[rjohnson107]

Ok...need a little diversion to pass the time before the AM wade sunday.
So why not go gig me some flatties.
Here's the questions for you fine folk:
Time of night- is this important? Any time after sun set? Is best time in pre dawn hours?
Tide- High tide is best, correct?
Moon phase- full or no moon? No moon better, correct?
Location- same as day light hours? Edges of sand bars, guts/cuts, edge of marsh
Wade pattern- would a zig zag pattern work better for covering large flats?
Finally..does Chester Moore's Flounder Fundamentals book cover gigging or just straight up flounder fishin'? I'm thinking of picking it up from Academy later today.

 

[CoolChange]

Here's my limited experience

Ok...need a little diversion to pass the time before the AM wade sunday.
So why not go gig me some flatties.
Here's the questions for you fine folk:
Time of night- is this important? Any time after sun set? Is best time in pre dawn hours?
Tide- High tide is best, correct?
Moon phase- full or no moon? No moon better, correct?
Location- same as day light hours? Edges of sand bars, guts/cuts, edge of marsh
Wade pattern- would a zig zag pattern work better for covering large flats?
Finally..does Chester Moore's Flounder Fundamentals book cover gigging or just straight up flounder fishin'? I'm thinking of picking it up from Academy later today.

The first 4 or 5 hours after sunset, no moon, anywhere close to grass/edge of marsh (I watched RustedHooks stab a nice one in 4" of water about a foot from the bank), I never paid attention to the tide, zig zag will work, don't know about Moore's book. Hope that helps. Anyone else have an opinion?

 

[DISSipator]

Time of night is irrelevant. The key ingredients for a successful gigging trip are as follows.

Nighttime or after dark.
Clear water.
Light wind to no wind.
A incoming tide. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The tide moving in is the single biggest factor. From the point at which the tide starts to move to the point that it hits High the flounder will continually advance to the shore line. As soon as it goes slack they will move back to deeper water. And in the guts waiting for the baitfish to be washed out on the outgoing tide.

 

[deebo]

gigin...aggie to aggie

hey man, cool is right, start right at dark and gig til you get tired. People will tell you lots of stuff about tides but I like to gig the high tide or the start of the rising tide...this when I have had the best luck. the high or rising tides brings the fish in closer. With a wind like we have been having stuff should be pretty clear. When the water is clear I like to gig windward shorelines because the constant prevailing winds make those bars like in the surf and the fish will stack up on them. If there are fish around look for a pattern in what kind of bottom they are on. Sometimes they will only be on "rippley" sand...sand with the ripples on it, or you may find them on smooth sand or the slightly silty bottom. Dont be afraid to go shallow..i have stuck a few flatties while walking along the shore. We normally avoind water over 1 foot deep. I you see empty bed where they have been laying, work the immediate area hard. Lots of time this means that the flattie uncovered himself to eat something and settled down somewhere nearby. hear are a couple pix to get you in the mood.

 

[deebo]

P.s.

dont gig trout and reds...those come right at dark before the giggin starts.......hahaha.

Good luck and Gig'em '02....sorry had to

 

[BEARCAT]

Are you guys "wade giging" ? If so what kind of light do you use ?

 

[allicat]

i dont know if chester moore's book covers gigging, but my a.c. becker book does. its called "flounder....how, when, and where". i got it at acadamy years ago, but i think i saw they still had it recently. good luck!

trudy

 

[deebo]

lights

we use home-made underwater PVC lights with a 50w halogen spotlight bulb with a lawnmower battery in a backpack while wading. Have a home-made generator made from a lawnmower and an alternator to charge them. Will post pics if you wanna see it.....talk about *******

 

[Blue Water Ho]

I like to see some pics of that setup thanks..............................later,Dave

 

[BEARCAT]

Cool, if you have pics I'd like to see that ******* invention. (I'm a card carring ******* myself.:texasflag )

 

[rjohnson107]

YES pics please!

Hey..thanks to all for the info. VEry informative. Post yer rig pics if possible.

