5% of the 323 net samples made in these coldwaters whereas they appeared in over 85% of the457 sets made in 86 to 90 F 5. In summary, wesee them less frequently and in smaller numbersduring the period between December and March.

Most of the sh encountered during that periodare immature shes. The adults are offshorespawning and will not return to inshore watersin reasonable numbers until the spring. Theseasonal movements for the adults are inshoreto the estuary during the warmer months andoffshore to spawn in the colder months. The im -mature sh go from shallow water in the warmmonths to the deeper channels of the river sys-tems in the colder months.

We use the catch data from our trammel netsurvey as an index of the abundance of south -ern ounder as well as spotted sea trout and reddrum in South Carolina waters. Each month wesample randomly chosen areas along the shoreline from Winyah Bay south to St. Helena Sound

4 A good saying to remember in regards to this is: If your parents had no children, you probably wont.5 The last temperature interval is quite warm, 91 - 95F. This temperature occurs in the shallow waters during mid-summeraround the period of low tide. The water is less than 18 inches deep, and the dark-colored mud absorbs the heat from the sun.The overlying water quickly warms to high temperatures.

from just after high tide until low tide. At eachof these, we set a 200-yard long net to catch thevarious types of shes. In our sampling, we ndthat southern ounder are most susceptible to

our nets in the latter stages of the ebb tide (Fig-ure 19). Our average catches are much less athigh tide. This makes sense because at high tidethe sh are more spread out than at lower tides -

Figure 17. Monthly catches of southern ounders inSCDNR trammel net survey in South Carolinas estuarineareas. The data are for an eleven year period. SourceSCDNR survey.

Figure 18. Average catches of southern ounder inSCDNR trammel net survey by water temperature inter-vals. Temperatures are in degrees Fahrenheit. SourceSCDNR survey.


16/34


they are diluted because of more water in theestuaries and bays.

The yearly average catch for the 13 year pe -riod is about 1.5 southern ounder per trammelnet set (Figure 20). For the last seven year theaverage catches are below the long term value,and recently they are about half of those from

1992 through 1995. From survey catches, theabundance of southern ounder in South Caroli -nas estuaries has shown a declining trend.

Biologists have determined that North Caro -linas southern ounder population is over-har -vested, and management measures are needed toreduce over- shing and maintain the populationat healthy levels. This species is very import tocommercial shermen with landings averaging3.6 million pounds per year and a value of $6.3million per year. The North Carolina Divisionof Marine Fisheries has put a number of regula-tions on commercial and recreational shermento reduce the harvest of the southern ounder intheir waters. Examples of these are a 14-inchminimum size limit for both recreational anglersand commercial harvesters, an eight- sh baglimit for anglers as well as closed seasons andgear restrictions for the commercial shermen instate waters.

Figure 19. Average number of southern ounder caughtin the trammel net survey in South Carolina estuaries bytidal stage. Data for the period from 1991 through 2003.The height of the bar is the average for each tide stage.The number on top of each bar is percentage of net

sets made during that tide that captured at least one southern ounder. Sets made during December throughFebruary not included because of the rarity of this speciesin our survey during that time. Source SCDNR survey.

Figure 20. Average number of southern ounder caughtin the trammel net survey in South Carolina estuaries byyear. Sets made during December through February notincluded because of the rarity of ounder in our surveyduring that time. Horizontal dashed line is the averagefor the period from 1991 through 2003. Source SCDNR

survey.


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Fishing for FlounderIntroduction

I know enough about ounder shing to re -alize, in fact, how little I actually know. Likemany fellow South Carolinian anglers, I catcha few ounder on occasion, most coming as an

unexpected bonus while targeting spotted seatrout or red drum. Therefore, when Dr. CharlieWenner asked me to compose a how-to sectionfocusing on shing techniques for this ounderpublication, I knew I had better turn to the ex -perts for their advice.

To that avail, I have enlisted the help of foursuccessful ounder anglers. Although I thinkthey did an admirable job, keep in mind thesemen are not professional writers, they are sher -men. Each has their own style of writing as wellas their own techniques for shing. Some tella good story, some are concise and to the point,some troll and gig, and all are accomplished

ounder shermen.Jay Sims, GeorgetownJays consistent ability to capture ounderalong the states northern coast has beenrepeatedly proven by the many sh he hascontributed to our wrack collection pro -gram over the years. He ranks among thetop ounder taggers in the Marine Game -

sh Tagging Program.Melvin H. Burns, Jr., Florence Walt Cordina, Mount Pleasant Mr. Burns and Mr. Cordina were the top

ounder taggers in 1999 for the Depart -ments Marine Game sh Tagging Pro -gram.Dickie Hamilton, Port RoyalDickie is the best ounder sherman thatI personally know, and has many yearsexperience in the Charleston and Beaufort

areas.I was fortunate in nding four talented and

successful ounder shermen to contribute tothis publication, and even more fortunate thattwo sh the northern South Carolina coast andtwo sh the central and southern coast. I havecome to realize over the years that techniquesemployed to catch ounder differ signi cantly be -tween the upper coast and the rest of the state.

