The most popular rig for fishing live baits for flounder is the Carolina Rig. This rig is basically a piece of 20 to 30 pound monofilament or fluorocarbon line with a hook on one end and a small swivel on the other. It is a good thing for this rig to be simple and inexpensive.
What is the best rig to catch flounder?
Live Mullet on a Fishfinder Rig
More big flounder have been caught on a live mullet than any other rig. You can use ¼ oz. weight and fish it in 12” of water, or a 3 oz egg sinker and drop it forty feet. Slowly drag it across the bottom until a sharp thump stops it in its tracks.
How do you fish a Carolina rig for flounder?
Instructions For Properly Tying The Carolina Rig
- Cut a length of leader line that is 24 inches long.
- Tie your barrel swivel to one end of the leader line and your hook to the other.
- Slide the egg sinker over your main line, followed by the bead.
- Finally, tie your main line to the remaining side of the barrel swivel.
What is a Carolina rig best for?
The Carolina rig is a fishing rig similar to the Texas rig, but with the sinker weight fixed above the hook instead of sliding down to it. The Carolina rig is suitable for beginning fishers, and this specific rig is designed to help fishermen catch bottom-feeding fish, particularly black bass.
Is Texas rig or Carolina better?
The Texas Rig can be fitted with weights that are super light, making them perfect for shallow waters. A Carolina Rig can have a weight that is up to 2 ounces, making it great for deep water fishing. If you are dealing with heavy cover, the Texas Rig is a great option.
What time of day is best to catch flounder?
Flounder are the most active early in the morning and late in the afternoon offshore at sites like wrecks and reefs. Inshore, flounder are the most active swimming and feeding at high tide. You can find them searching for food near grasses, channels, flats, and at the mouths of feeder creeks.
What are flounder biting on?
Best Baits and Lures for flounder: The best live baits for flounder are croaker or mullet. For strip baits, he likes bluefish, squid or the belly of a gray trout or croaker. When fishing artificials, his go-to list includes Berkley Gulp!, swimming mullets and spinnerbaits, such as the Strike King Redfish Magic.
How long should your leader be on a Carolina rig?
18 inches to 3 feet
Leader length can range from 18 inches to 3 feet, depending on how high off the bottom you want your bait. Some anglers who frequently fish aquatic vegetation extend their leaders to 5 to 6 feet so their lures will stay above the weeds while dragging the rig.
What is the best bait for flounder in NC?
The consensus is that overall, 3-5 inch mullet minnows catch flounder best. There is a bit of disagreement on whether mud minnows or peanut menhaden are the second best live baits. Flounder eat both, so this might be a personal choice. Flounder will also eat small pinfish, spots, croakers and other small fish.
How deep do you fish a Carolina rig?
Carolina rigs work well from 2- feet down to about 25. Some anglers will attest to catching fish deeper than that, and while you certainly can do so, once you go much over 25- feet deep there are just other more effective techniques to deploy like football jigs and dropshots.
Is a Carolina rig good for saltwater fishing?
A Carolina rig is one of the best saltwater fishing rigs because it can be used with both artificial or natural saltwater bait. It is probably the best fishing rigs for keeping bait close to the bottom while preventing it from getting hung up on the bottom.
What line should I use for a Carolina rig?
Carolina Rig Setup
A plastic bead. A swivel. A leader line – 1′ to 3′ of 12-15lbs of mono is recommended. A wide gap hook anywhere from 3/0 to a 5/0 depending on the size of your soft plastic bait.
Why use a bead on a Carolina rig?
The use of glass or ceramic beads is quite common when it comes to the Carolina rig. Placing a bead between your weight and swivel protects your knot from being constantly beat up by your weight.
Is a Carolina rig weedless?
The Carolina rig is also a very effective and popular rig for bass fishing soft plastics. It is similar to the Texas rig in that the plastic worm or bait is rigged weedless, but the weight is separated from the lure with a leader and a swivel.
Where is the best place to gig flounder?
The most common setup is an underwater wading light, because people like being able to pick out flounder covered in sand the best they can. Above water setups aren’t as common but can be more functional if you want to keep your light and gig on the same pole.
What is the biggest flounder ever caught?
Captain Charles Nappi from Hicksville N.Y. holds the current fluke world record. Captain Nappi was fishing off of Montauk in 1975 when he landed his gigantic 22-pound, 4-ounce flatfish.
Is flounder fishing better on incoming or outgoing tide?
The outgoing high tide is the best tide to catch flounder. Flounder rely upon the outgoing tide to bring them shrimp, crabs and fish to their hidden ambush points. They like to hide in strategically located spots that will make it easy for them to catch their prey as the tide brings the food right to them.
Can you use circle hooks for flounder?
A 5/0 to 7/0 circle hook is a good size for summer flounder fishing, where a traditional J-hook would be size 1/0.
How long should a fluke leader be?
Secure a 30-inch length of 20- to 40-pound-test monofilament leader to the barrel swivel and snell an appropriate-sized hook to the terminal end. How Much Weight? When fluke fishing, you need just enough weight to be able to maintain bottom contact.
Can you gig flounder during the day?
Time to Gig
You can gig for flounder during the day but the glare from the daylight makes it much harder to see the bottom under the water. Next, we need to know where to go. We know they like shallow waters. We also know they like to hide and wait for their food to pass by.
Are flounder active at night?
Yes, they do bite a night. You will find them on the edge of lights (ambush style). Most of your larger fish are caught during the day.