Changing gears

Racemaster33 · 10-27-09, 03:49 PM

Although I had a good bass day the other day, I'm chaning gears and heading to Florida on Thursday night.
The flounder are starting the fall move and I want to stock the freezer up with fresh Flounder. I'll mix in a few giant bull Redfish while I'm there just to feel that pull.
Next week I'll be back on the fresh water trying to land some huge bucketmouth.

nofearengineer · 10-27-09, 05:48 PM

Good luck, Racemaster. I used to fish for (but rarely catch

) flounder when I lived in New Smyrna Beach. They sure are tasty! If you're hoping to fill up a freezer, good thing the bag limit is ten!

Racemaster33 · 10-28-09, 07:39 AM

I've got the flounder pretty well figured out, or at leat I did last fall. I keep an eye on the water temps as well as the local fishing reports. Once the flounder start to move I know where to find them for sure.
I fish with 10lb braid on long, medium action rods (soft tip) and FC leader. I use 3/8 jig heads, various colors and GULP shrip. I jig fish for them only. It's total finess fishing. They are VERY hard to feel when they bite. I've fished next to many people and slayed them without them catching a thing. The sad part is that they are getting the bite too, just can't feel them in the grass.
Anyway, I've got a plan now I just hope the weather doesn't mess things up (80% chance of rain Saturday).
I'll have a picture update when I get back.

bamabassman · 11-09-09, 09:06 PM

hey race master.where in florida are ya going? my wife is a born and raised mobilian, al. great flounder down there. and are you gigging or casting? lisa still has most of her sibilings living down there, we lived there for over 17 yrs of our marriage, love flounder. we got soe from brother in law in our freezer now. gonna have to thaw out a bag now. GOOD LUCK MAN! and if oyu can, try to get a pauphin (not flipper). great to eat. and the shrimp, mmmmmmm/ ok,ok, i'll stop now. hahahaha.

islandbass · 11-10-09, 04:12 AM

That's so cool! I'm switching gears a bit myself because I know bass fishing prospects from the shore in my neck of the woods diminishes call winter. As you turn to flounder and redfish, lil' old ib is turning toward some salmon and maybe a steelhead.

Bassboss · 11-10-09, 08:37 AM

Cool! Sounds like fun!

I've lived in Fl all my life and never caught a flounder?! Figurer that one out?

and where in Fl you gonna be?

Racemaster33 · 11-10-09, 08:48 AM

I actually went down to flounder fish the end of last month. The plan was changed after the first day. They were digging sand and pumping it to another place on the beach where I flounder fish. Needless to say I changed my fishing plans for the weekend. I switched to redfish fishing in a different place. As it turns out we had a blast. We landed sever slot limit (18"-27") reds as well as a few huge bull reds. We also caught countless blues. Keep in mind that this was done with my light weight flounder equipment. What a drag smoking blast it was. I've got pics but they are on my phone.

I'm leaving for Florida again early Thursday morning for another 4 day fishing trip down there. I go to the gulf of Mexico (Panama City Beach) for these fish. Nothing like the clear water to hone your skills on trying to fool a flounder. My concern now is tropical storm Ida. It's dumping so much fresh water in the bay that I know it's going to screw up fishing. I'm hoping it moves on through by tomorrow night so I don't have to drive through that crap. I'm guessing I'll be standing there holding a rod for a couple days before the fish actually move back up and start feeding. Oh well, at least I'll be standing in 75 degree sunshine. There are worse things I could be doing.
Oh by the way, I do catch the flounder on light tackle. I use long, soft tip rods with 15lb braid tipped with FC leader. Having the braid is a MUST to feel these very light hitting fish in the grass. Having the FC leader is a must also, if the see it they won't eat it. I usually bounce grubs through the grass.
I'll try to get a few pics with a camera this time so I can post them.

islandbass · 11-13-09, 06:04 PM

Awesome! Be sure to post reports and pics.

Racemaster33 · 11-17-09, 10:05 AM

I'm hoping this pic shows up if not I'll have to figure out how to resize it and post it again. This is a 41" redfish that I caught while fishing very light tackle under a bridge for Magrove snapper (small but great tasting fish). My wife was skunking me Mangrove fishing. She had every fish on the stringer and I had one big sail catfish (we dont eat those, yuck). We were fishing live shrimp up close to the bridge structure on light tackle. Either using no weight or very light weight on our line. She had just one rod and I had three in the water, still getting skunked. That's when it happened. It couldn't happen with the two large bait runner rods/reels, but no it had to happen on my light weight flounder rod. The fish started pulling the boat around, my wife was holding on to the bridge to try and keep the boat in position while this fish tried to break my wrist. lol I finally landed it and it's my largest redfish to date. It measured 41" long but I did not get a weight. What a fun ride that one was. I put him back in the water after a couple pics so that he could pass his good fish mojo on to baby redfish.
Hope the pics fits. I'll drop a few more pics of other fish we caught too.