In the areas around Georgetown and fur -ther north along the Grand Strand, mainstreamanglers sh on the move. They prefer to pres -ent their bait drifting or trolling. While some

ounder shermen from the Charleston area andfurther south troll or drift, the majority of an-glers still sh shing either from an anchoredboat or on foot. I often wonder why this occurs,and over the years have asked numerous anglersabout the regional dichotomy in oundering.Our best guess is that a difference in habitat de-termines technique. Most ounder caught alongthe northern coast come from relatively smallinlets and creek systems. Drifting or trolling ef-fectively covers this constricted habitat. FromCape Romain south, the South Carolina coastlineconsists of larger sounds, bays, harbors and riv-ers. In this region, the greatly increased area ofhabitat seems to make it more effective to targetspeci c smaller structures that concentrate the

ounder. In any case, an angler from either re -gion may bene t by learning both sets of shingtechniques, thereby doubling his or her chancesof catching ounder.

Finally, I will include a brief section on yshing for ounder. While an expert at neithery shing nor ounder shing, I have managed

to catch more than a few ounder on ies. In theleast, I hope to offer fundamental advice as wellas a starting point for those interested in catch-ing ounder on a y rod.

Jackson Sims, IV

Fishing for Flat Fish

Oh de ounder he looks so ne, hanging ontomy little thin line

Flounder shing in the northern coastalcounties begins in the spring around three weeksbefore Easter or, as the ole timers will tell you,

when de san nats is a bitin the ounder arein de creek. Smaller inlets, like Pawleys Islandand Murrells Inlet, will attract ounder faster inthe spring because water temperature increasesmore rapidly than in larger estuaries like NorthInlet or Winyah Bay. The recurring problemwith early spring ounder shing is the coldwater algae that are still in the creek, so be pre -pared to pull a lot of grass off of your line. Asthe summer progresses, these algae will die offand will be ushed out of the creeks.


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There are several rigs I use in catching oun -der. Most frequently, I use the double hook rig.I construct my own ounder rigs using a mediumthree-way swivel connected to another swivelwith around eight inches of 20 lb. mono lament.I attach my shing line to one of the other legson the top swivel. I then attach another pieceof mono around 4 to 6 inches long to the otherleg, then a number 4 wide bend hook. Althoughsome people use larger hooks, I prefer a size 4 or6 hook. They catch most ounder that bite, butbe sure to use wide bend hooks. These hooks holdthe bait better and t in the ounders mouthwith ease. Also, to prevent it from tangling, thetop hook should not be able to reach the lowerswivel. To the bottom swivel, tie on a ounce

trolling lead with around two inches of line. Onthe other leg of the bottom swivel, attach aroundnine inches of mono and tie on another hook.Unfortunately, these rigs take time to make, andmaking them ahead of time they often tangle inthe tackle box. I nd that if you make the rigs,but leave off the hooks, they do not tangle asbadly in your box. There are commercial rigsavailable with corks and spinners, but these tendto attract more blue sh.

Now for the baitI have found that the best baits for oun -

der shing are tiger minnows (striped killi sh,Fundulus majalis ). Although I do not know any -where to buy them, with a 3/8 inch cast net and astretch of sand bar near the inlet, you can catchyour own. Look for schools of these minnowswhere the sand bar meets the grass. Watch foryour shadow, the minnows will run from it. Thesize of the minnow is important. If the minnowis too small, the ounder will not reveal his hid -

ing place on the bottom. Use a minnow aroundtwo inches or larger. My Dad always said, Thesmallest ounder can eat the biggest minnow.When you catch a small sh, pull his mouth openand see how big it is.

In addition, other effective ounder baitscan be caught. (See Figure 10 in previous sec -tion). Finger mullet can be collected with a castnet. Mud minnows can be caught with either acast net or a minnow trap. Almost any shingtackle store will supply traps. The best tide to

Jay Sims (in the boat)

to the reel

4 to 6 inches

size 4 or 6wide bend hooks

9 inches

8 inches of20 lb. test line

around 2 inches

3/ 4 ounce trolling lead

3-wayswivel

3-wayswivel


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set a minnow trap is when the water is out ofthe grass falling. Small creeks that have fairlydeep holes at low tide are productive locations.If the top of your trap is covered by about 6 to8 inches of water at dead low tide, then youreOK. If the tide is rising, try maneuvering fartherup the creek where the minnows may be found,they seem to move up the creek with the tide. Acrushed blue crab is the best bait to use in a min-now trap. I place two per trap and use two traps.Crushing the claws with a paddle, I step on thecrab body and pull the back partly off, placing ev-erything in the trap. I sh the traps for about f -teen to thirty minutes depending on the amountof minnows in the creek. I have had a full trap in

ve minutes. Leaving traps out too long will al -low the mud minnows to eat the crab and escape.

The bait minnows can be kept alive in a min -now bucket. The best buckets permit water

ow. The yellow variety is popular. Make surethat the buckets door does not open when facingdownward while trolling, and that the door closesafter each minnow is removed. Do not over llthe bucket; about three dozen is the max. If youplace too many in the bucket, they have troublebreathing.

