Flounder, flounder and more flounder. That’s the word from Morehead City and Atlantic Beach as a torridly hot pre-July weather pattern has descended upon the Crystal Coast along with the rest of North Carolina.
“We’re catching flounder now everywhere,” said guide Dave Dietzler of Morehead City. “They’re in the marshes, along the beaches, behind Shackleford Banks and at the Turning Basin.
“We’re catching them from 3 to 4 feet of water down to 40 feet at the Port wall.”
Most flounder sizes range from 14 to 18 inches in length, but anglers are catching bigger fish at the Port wall and local bridges near deeper water as flatties move up onto sand bars to feed on mud minnows, finger mullets and peanut shad in the 4- to 5-inch range.
“I like a king-mackerel type shad, in the 5-inch-range, and a 4-0 flounder or Kahle hook with a 1- to 3-ounce leader weight on a Carolina rig to try for the bigger fish at the Port wall, depending on the current,” said Dietzler of Cape Lookout Charters (252-240-2850, www.capelookoutcharters.com).
Dietzler said he’s also catching flounder around bridge pilings and other inshore structure, plus the marshes.
“The pilings at the Atlantic Beach bridge are good for flounder, but I would recommend anyone bring plenty of water to drink or Gatorade,” he said. “It’s been very hot, and it’s been easy to get dehydrated.”
Spanish mackerel continue to migrate down the beaches as well with some of the bigger fish remaining at the offshore reefs.
“We go out there with some live peanut pogies (menhaden), a chum bag and run a No. 3 treble through the nose of the pogies and light line them for Spanish,” Dietzler said.
Tarpon are swimming up the beaches now as well, headed for Pamlico Sound and their summer haunts.
“We are seeing three or four pods (of tarpon) per day,” Dietzler said.
He fishes for tarpon by casting live mullet with a float rig in front of the pods and hopes for a hookup.