Racemaster33 · 11-17-09, 10:07 AM

As much as I love catching giant bass, this salt water bay fishing is starting to grow on me too. Here are a few more pics. This one is of a mess of flounder starting with the smallest at 12 1/2".

Racemaster33 · 11-17-09, 10:11 AM

I'm going to have to start a guide service when I move to Florida. I took my sister out and put her on the fish of her life. Check out this redfish caught on 15lb braid. I wish I had got a weight on this one!

Racemaster33 · 11-17-09, 10:15 AM

Here's a few that fit into the slot limit (18"-27") and made it to the grill. They were both right at the 27" mark.

nofearengineer · 11-17-09, 10:45 AM

Racemaster...you might want to try one of those "yuck" sail cats. The Gafftopsail is some mighty fine eating (I've culled many of them from Ponce Inlet

), if you can handle the slime cleaning them.

Racemaster33 · 11-17-09, 11:03 AM

I've had a few other people tell me the sailcats were pretty good eating too. I know the regular salt water cats aren't. Yes, the slime is always a blast. I caught several of the big (5-10lb) sail cats this past weekend on live bait. I usually had to clean slime of the bottom 12" of line after taking them off the hook. Maybe next time I'll keep a good mid sized one and try it.

10-27-09, 03:49 PM	#1
Racemaster33 BassFishin.Com Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Murfreesboro TN Posts: 33	Changing gears Although I had a good bass day the other day, I'm chaning gears and heading to Florida on Thursday night. The flounder are starting the fall move and I want to stock the freezer up with fresh Flounder. I'll mix in a few giant bull Redfish while I'm there just to feel that pull. Next week I'll be back on the fresh water trying to land some huge bucketmouth.

10-27-09, 05:48 PM	#2
nofearengineer BassFishin.Com Premier Elite Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Southwest IN Posts: 5,630	Good luck, Racemaster. I used to fish for (but rarely catch ) flounder when I lived in New Smyrna Beach. They sure are tasty! If you're hoping to fill up a freezer, good thing the bag limit is ten! __________________ Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing it is not fish they are after.

10-28-09, 07:39 AM	#3
Racemaster33 BassFishin.Com Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Murfreesboro TN Posts: 33	easy lunch I've got the flounder pretty well figured out, or at leat I did last fall. I keep an eye on the water temps as well as the local fishing reports. Once the flounder start to move I know where to find them for sure. I fish with 10lb braid on long, medium action rods (soft tip) and FC leader. I use 3/8 jig heads, various colors and GULP shrip. I jig fish for them only. It's total finess fishing. They are VERY hard to feel when they bite. I've fished next to many people and slayed them without them catching a thing. The sad part is that they are getting the bite too, just can't feel them in the grass. Anyway, I've got a plan now I just hope the weather doesn't mess things up (80% chance of rain Saturday). I'll have a picture update when I get back.

11-09-09, 09:06 PM	#4
bamabassman BassFishin.Com Premier Elite Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: cedar bluff, alabama Posts: 15,292	hey race master.where in florida are ya going? my wife is a born and raised mobilian, al. great flounder down there. and are you gigging or casting? lisa still has most of her sibilings living down there, we lived there for over 17 yrs of our marriage, love flounder. we got soe from brother in law in our freezer now. gonna have to thaw out a bag now. GOOD LUCK MAN! and if oyu can, try to get a pauphin (not flipper). great to eat. and the shrimp, mmmmmmm/ ok,ok, i'll stop now. hahahaha. __________________ so many lures, so little time.

11-10-09, 04:12 AM	#5
islandbass BassFishin.Com Super Veteran Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: WA State Posts: 1,783	That's so cool! I'm switching gears a bit myself because I know bass fishing prospects from the shore in my neck of the woods diminishes call winter. As you turn to flounder and redfish, lil' old ib is turning toward some salmon and maybe a steelhead. __________________ ARX "If people concentrated on the really important things in life, there'd be a shortage of fishing poles." Doug Larson (Shimano 2005 Reel Catalog)

11-10-09, 08:37 AM	#6
Bassboss BassFishin.Com Premier Elite Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Shawano, WI Posts: 7,761	Cool! Sounds like fun! I've lived in Fl all my life and never caught a flounder?! Figurer that one out? and where in Fl you gonna be? __________________ If you can't fix it with heavy squats or fish oil, you're probably going to die.