Many ounder shermen tie a stringer ontothe line holding their bait bucket. The stringershould be long enough for the caught ounder toremain in water and strong enough so that it willnot be cut in the shs mouths. A piece of yel -

low polypropelene with a piece of copper tubingsmashed and bent with a hook shape works well.Insert the poly line into the tubing and crimp thetubing about a quarter of an inch from where it

joins the line, then bend the tubing and smashthe other end at so it will be easier to insert inthe ounders gills. Then tie the trailing line onyour minnow bucket. Now youre starting to looklike a real pro!

Another ne bait to use for ounder is madefrom the white side of a ounder already caught.Filet a piece around two inches long, and cut itinto a diamond shape. Insert the hook throughone of the pointed ends.

Now that you have your bait and rig, its offto the shing hole!

I nd the most successful methods of oundershing are trolling and drift shing. The best

results often occur trolling against the tide, be-cause the tide helps to slow your speed across thebottom. While trolling, make sure you can feelthe bottom (that is, you should be able to feel the

lead bumping across the bottom). While you areshing, imagine you are on the lead going along,

and after a while you will be able to tell if youare in oyster shell, small sand ripples, or mud.Concentrate on the bottom you are covering. No-tice also the action of your minnow. When you

rst hook and drop the minnow it will be active,but as you begin trolling it will calm down. If theminnow becomes highly active again, it may betrying to dodge a sh or a crab, so be ready.

The best time to catch ounder, I nd, iswhen the water is out of the grass, either risingor falling. You can catch ounder at full hightide, however, when the water is out of the grassthe sh are concentrated in the creeks. If thewater is out of the grass, then so are the oun -der. Watch for eddies around points and sand-bars that are out of the current, these areas holdbait as well as sh. Look for places where thetide ows backward. And with that, I suggestto look for places where the tide is screaming

by, like points or the intersection of creeks. Inmany of these areas there will be a place wherethe current reverses itself into an eddy and thatis where the big boys will be hanging out. Try

shing on the lee side of oyster rocks and marshislands these areas will also hold sh.

When you get tired of trolling, cut off the mo-tor and drift sh. This works well when the windis not blowing too hard. Get comfortable in yourseat, stick your pole over the side, grab a coolsoda, and relax.

You are sitting in your boat relaxing, tryingto determine what type of bottom you are go -ing over, when your minnow suddenly becomesactive. A fast bump, kind of out of the bottom

eddy


20/34


pattern, lets you know it is time to let your reelfreespool. Some people count to ten, some lon-ger, just depending on how the ounder are bit -ing that day. If you miss the sh, count longernext time. Let the line tighten and set the hook.Sometimes you will not even feel the bite andthe sh will feel like dead weight on the line get -ting pulled along. I still give them time to eatthe bait. If you get a bite and it starts runningwith the line, set the hook immediately, becauseit is probably a trout, spottail, or blue sh. Some

ounder ght best when they see the boat. Makesure your drag is not set too tight or they willpull the hook at the boat. One of the most im-portant items you should have in your boat is anet. I use one twice the size of a basketball withabout a four-foot handle. When you start shing,make sure your net is not tangled with every -thing else in the boat. Fight the sh until youare able to place the net behind him in the water,

trying not to let the sh see the net. Let the shfall backwards into the net, then lift quickly.Watch out for the second hook when unhookingyour sh. And remember your size limits.

Flounder Gigging

Two eyes looking up at two eyes lookingdown, the ones looking up hope they arent goingto be found.

Flounder gigging, graining, striking, or justplain stabbing ounder begins in the spring

of the year. You hear stories of people giggingwhen the ounder rst arrive in the creek, butthe sh they capture are usually thin. I wait un -til the bait begins to show up in the creeks so the

sh can thicken up.Other than location, the weather is the most

important factor when gigging. Ideally, the windshould be less than ten knots. A strong windcauses ripples on the surface, making it dif cultto see the bottom. Wind also makes it hard topole the boat.

I begin the ounder gigging season by walk -ing with a lantern, a stringer, and a gig. As thefall approaches, it becomes too cool to comfort-ably wade wet. Then, my vehicle of choice is asmall aluminum johnboat, around 14-16 feet,with a 15 horsepower motor. Choose a rig thatdoes not draw much water, allowing you to getclose to the bank. I use two 12 volt deep-cyclemarine batteries for illumination, one for each oftwo lights. I purchase underwater lights with aglass bulb, found at most marine tackle stores.

The bulbs should be made for a 12-voltage directcurrent, and should be 75 or 100 watts. Alwayscarry a spare bulb. Attach one light to the sideof the boat ahead of where the rst striker willstand. Place the other light ahead of the aftstriker. Both lights should be on the same sideof the boat letting you pole along with the tide.Strikers usually stand on the seats to lessen theglare. If the person in back has too much lightshining in their eyes, simply adjust the frontlight.

