Every year, people ask us what the “best Flounder spot” is… so here is the official Causeway TOP TEN list for the Flounder spots (not in any particular order though)!
We would love to see some comments on this… feel free!
1- Milburn Creek in Baldwin… way up the creek, at the Atlantic Ave. boat ramp.
2- South East side of the third Wanatgh bridge… typically a little later in the season though.
3- Squa Island area… again, later in the season but it used to be good right from the start!
4- Baldwin Bay… In the hole on the East side.
5- Massapequa Cove… In the hole on the East side in front of the brick house.
6- Coast Guard Station (Short Beach)… Typically the last place to catch them before they’re gone.
7- Hole In The Bay… West of the Loop Parkway off Cinder Creek.
8- Merrick Bay… In any of the deeper holes, especially the ones on the West side.
9- The cove next to the Jones Beach Piers… in the sticky mud.
10- The entrance to Hudson Canal in Freeport… right up against the bank on the East side.
Some of these spots were TOP SECRET when there were some Flounder in this bay and we are SO sad to see the decline of this fishery. I remember as a kid, anticipating opening day, getting out there with loads of clams and mussels, chum pots and of coarse… corn. Nothing better than fresh Flounder on the dinner table!!
We’ve been working feverishly to get the shop back in order, with the recent renovations making a mess of things. BUT, we have the place looking better, we re-stocked all the new shelves and pegboard and put out lots of new products.
We just received another small shipment of Mackerel color Super Strike lures. These are RARE and the last batch we had sold out in TWO DAYS… get them while they last. They are limited productions from Super Strike and we don’t know when we’ll see more of them. These are NOT available in the store though… ONLY here on the website!
Flounder season opens tomorrow, April 1st and we have all the Flounder hooks, Flounder Rigs, sinkers, Chum Pots, terminal gear and fresh and frozen baits!
We will be posting our fishing reports on this new Blog too… so check back often to find out what is being caught, where it’s being caught and how! We have added an RSS feature to this Blog as well, so you can sign up to receive updates by e-mail!
Shake the cobwebs off the gear folks…. It’s spring, the water temps are rising, the ice is gone and it’s time to go fishing again!
Flounder season is basically the start of our entire fishing season in this area and although the Flounder population, in our bays, have been at historically low levels, people still can’t wait to get back out on the water. Many people use the Flounder season as a “shakedown” for the boats and gear… to get everything ready for Bass fishing and Fluke fishing, but for those that still try, there ARE some Flounder to be caught in our area!
Here on the south shore of Long Island, the Winter Flounder season is basically the first fish we can fish for in the spring and although everyone would love to fire up the boats and blast off to their fishing spots, too often the best spots are simply overlooked. The water temps are still cold in the early spring, so those Flounder are going to be hiding in areas that warm up fastest, like the northern sides of our bays. Typically, like any other body of water in North America, the north side gets the most sun, therefore heating up faster. What also helps the water temps are the dark mud bottoms. These conditions can commonly be found in the mouths of back bay creeks and canals. We here of more people catching flounder right from their docks, than from those who venture off into the bays. The canals typically have thick, mucky, mud bottoms and subsequently hold all kinds of bait creatures that the Flounder love to eat… worms, mussels, grass shrimp and crill, to name a few.
The usual Flounder baits are Sandworms, Bloodworms, Clams and Mussels and I know that if I were going Flounder fishing I would absolutely have a little of each. One day they’ll eat the sandworms and the next day they may want the mussels, so I like to have a selection with me… because you just never know! I can recall a number of flounder trips where I was catching fish and others around me were simply watching, because I had one particular type of bait that they did not.
Once you find a good looking spot, START CHUMMING and DON’T STOP! Put the chum pot on the bottom… loaded with clam or mussel chum , break up some mussels, crush some clams or clam shells and don’t forget the corn… yes, corn. Spread it all around the boat, especially up-current from where you’re anchored, to make sure it’s on the bottom where your lines will be. We sell dried corn in the shop or you can swing by any grocery store and pick up a couple cans of corn. The theory behind the corn is that the yellow color resembles part of the inside of a bank mussel and attracts the flounder. I remember working on the party boats as a kid, spreading corn all around the boat while we were fishing and then finding the corn in the bellies of the fish when we fillet them…. so we know they eat it!
Rigging for Flounder is quite simple, one or two hooks with a 12″ leader tied a couple inches above your sinker. Flounder are flat fish that live on the bottom, in some cases buried in the bottom, so make sure whatever rig you choose, it’s the one that will keep your bait laying on the bottom! There are a wide variety of hooks that can be used and there is NO right or wrong hook, so to speak. Flounder have very small mouths and no teeth, so the hooks should be big enough to hold the bait your using and small enough for them to suck it all in, in one bite. Personally, I like a size 6 or size 8 sproat style hook but Flounder hooks with beads on the line, above the hooks, seem to be very popular as well . The yellow beads, for example, seem to have a similar effect as chumming with corn, looking like part of a mussel. Red beads are thought to look like part of a worm and theoretically attracting fish to your bait. Working in a tackle shop affords us the benefit of listening to what everyone is using, even if it seems like a gimmick. People go as far as to paint their sinkers yellow and red, looking for any advantage they can get. Over the past few years we’ve seen rigs with rattles in them, small yellow and red twister tails, blades and about a million other types of hardware too. I don’t know, I’ve used about every hook imaginable and don’t ever recall any beads making a significant difference in my hook up ratios… but it certainly can’t hurt, that much I can say. Pre-tied, ready to fish flounder rigs are also readily available and we stock a wide variety of them. Again, in our opinion, there is NO wrong or right rig to use as long as that rig will keep your bait ON THE BOTTOM!
These are just some of the basics, and it really is a kind of “meat and potatoes” style of fishing. Anchor the boat, chum like crazy, keep those baits on the bottom and have plenty of patience.
We’re starting to hear of Bunker in all the usual spring spots like Little Neck Bay, Jamaica Bay, Staten Island and Manhassett Bay! This is a good sign! Typically the Bass are not far behind… we’ll keep an ear out, but we haven’t heard of anything in our area yet though.
Sounds like the Cod action in Monauk has suddenly become awfully quiet, some even think that it may be over. We hope not, but that’s a very real possibility.
Other than that, we cranked the Freezers up yesterday, filled the Killie tank and we’re expecting our first, of many, frozen bait deliveries! IT’S TIME!!!!!
We got some Mussels delivered and we will be fully stocked with Flounder bait, chum and tackle by the end of the week!
In the shop, we’ve almost finished our renovations and we’re filling up the new shelves and pegs. We apologize to those who have visited the shop during the MESS, but we’re getting things back in order as quickly as we can.
We look forward to seeing everyone again and we hope everyone has a safe and succesfull season!
Check back soon, we’ll keep you updated on any new news and reports.
Things have been very quiet lately, probably because there haven’t been many people even trying for the Herring. We did hear of a few fish taken from behind the Long Beach Hospital… in that 50′ hole in Reynolds Channel. Other than that, not much to report but we suspect we may here a little more once Flounder season opens and we get more people on the water again. We’ll post any new news!!
Flounder are NOT being caught…. YET! The Flounder season opens April 1 and we are almost fully stocked with the tackle, chum pots and bait you’ll need to start your season!
We would love to hear YOUR FISHING REPORTS too! Leave your fishing reports in the comments section and we’ll be happy to post them! Don’t forget to include your pictures too!
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