Stuffed with a variety of ingredients, smothered with a rich shrimp and crawfish cheese sauce or simply baked with lots of Cajun spices on a bed of wild rice. An angler will find it hard to top one of these calorie enriched meals. This is may not be the main reason the various bays around the Texas coast line are jam pack on any given fall weekend, but it is definitely on the top of the list. Along with the fact that with the right tackle a legal size flounder can hold his own with the biggest of the fish kingdom. Couple this with the new Texas fishing regulations should help to ensure the continuations of this species for future generations to come. Although I have caught my fair share of this particular species of game fish. I still get a kick out of catching one of the odd looking spectacles of nature every time I look at one. This goes to show that old mother nature has a dark side to her humor. I often tried to figure out what the old girl was thinking when she thought this species up. The flounder must have been on the top of the fish list when she was designing the water world and she must have not had her morning cup of coffee before she finished the final touches when it came to Mr. Flounder. " Oh well there I go again, just like the snakes when I was in the reptile world. I may make this a pattern through all the kingdoms, we can make one screwed up species in each of the groups". And so was born the pattern of the few unfortunate species to bear the brunt of her twisted humor such as the Elephant Seals with their Jimmy Durante nose, and the millipedes of the insect world. Once Mother Nature got started it seems she couldn't quite! There are example of her sick humor all through out the genetic world. But fortunately enough for us anglers as unpleasant to the eye that flounder are, their meat is as delectable to our pallets.
Gulf Flounder are found in the Texas backwaters bay all along the Texas coast. Oyster reefs and shell pads around gas platforms are excellent starting off points when trying to locate these crossed eyed wonders of the waters. Also shallow flats along grassy shorelines that flow into deeper channels are favorite ambush points for the flatfish. Bumping a jig along the bottom when that faint resistance is felt on the end of your line, is either catching on one of the numerous oyster shell among their habitat or hanging up on the sharp teeth as they sample your jig. Either way the best method is to set the hook quickly before Mr Flounder finds out this ain't no weird shrimp he is sampling. Just as there are numerous way to cook this Ripley's Believe or Not fish of the ocean world. There are at least that many forms of tying into one of these wonders of bays. From the old stand by of anchoring of over the structure or wade fishing the various flats. To the almost lost art form of wading the low tide pools armed with lantern and giggin pole looking for their faint silhouettes in the muddy shallows. It seems the graduates of Texas A&M are better suited for this method of fishing and send out the Old Aggie Battle Cry of " Gig em Aggies!!!"
These seemly two dimensional creature from the black lagoon have a fairly long life span. With there growth rate being rapid in the juvenile period, reaching 12 inches in their first year. The larger Flounder spawn in the Gulf returning to the home turf to forage in the spring and late fall. During these runs you will find boats line up along the various channel highways trying to load their fish boxes with this exceptional game species. In some of the other better known Flounder habitat bay systems such as Sabine Lake, blanket size Flounder in the 3 foot range are not that uncommon. And with Texas and Louisiana fishing regulations up on the size limitations, and the decline of oystering in various Texas bay systems, should only raise the size ratios of flounder for future generations. And I for one am glad this particular species of game fish will be around for a while to come. Remember to practice catch and release particularly in the before mentioned case.
State Record: 13 pounds Sabine Lake
February 18, 1976 Herbert L. Endicott, Groves
World Record: 20 Pounds and 9 ounces
Nassau Sound, Florida September 5 1975
Larenza W, Mungin