For poles I use wooden dowels around 1inch thick and 12-foot-long. Poles should be atleast 10 feet long, but make sure they t in yourboat. Keep in mind you will have to pole forseveral hours, so the lighter the poles the better.Some people choose pre-made light-weight bam -boo poles. I use a 5 prong gig head of mediumstrength. You do not want a frog gig, rather a gigthat will hold a 5 lb. sh apping in mud.

Once your gear has been assembled, keep aneye on the weather. If it rains during low tidethe preceding day, the water will most likely bemuddy. Heavy ooding tends to stain the waterred in color. A good high-pressure system is bestand once the H in high pressure is on you, thewind should be calm.

Ideally, look for a low tide around midnight.The sh will have time to settle in after darkand calm down. Hit the landing around 9:30with two cans of bug repellent and some Skin

So Soft. Run to the area you would like to startgigging, going slowly for the last couple of hun -dred yards so that your wake will not disturb thebottom. Then ground the boat and attach thelights. The person in front of the boat maintainsthe distance from the bank, while the personin back controls the speed. If the boat is goingto stop abruptly, the person in the front shouldlet the person in back know. Sudden stops cansend people ying. Proceed at an angle wherethe person up front is in deeper water, as deepas they can see. The person in back will need tosee to the top of the water line on the bank, oras close as possible without hitting the bottom.The shadow of the boat should never go over the

ounder before you do.When the tide is falling, the sh move down

the bank with the tide. Look high for prints inthe sand or mud where a ounder has been lying.They will look like a ounder. If you see one,stop and look deeper. Try to see which way hewent. You can track ounder like this as long as


21/34


they dont go into water deeper than you can see.Sometimes, though, prints are left from an ear-lier tide. Once a ounder moves down with thetide, it will usually face toward deeper water, butI have seen them with their back out of water.Sometimes, when the ounder are lying in sandor mud, you will see only a hump on the bottomwith two eyes. On oyster shells, you will seea ounder that is brilliantly camou aged withspots of dark brown and white. If I see what Ithink is a sh, I will stick it as long as it is largeenough.

When the tide begins to rise, the sh comefrom deeper water and head towards the bank.They keep rising with the tide until the watermakes it into the grass. Once the tide begins

ooding, most of the sh will be facing upwardsor sideways, allowing them to see their preymuch more easily.

When you gig your sh, try to stick it acrossthe head. With this positioning, the ounder willhave a dif cult time getting off of the gig and youwill not damage too much of the meat. Take asecond to size up your sh to make sure it is legal(minimum total length of 12 inches), and if indoubt let it go. Some people choose not to gig a

sh under 14 inches. When you nd a sh, lookaround for another one. I have seen as many asfour sh in my lights at once. To get your shinto the boat, make sure the prongs of the gigare through the sh, press and lift at the same

time. Never pull back on the sh. With shlarger than 3 lbs., many shermen will jump outof the boat (with tennis shoes or rubber boots on

beware of pluff mud or sharp oysters) and placetheir hand under the sh, trapping it on the gighead.

Flounder gigging is a great way to showyoungsters the animals of the creek. Put them inthe middle of the boat with a crab net so they canget their aquarium going.

Always keep safety and courtesy in mind.

Beware of other boaters running with their lightsoff. This is a great hazard during the summermonths. Be courteous to other strikers: watchyour wake, because it will muddy up the bankand spoil things for them.

Good fshing !

Melvin Burns

Residing in Florence, South Carolina, almostall of my ounder shing is done in the LittleRiver and Cherry Grove areas of the state. Af -ter many successful ounder shing trips, localsdubbed me the The Creek Doctor, because theysaid that I have the right medicine to catch oun -der. The expertise I provide is based on overtwenty years of experience and should help youcatch more ounder most of the time.

I have divided components of ounder shinginto three parts: bait, tackle and equipment, and

shing techniques.

Bait

I believe one of the most important aspectsof ounder shing is deciding the type of bait

to use. The most popular and easiest to obtainare known as mud minnows. Mud minnowsare easily caught in minnow traps baited withcracked crab, dry dog food, or even donuts. Theyare also available at most salt water bait andtackle shops. These minnows are very hardy andrequire very little care other than fresh salt wa -ter to keep them alive, and will even live in freshwater for days.

Melvin Burns


22/34


and up to four people can sh while drifting (tobe explained next) without becoming tangled.

Never attempt to lift or drag the ounder intothe boat, always carry a long-handled net whenyou sh.

Fishing techniques

The most successful method of ounder sh -ing, I nd, is to drift the double minnow rig withthe tide. Keep the boat perpendicular to thebank while drifting, allowing everyone to shfrom the same side of the boat. Use the motoronly to keep the boat in this position while drift -ing, idling most of the time. Allow the baitedrig to drift 20-25 yards from the boat with the

bail open and the line held with the index nger.This provides direct contact with the line and al -lows you to better feel the strike. Once the strikeis felt, release the line for 5-10 seconds to allowthe ounder to swallow the bait. Then close thebail, and when the drifting boat takes the slackout of the line, set the hook, hard .