11-10-09, 08:48 AM	#7
Racemaster33 BassFishin.Com Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Murfreesboro TN Posts: 33	Flounder I actually went down to flounder fish the end of last month. The plan was changed after the first day. They were digging sand and pumping it to another place on the beach where I flounder fish. Needless to say I changed my fishing plans for the weekend. I switched to redfish fishing in a different place. As it turns out we had a blast. We landed sever slot limit (18"-27") reds as well as a few huge bull reds. We also caught countless blues. Keep in mind that this was done with my light weight flounder equipment. What a drag smoking blast it was. I've got pics but they are on my phone. I'm leaving for Florida again early Thursday morning for another 4 day fishing trip down there. I go to the gulf of Mexico (Panama City Beach) for these fish. Nothing like the clear water to hone your skills on trying to fool a flounder. My concern now is tropical storm Ida. It's dumping so much fresh water in the bay that I know it's going to screw up fishing. I'm hoping it moves on through by tomorrow night so I don't have to drive through that crap. I'm guessing I'll be standing there holding a rod for a couple days before the fish actually move back up and start feeding. Oh well, at least I'll be standing in 75 degree sunshine. There are worse things I could be doing. Oh by the way, I do catch the flounder on light tackle. I use long, soft tip rods with 15lb braid tipped with FC leader. Having the braid is a MUST to feel these very light hitting fish in the grass. Having the FC leader is a must also, if the see it they won't eat it. I usually bounce grubs through the grass. I'll try to get a few pics with a camera this time so I can post them.

11-13-09, 06:04 PM	#8
islandbass BassFishin.Com Super Veteran Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: WA State Posts: 1,783	Awesome! Be sure to post reports and pics. __________________ ARX "If people concentrated on the really important things in life, there'd be a shortage of fishing poles." Doug Larson (Shimano 2005 Reel Catalog)

11-17-09, 10:05 AM	#9
Racemaster33 BassFishin.Com Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Murfreesboro TN Posts: 33	Redfish I'm hoping this pic shows up if not I'll have to figure out how to resize it and post it again. This is a 41" redfish that I caught while fishing very light tackle under a bridge for Magrove snapper (small but great tasting fish). My wife was skunking me Mangrove fishing. She had every fish on the stringer and I had one big sail catfish (we dont eat those, yuck). We were fishing live shrimp up close to the bridge structure on light tackle. Either using no weight or very light weight on our line. She had just one rod and I had three in the water, still getting skunked. That's when it happened. It couldn't happen with the two large bait runner rods/reels, but no it had to happen on my light weight flounder rod. The fish started pulling the boat around, my wife was holding on to the bridge to try and keep the boat in position while this fish tried to break my wrist. lol I finally landed it and it's my largest redfish to date. It measured 41" long but I did not get a weight. What a fun ride that one was. I put him back in the water after a couple pics so that he could pass his good fish mojo on to baby redfish. Hope the pics fits. I'll drop a few more pics of other fish we caught too. Attached Thumbnails

11-17-09, 10:07 AM	#10
Racemaster33 BassFishin.Com Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Murfreesboro TN Posts: 33	other fish As much as I love catching giant bass, this salt water bay fishing is starting to grow on me too. Here are a few more pics. This one is of a mess of flounder starting with the smallest at 12 1/2". Attached Thumbnails

11-17-09, 10:11 AM	#11
Racemaster33 BassFishin.Com Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Murfreesboro TN Posts: 33	giant redfish I'm going to have to start a guide service when I move to Florida. I took my sister out and put her on the fish of her life. Check out this redfish caught on 15lb braid. I wish I had got a weight on this one! Attached Thumbnails

11-17-09, 10:15 AM	#12
Racemaster33 BassFishin.Com Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Murfreesboro TN Posts: 33	keepers Here's a few that fit into the slot limit (18"-27") and made it to the grill. They were both right at the 27" mark. Attached Thumbnails

11-17-09, 10:45 AM	#13
nofearengineer BassFishin.Com Premier Elite Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Southwest IN Posts: 5,630	Racemaster...you might want to try one of those "yuck" sail cats. The Gafftopsail is some mighty fine eating (I've culled many of them from Ponce Inlet ), if you can handle the slime cleaning them. __________________ Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing it is not fish they are after.

11-17-09, 11:03 AM	#14
Racemaster33 BassFishin.Com Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Murfreesboro TN Posts: 33	sailcat I've had a few other people tell me the sailcats were pretty good eating too. I know the regular salt water cats aren't. Yes, the slime is always a blast. I caught several of the big (5-10lb) sail cats this past weekend on live bait. I usually had to clean slime of the bottom 12" of line after taking them off the hook. Maybe next time I'll keep a good mid sized one and try it.

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