Its Flounder Time!

The good news in recent days is that flounder have shown up in good numbers at Tybee. These delicious flatfish are not hard to catch, just fill a bait bucket with mud minnows and head to your favorite fishing hole.

The Southern Flounder, aralichthys Lethostigma, is our most common flounder and averages from about a pound which is about legal size on up to the current all-tackle record of 20 pounds 9 ounces. Biologists report that when flounder began hatching in late winter around inshore reefs, they resemble any other marine fish. But within a couple of weeks their heads flatten, their eyes go to one side and they begin life on the bottom - "flat as a flounder."

Their favorite food is small fish so mud minnows are excellent bait. To target large flounder break out the cast net and catch some finger mullet. And any size flounder will pounce on a live shrimp.

When a flounder is first hooked you might think it's just bottom. But when bottom starts moving with a slow steady tug, you can bet it's a flatfish. They don't fight hard like redfish or trout but they make up for it on the table. They are delicious whether grilled, crispy scored, fried, or your own secret recipe. Also remember to bring a landing net, many a nice flounder has been lost next to the boat.

An even better way to put flounder on the table is an old Tybee tradition - Flounder gigging. A bright light, either a lantern or electric, and a fish spear is what’s needed. You can wade the shoreline or even better is to ease along an oyster rake, sand bar, or mudflat in a shallow draft boat. Just look for a pair of iridescent greenish colored eyes staring up at you then the outline of the fish takes shape. Slowly point your gig at the flounders head until you're close. Then swiftly spear the fish through the head, so as not to destroy any meat, push down hard so the flattie is pinned to the bottom. If it is a big fish, prepare to get wet or even ride him up to shallow water.

Local expert Jerome Gambrell ports gigging has been good this season when he can find good water and weather conditions. The water has to be clear and not much wind to be able to spot the camouflaged bottom dwellers. Gigging is best on a dark night with little or no moon and a low incoming tide.

Also, be careful who you might invite to go gigging with you. My father used to tell me a story about the night he and Billy Doolan were romancing a couple of young ladies from Augusta over near the Pavilion. Billy asked the girls if they would like to go around to the back river and do some gigging, but she slapped him and said they were not those kind of girls.

On the inshore scene around Tybee our friend Pal from Chimney Creek Fish Camp reports action slow with anglers having to hunt for a decent catch. He said mixed bags of Whiting, Flounder, and a few Spottails is what has been returned to his dock.

Capt. David Heidt of Sundial Charters says that inshore action is improving with good catches of Flounder, and a few roe Trout and some nice Redfish. David has had a great spring with Sheepshead from the near shore reefs. Many of his charters have limited out with the fish averaging 7 - 10 pounds apiece. He says action with Cobia, Kings, Amberjacks, Beeliners and Grouper should make for good month of June.

Even closer to home, Josh Barlow has been tearing up the Largemouth Bass in his neighborhood lake. Josh has been successful with artificials for the past couple of months and is releasing his fish to grow up like the one in the picture.

With the recent rains we have seen and the excellent roe shrimp season this year, we should see a good run of roe trout in June. Hopefully the Trout will make a comeback after last years disappearance.

Don't forget - EAT FISH AND LIVE LONGER !

By Nelson Haslam

More Dolphin Facts
By Bob Eccles aka “Captain Bob”

Hi All,
Hope this month's edition of the Tybee Breeze finds you in good health and spirits. We've been enjoying some wonderful dolphin cruises the past few weeks, with great weather and very animated dolphin, particularly later in the day when they're fully fed and ready to play.
I mentioned the abundant bird
life in the low country. The marsh
is full of egrets and herons. They like to come to the marsh's edge at low tide, stand very still, wait for an unwary fish to swim by, and with their lightning quick beaks they get themselves an easy snack. The most abundant are the Common or American Egrets, which stand about three feet tall and are white in color, and the Snowey Egrets, which are about two feet in height and also white. The Snoweys are known as the little egret with the golden slippers because they have orange feet, unlike the black feet of the American Egret.
I find the Great Blue Heron to be one of the most majestic birds in the marsh. At nearly four feet in height, when they take wing they are truly majestic.
Another fascinating critter out there is the Common Brown Pelican, mother nature's worst aviator. They fly well enough, but they just can't land. They crash nearly every time. In fact, while most brown pelicans die at a nice old age, they don't necessarily die of old age. After many years of crashing hard into the water from thirty and forty feet up, they don't have any eye lids, develop cataracts, can no longer see and, as a consequence, eat. Again, the good news is this happens at a nice old age.
The dark birds that we often see standing on telephone wires with their wings spread out drying out are Doubles Crested Cormorants. These are aquatic birds that spend more time under water then in the air. They are great fishermen, in fact, the Japanese use them like fishing rods. They will tie a piece of line to the bird's foot, and a small piece around the bird's neck, and throw the bird into the water. The cormorant will dive down, retrieve a fish but won't be able to swallow it due to the string around the bird's neck. The fisherman will retrieve the bird and remove the fish from the bird's mouth, and toss the bird back in for another round. A bit frustrating for the bird, no doubt, but the fishermen do feed the birds at the end of the day.
Finally, perhaps my favorite birds to watch are the Wood Storks. These birds are about the size of the American Egret, three feet, also white but with black trim on their wings. Being a stork, they have a more extended beak then the other marsh birds. They are very majestic in flight because they fly with their necks and feet fully extended, unlike the egrets and herons who fly with their necks crooked. On the other hand, the Wood Storks look kind of grim sitting in a tree limb. They're just not very pretty standing around. Wood Storks are endangered, with less than ten thousand pair left.
Well, once again, thank you for the positive comments and encouragement. Taking folks out on a low country cruise for an encounter with bottle nose dolphin and the many other marsh inhabitants is not work, it's a blessing.

Cap'n Bob