One of the most dif cult things for beginningounder shermen to learn is to detect the strike

of the ounder. It can vary from light to heavy

mud minnow ormummichog

line to reel

swivel

surgeon's loop(swivel in loop)

tie hook on one leg,use other to form

rest of rig

large surgeon's loopcut open to tie hook

and sinker on each end

walking sinker

abrasion resistant15-20 pound test

omit top hook whenusing shrimp for bait

minnowtrap

Based on the stomach contents of hundredsof ounder, I nd that the best bait is what Icall white bait. This type of bait, mostly white

to silver in color, includes mullet, croaker, spot,menhaden, and other species. (See Figure 10 inprevious section). I catch my bait using a castingnet, making a great effort to keep them alive bynot crowding the bait buckets and maintainingtheir clean salt water. I will regularly use four ormore buckets per trip to keep the bait fresh andlively. An interior live well with running saltwater also works well.

Shrimp, another excellent bait for ounder,notably when they ll the creeks, are the pre -ferred bait for a variety of species of sh. Manyshrimp are required and I sh them differentlythan minnows, as I will be explaining later.

Tackle and equipment

My favorite ounder shing tackle consistsof a 6-7 foot medium-action spinning rod, andan open-faced spinning reel with a good dragsystem spooled with a 12 lb. test mono lamentline. Bait casting reels work well, but I believespinning reels offer an important advantage thatI will later discuss.

My favorite minnow rig for ounder consistsof two hooks, a 1/2 to 1-ounce walking sinkerand a two-way swivel. I use the toughest 15 to20 pound test mono lament to tie the rig. (See

gure) I also use the same rig for shrimp, withthe exception of using only one hook.

Although any type of boat can be used withounder shing, I prefer a 14-16 foot aluminum

boat with a solid idling 10-25 horsepower motor. A boat with these features maneuvers ef ciently,


23/34


but almost without exception consists of one dis-tinct thump, followed by a sensation that youmay have picked up a crab or some type of trashon your line, giving it a heavy feel. This is themoment to release the line.

I nd that the best shing occurs during thetwo-hour period before and after the change ofthe tide, with the falling tide being the best most

of the time. During the middle of the tide, thecurrent typically moves the boat too fast to pres-ent the bait effectively. The quarter moon phas-es usually result in slower moving tides, allowingfor better bait presentation. According to manyprevious years records, the best month for catch-ing large numbers of ounder is May.

When using shrimp for bait, I use the singlehook rig with a heavier weight, and sh the rigstraight down beside the boat, alternately rais -ing and lowering the rod to bounce the weightoff the bottom. Maintain contact with the weightof the rig going up or down, so that the strikecan be felt. This method is used only duringthe periods of slack or slow moving water. A lotof shrimp are required because every sh lovesshrimp. I have used this method to catch many

ounder when the creeks are full of shrimp andthe ounder seem to stop biting minnows.

Generally, the best ounder shing occursin the deeper areas, and on the bars, ridges and

ats around these deeper areas. I will drift thesame area over and over until the action slows,

then move on down to the next good location.

Walt Cordina

I sh for ounder in mostly the CharlestonHarbor and the Wando and Cooper Rivers. I en -

joy ounder shing as well as tagging them.

Rigs

I use a simple rig that probably most anglersare familiar with, similar to a Carolina rig. A2/0 Eagle Claw hook is attached to one end of alength of 17-20 pound line measuring about 10to 12 inches, with a #7 black swivel on the otherend. I use a to 1/8 ounce egg sinker on themainline. I also use the spec rig, consisting oftwo jigs, when shing in the inlets. Finally, attimes I use a oat rig to keep a bait just off of thebottom.

Baits

Live baits such as mud

minnows and nger mulletare best. I use small menha -den or spots, too. Hook themud minnows through thelips, bottom to top. I hookmullet crosswise throughthe eye sockets. I use grubstipped with minnows attimes in the fall.

Locations/Techniques

Some great places forounders are rocky areas,

pilings, old drain pipes,and oyster rakes. I like thetide moving well, either in -

coming or outgoing, and I look for signs of baitaround structure. I sh live bait very slowly onthe bottom, working the whole area well. Whenthe baits stops suddenly or I feel the bite, I dropslack and wait about 10 seconds before settingthe hook hard. Sometimes I have a rock or oys -ter, but by setting the hook hard, the sh gets

hooked well in the bony jaw. Sometimes I letthe bait oat over the bottom with a popping

oat. When the oat goes under slowly, it usu -ally means ounder. The spec rig is good in theinlets. Tip the jigs with a minnow and let theincoming tide move you along. I use grubs in thefall casting or trolling around oysters. I also jigthe grub around pilings to get some nice oun -der.

