One of our most popular fishing charter trips here in Rhode Island is summer flounder. Flounder fishing in Rhode Island is great fun for the entire family, including children. It is often very active, and keeps the entire family engaged. Flounder is also a very tasty fish cooked up a variety of ways.
Many anglers will do their Fluke fishing from shore. You may find them at Warwick Neck light, Jamestown bridge, or along the waterways of Narragansett Bay.
Aces Wild has many spots from which to fish for flounder. Departing from Point Judith, at times we may be at various spots off Block Island including the North Rip, Cow Cove on the North End, or along the southern end of the island. The beach on the east side is often a hot spot at times. The North Shore is a very popular location as well. If one spot is not working, we always have another one to try in order to keep the action going. We have many favorite places to catch fluke!
The Tackle We Use
Aces Wild always uses light tackle whenever possible. This helps keep the fight to bring the fish in challenging. The tip of the rod will be bent toward the water as the fish relentlessly tries to swim downward. We also use light tackle often when fishing for striped bass and bluefish. Talk about a fight!
Tackle usually consists of a flounder spreader rig with a couple hooks and a sinker in the middle. Its important to have enough weight to keep the line on the bottom, yet not so much you cannot feel the fish hit. The weight of the sinker is determined by the depth of the water and the amount of current. A faster current will require a heavier weight to enable the line to hit the bottom.
For bait we often use a squid cut up into strips. Make sure to always have fresh bait on your hook and check frequently. Sometimes smaller fish peck away at the bait and it can get ravaged quickly
How its Done
The rig is fished on the bottom with the line kept taught as to feel the fish hitting the bait. Quite often we will lift the bait off the bottom and let it back down. This is done by raising and lowering the tip of the rod. This keeps the bait in action and provides more visibility to the flounder.
A drift is important because it will let the boat, and therefore the lines, cover more ground. Covering more ground will allow you to find the fish. Very slow drifts will often be difficult to cover ground and find fish.
At times you may need to let some line out to hit the bottom or reel some in to take up extra slack. Be sure not to let your rig drag across the bottom or you will pickup seaweed or other bottom objects.
If your line feels heavy when you raise the tip of your rod you may have picked up some grass. Reel up the line and clear it off, then start again.
Then comes the Bite
You may not feel a bite at all. That time you are raising the tip of your rod you may suddenly hook into a flounder! You will know because your line will suddenly pull in the other direction! More often than not you will feel tapping on your line as you are gently pull up on the tip. Flounder can be good fighters. Light tackle certainly helps.
Migration
In case you didn’t know, winter flounder spawn into May in shallow waters with a sandy bottom. Flounder like cool water. Which is why they look to deep water in the winter. Winter flounder are approximately 12-15 inches in length. They also regularly weight up to 2 pounds. They move into shallower water until it warms. Then they once again move to deeper, cooler water.
As always lets have fun! Give the captain a call and book today!