 

[Mud Skipper]

Pics!

I gots ta see this contraption. You gots me so excited Im grinding down my last too front tooths jus to see it. I got a perfectly good mower in the shed that is just dying to become a generator! LOL

Andy

 

[DISSipator]

I just use the standard coleman 2 mantle propane latern. I add tin foil to the back half side of the glass globe. Then use a coat hanger and run it from where the propane bottle threads on to the lantern handle. So that when held with one hand the new center of gravity point has the lanter light facing down but slightly forward.

 

[CoolChange]

Pics of flounder light !!!

I like to see some pics of that setup thanks..............................later,Dave

Nice thing about this light is it floats so you can lay it on the water to deal with the flounder.

 

[ComeFrom?]

Dern, I Miss Rustedhooks and Becky....

I had a blast that night next to the the naval station at Ingleside! My first and only was a 20"er two years ago on a late night well after the "commercials" had taken the lion's share of the seasonal scarffing. Great memories. Gigging in the Fall is where it's at. It'd be a blast on a good night sticking flounders with CoolChange and Lobo Jim. It would be crazy....or maybe it's just me! ComeFrom?

 

[CoolChange]

I had a blast that night next to the the naval station at Ingleside! My first and only was a 20"er two years ago on a late night well after the "commercials" had taken the lion's share of the seasonal scarffing. Great memories. Gigging in the Fall is where it's at. It'd be a blast on a good night sticking flounders with CoolChange and Lobo Jim. It would be crazy....or maybe it's just me! ComeFrom?

I miss 'em too, buddy! That was the last spot he and I gigged down there. We got 2 apiece in 30 minutes.

 

[pelican]

That's one cool light, CC ... sure beats holding a coleman lantern above the water

 

[CoolChange]

That's one cool light, CC ... sure beats holding a coleman lantern above the water

Vernon Rust aka RustedHooks designed those lights. He is a giggomaniac! He can see one eyeball sticking out of the sand in 3 feet of water, with a blue norther blowing in, and a south rain in his face, while wiping the surf foam outta his eyes! And cover 300 yards in 30 seconds!

And if you don't believe me, ask any one on this board that has gigged with him! He's a monster!

 

[ShadMan]

Here's you another (mine):

http://freepages.misc.rootsweb.com/~shaddix/gigging.html

 

[flatsfats]

personally i think the tides

are very important if you wanna find em stacked up. when the water goes really low and just starts coming back in is when i've done my best. gig around reefs close to depth changes when the water just starts to turn. then move up as the water does. if its already been moving high when you start, check the mouths of small inlets and around the grass.

once about 5 yrs ago i was walking around a place that i often gigged. could usually pick up a couple there then move on. the water was high and clear and just starting to move out. i picked up 7 or 8 sitting around the mouth of a small bayou. started walking up the bayou and here comes ones swimming toward me looking back. stuck him right @ my feet then he dissapeared under a monstrous float of small shad. i couldn't see em but i think the flounder were all up under those shad blasting them and their buddies that i'd already stuck were waiting in ambush.there were lotsa other critters also. crabs, little trout, just a mass feeding frenzy. was really cool to watch.

a friend of mine (who is a gigging fool) once told me that he could tell if the water was coming up or going out by the way a flounder faces when he beds. if the water is going out he'll face the bank and face out on an incoming. if he's facing along the shore its slack. i've found this to be generally true.

those underwater lights are awesome. i made one up with a headlight. if you ever use one in off color water you'll hang up the old lantern.

wade around stucture. reefs, headwall, channels, guts, edges of the turtle grass, any changes. if you walk 300 hundred yards and don't see fish or fresh beds try another place. if you see a lot of beds and no fish look which way they are facing and try and come back when the tide is right, outgoing or incoming.

i love to gig when conditions are right. not only for the flounder but also cuz i get to see so many other critters and observe their behaviour. every trip seems to be a learning experience. you'll also be able to mark fishing spots that you never noticed before.

good luck