1/8 to 1/4 oz.egg sinker

barrelswivel

17-20pound line

2/0 clawhook

tip jigs with mud minnows

popping float

or rattle float

egg sinker

17-20 poundmonofilament

Carolina rig

spec rig

oat rig


24/34


Dickie Hamilton

The largest ounder I ever weighed-in was9.5 lbs. I used to be able to catch a pretty goodnumber of ounder between 6-8 pounds but evenback in the 80s one over 8 pounds was a rar -ity for me. The second largest ounder I haveever seen on my line was probably 15-16 lbs. Iwas shing with another MRD employee who isnow deceased. Again, this was back in the earlyto mid 80s. We were shing out of his boat inhis spot. We had shed this spot together manytimes, often doing quite well. Usually we wouldtake my boat as I lived just down the road fromthe landing, but for some reason we took histhat day. Well, whenever I sh out of my boatI tilt the motor out of the water. When he didnot tilt the motor up, I did mention twice that heshould. Well, he did not and it just did not seemlike I should be telling him how to sh his spotout of his boat. I remember we were doing prettywell with them that day. I dropped my rig downaround these pilings twice and had a large shimmediately cut me off. Thinking I may needsome heavier tackle I grabbed my other out t.This was a heavy-duty 6 ft. rod. On the rod wasmy large diameter spool surf- shing reel loadedwith 25 lb. test line. I quickly put on anotherlarge nger mullet. Again, as soon as my bait hitthe bottom a sh grabbed it and headed towardthe pilings. Sometimes you can horse a large

ounder straight up off the bottom and quickly

net it before it gets the upper hand. That is whatI tried to do. After a brief but heated battle Imanaged to winch it to the surface. There waswater ying everywhere and in the chaos thesecond error was made. Never attempt to netany large sh from the rear. I had netted a 30 lb.spottail with this same net so it was a large land -ing net. As long as I may ever live I will neverforget the sight of what happened next. Whenthe tip of that ounders tail touched the bottomof that net there was still probably half a foot ofits head sticking out beyond the hoop of the netand it literally went ballistic. It launched itselfabout a foot and a half into the air for a distanceof about 10 ft. It came down a few feet behindthe boat where it immediately swerved justenough to cut my line on the motor. My shingbuddy had personally netted a ounder over 13lbs. and said this one was much bigger.

The largest ounder I have ever seen on myline would have likely topped the SC record of17 lbs. I got a good look at it three times while

ghting it. I know a ounder this size is hardto imagine but I guessed its weight to be around20 lbs. I was shing an ocean inlet just after Imoved down to Beaufort in 1988. I rememberthere was not anything unusual about the strike.I allowed what I thought was plenty of time be -fore setting the hook. As soon as I set the hook

I knew this was one of the largest ounder I hadever hooked. The area I was shing was a seriesof depressions with mud cliffs and no real snagsto speak of. I had no control over this sh butsince the area was free of snags I was able tofollow it up and down the bank for over 15 min -utes. I know I had the sh on that long because Ichecked my watch after realizing this was possi -bly the biggest ounder of my life. The sh cameto the surface, shaking its head, three times.The third time the hook was thrown free. This

ounder was really one of those you occasionallyhear described as being as big as the hood of a

Volkswagon.I have sketched out two types of ounder

rigs I use depending on type of bottom. On the sh nder rig, I sometimes use a small spinnerby the hook or a small red oat. I use the leastamount of weight I can get by with to maintaincontact with the bottom. I like the sh nder[sinker slide and snap] because I can switch sink -er size easily. The other ounder rig is for areas

Dickie Hamilton


25/34


with a bottom with more snags. It is best shedmore straight up and down from a boat.

The technique I most prefer when oundershing is to locate productive areas that can beshed from shore with light spinning tackle. I

just personally enjoy bank and wade shing morethan sitting in my 13 foot Whaler all day. I dosometimes sh out of the boat to more quickly lo -cate sh in new areas. Sometimes I will sh outof a boat if I am out for just a few hours or wantto sh a spot I know to be good for a brief period

during a tidal cycle and a boat is the only way.I like to use a 6.5 foot graphite spinning rod

and a good quality high-speed retrieve reel. Forline I prefer to use 10 lb. Fire Line. I match thatwith one of the rigs I sketched out. Last, butnot least, I do strongly recommend one of thoseexpensive hooks. I like the Owner 2/0 wide-gap. This out t and rig gives me, I feel, a littlemore advantage in successfully hooking ounder.Flounder usually grab their prey and lie on thebottom for some period of time before trying toswallow it. I use a graphite rod because graphiteis more sensitive than berglass. I use a 6.5 footrod and a high-speed retrieve reel to take up linemore quickly while attempting to set the hook. Iuse 10 lb. Fire Line because of its no stretch andsmall diameter characteristics. I know I catchmore sh, especially ounder that are usually

just lying still on the bottom when I attempt toset the hook, using super sharp state-of-the-arthooks.

When ounder shing with live bait I workmy bait similar to how I would work a plasticworm if largemouth bass shing. First, I castmy rig out slightly upstream and just let it sit fora moment. If nothing picks it up I begin a slowretrieve. I retrieve my bait by raising my rodto the 12 oclock position and then reeling downto the 10 oclock position. I repeat this until mybait is all the way back in. In this way I canmaintain contact with the bottom and my rig atall times. I never use more weight than is neces -sary to maintain contact with the bottom.

When a ounder takes a bait, the strike canrange from obvious to a nearly imperceptible tapto just resistance at the end of the line. AnytimeI suspect a ounder bite, even if I only feel resis -tance and no real bump, I allow enough time fora ounder to swallow my bait before attemptingto set the hook. I generally allow 30-60 seconds.

I do most of my ounder shing May-Sep-tember. The bait I use varies with the season.Early in the season I use mud minnows. Bymid-July the young-of-the-year mullet are 2-3inches in length. Once the mullet reach thissize the ounder usually seem to prefer them toother baits. My favorite bait mid-July throughSeptember would have to be a 3-4 inch mullet.When after larger sh a 5-6 inch mullet makesbetter bait.

Generally I prefer live bait to arti cial lureswhen after ounder. Arti cial lures, that Ihave used with the most success include swim -ming grubs and beetle-spin type lures. My most

barrel swivel

12" of 20 to 30pound test

8" of 20 to 30pound test

2/ 0 or 3/ 0 widegap hook

(larger for larger baits)

1/ 8 to 1 ounce bass casting sinker attached with loop

3-wayswivel

18" of linelighter thanline on reel

barrelswivel

barrelswivel

fish finder sinker slide

1/ 8 to 1 ounce basscasting sinker

plasticbeads

2/ 0 or 3/ 0 widegap hook

(larger for larger baits)

18" of20-30

pound test

sh nder rig

rig for areas withsnags


26/34


productive colors are clear with silver metal-ake early in the season and clear with silver

metal- ake and a black back later in the season.Early in the season one of the more prominentprey species are silversides. The clear with sil -ver metal- ake does a good job of imitating thesilversides. I have found the same lure with ablack back to be a better choice when nger mul -let become more numerous. I sometimes usethis same swimming grub in conjunction with abeetle-spin type spinner. This allows me to re -trieve the lure a little slower without hanging upon the bottom while at the same time providingmore ash and vibration. The addition of a verysmall piece of shrimp or other natural bait seemsto enhance the effectiveness of arti cial lures for

ounder.Flounder like structure. The most productive

ounder shing areas usually have some kind ofstructure. Good ounder structure can be some -thing as obvious as pilings, rocks or trees fallinginto the water. Good ounder structure can alsobe something as subtle as the tip of an oysterbed, a point of marsh grass or even just a shallowdepression in the bottom. Some of my most pro-ductive areas over the years have been depres-sions in the bottom that also had associated withthem some more obvious structural features.Depressions and drop-offs allow ounder to getbelow potential prey. With eyes on top of theirhead, proportionally large mouth and teeth, andthe ability to change the patterns on their dorsalsurface to match the surrounding bottom fea-tures, ounder seem to be near perfectly adaptedambush predators. When feeding very actively

ounder will move around after forage but gener -ally seem to prefer to lie in wait, facing into thecurrent, using structure and current to concen-trate and deliver prey to them.

Whenever I catch a ounder, I sh that areathoroughly. Even if I fail to catch another I tryto remember to sh that spot a little earlier inthe tide another day in case I may have justmissed them. Flounder seem to like the companyof other ounder. If you catch one often you cancatch others close by. I am not sure if they movearound together in schools or just end up congre-gating together in certain areas. I do know fromwatching them in tanks and shing for them thatthey form schools, or as I call them, pods.

One three-day stretch of ounder shingstands out most in my memory. It was back inthe early to mid 80s when I was still living in

Charleston. Day 1 = 33 ounder. Day 2 = 32ounder. Day 3 = 28 ounder. What stands out

most in my memory was the size of the sh andthe fact that every one of these sh was caughtout of a depression that was only about 15 by 20feet. Each day I shed for only about 3 hours.

All these ounder weighted 2 to 6 lbs., with theaverage probably around 3.5 to 4 lbs. I just keptcasting into the exact same spot. Those ounderhad to have been stacked on top of each other

just like I have seen them do in aquaculturetanks.

I guess my most entertaining story, espe -cially for my dad who was with me at the time,occurred around 1990 at the same inlet where Ilost that 20 lb. ounder. We were standing on asteep sandy bank and casting toward some mudcliffs. I hooked a real good sh of about 7 lbs.I thought I had played the sh out so I beganto slide it up the wet bank. As soon as I let upthe tension from my rod the sh began oppingaround and shaking its head, throwing the hook.

At the time I was probably six feet above the shstanding on the crest of a steep sandbar. Afterthrowing the hook, my ounder just laid therefacing me. I knew I had only one chance. I re -member beginning to stumble between my rstand second step as I tried to run down the steepbank. After two head over heels rolls I endedup face down in the sand. When I looked up myface was about a foot from the ounders face. Inan instant, as I tried to claw my way toward my

ounder, it executed a perfect back ip landingin the water. After a few moments I realized itmust have been quite a spectacle because my dadwas having a pretty good laugh. He asked mewhat exactly I had planned on doing to subduethe sh. After thinking about that oundersface full of teeth and seeing all my claw marks inthe sand I realized maybe it was better it workedout the way it did.


27/34


John Archambault

Catching ounder with ies

A y rod may appear to be a mysteriouswand. Is y shing magic? No. Is it an art form?Well, maybe. But mostly, y rods and reels aresimply more tools to present a lure to a sh. Thebiggest difference between conventional tackle,like spinning and casting gear, and y tackle isthat with conventional gear the lure is cast and itdrags the light line behind it, while with y gearthe heavy line is cast and carries the lighter yalong. A y shing out t consists of the rod, reel,backing, y line, leader and y. Because y linesare only 90 to 100 feet long, an extra length ofline (usually braided Dacron) is attached behindthe y line. This is called the backing. The lead -er connects the y to the thick bulky y line.

Fly tackle for ounder does not need to be

fancy, but does need to be strong enough to dothe job. Fly tackle (rods, reels and lines) is ratedaccording to its weight, which is simply a sys -tem for consistently rating how heavy the y lineis. Fly tackle goes all of the way from 2 weightout ts suitable for small stream trout or pan shup to 14 weight sticks used offshore for tuna andbill sh. With the exception of the specializedoffshore y tackle, the size of the ies and condi -tions encountered usually determine how heavythe out t should be. Basically, a heavier line isneeded to carry larger ies or to overcome stiffwinds. A good compromise for ounder mightbe a 7-weight out t. Such an out t would alsobe effective for spotted seatrout and red drum(although for the larger reds some anglers mightwant to go up to a slightly heavier out t).

Fly rod length and action are largely a mat-ter of personal preference. The tendency todayis set by many companies mass producing fasttaper rods in the 8 to 9 foot lengths. Longerrods provide more leverage in casting and han-dling line. Shorter rods can be less awkward for

beginners, more manageable in close quarters,and offer better control when ghting sh. Thestandard 8 foot rod is a fair compromise. Fasttaper rods, which bend mostly near the tip, arebetter casting tools, allowing the angler to push alarge bulky y into the wind. Slower taper rods,which bend down into the butt, are more tradi -tional and may be more forgiving of a less-than-perfect casting technique. Most y rods designedfor saltwater have fast to moderately fast action.

Regardless of length and action, y rodsshould be made of good quality graphite. Unlessyou are a wealthy traditionalist, bamboo is notan option. A few berglass rods are still avail -

able, but these are signi cantly heavier thangood graphite rods and tend to have much sloweractions. Fishing for ounder with a y rod is nota stalking and sight casting operation. Manycasts need to be made simply prospecting look -ing for the sh. At the end of the day, you will behappy to have the lightest and cleanest castingrod you can afford.

Reels for ounder shing can be very basic. A y reel does not function in casting. It is, assome people say, merely a place to store the line.

Retrieving the y is done by pulling in the lineby hand and letting the loose coils fall. The reelis used when ghting big strong sh, but willseldom come into play with ounder. Many com -panies make inexpensive basic y reels, includ -ing the major retailers such as Bass Pro Shopsand Cabellas. For ounder, just keep in minda few rules: the reel must be balanced to theweight of the out t (must be capable of holdingthe appropriate y line and a bit of backing) andmust be corrosion resistant. If the out t is to be

John Archambault


28/34


extra measure of snag resistance, mono lamentweed guards can be built into almost any y.Standard bait sh and shrimp color combinationswork well. Try combinations of white or yellowwith a bit of blue or green, or maybe a brightpink or orange.

The y will need to be attached to the line viaa leader. Tapered leaders can be bought, or itsfairly simple to tie your own. Tapering the lead -er from heavy mono lament near the y line tolighter mono near the y does a couple of things.First, it puts lighter line, which is harder to seeand maximizes the ys action, nearer to the y.Second, it helps to transfer the energy of the yline smoothly to the y when casting. Most sim -ply, if the y line ended abruptly in a light, limpline, the cast would tend to collapse and not un -roll smoothly. For a 7 weight line, consider start -ing with 4 feet of 40 pound test mono lament

used only for ounder, and perhaps an occasionalseatrout, a drag is not even necessary. If how -ever, you intend to also sh for red drum or otherlarger, faster sh, then you will want to invest ina reel with a decent drag and the capacity for abit more backing, up to about 150 yards.

In addition to different weights, y linescome in different tapers and oating and sinking

models. For shing in saltwater, where condi -tions are often windy and ies can be quite large,a weight forward line is the norm. Weightforward simply means that the thickest andheaviest portion of the y line is nearer the front(nearer the y). Floating y lines are easier tomanage than sinking lines, because they stay ontop of the water where they can be seen and moreeasily picked up and moved. Sinking y lines,of course, allow an angler to reach sh deeper inthe water. Sinking-tip lines are also availablein which the rst few feet sink while the rest ofthe line stays on the surface. While ounder willsometimes chase a meal well up in the watercolumn, catching them consistently requires pre-senting bait within inches of the bottom. With aweighted y and a long enough leader, an anglercan easily sh down to about six feet deep in qui -et water with a oating y line. Fishing deeperor presenting unweighted ies will usually re -quire a sinking or sink-tip line. The weighted

y/ oating line combination offers the advantagethat the line rides above potential hang-ups. Ifanything snags, it will b

fishing for flounder

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