# flounder bellies for bait



## Rockstar (Jun 23, 2004)

just curious if they're legal to use? i just started working in a kitchen again and i could easily wrap up scraps (i got the hook up on all sorts of bait  )and stick them in the freezer until the end of the night. will using just the skin work, or do people usually use the meat? do you think DNR would give me a hard time?


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## Digger (Jan 4, 2000)

This discussion comes up every year. The real answer is you can use but you must maintain the rack or have the reciept from where you purchased the bait(even this can be subject to the officer interpretation then it would be up to the judge)

Most people use the meat and the skin.


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## Fishman (Apr 23, 2000)

Yuor scraps will work but if the man catches you he will require a legal size carcas in your bucket and it will count against your limit of six fish per person per day.


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## rattler (Jul 3, 2004)

fishman is right about that...got that crap a lynnhaven last year..."where is the carcass...when did you catch it...etc"...bought the dang shorts at the grocery store...saved the bellies for bait...next time, i take the recipt...oh, illegal crabs in a cooler(top open)...never gave it a look... :--|


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## Dyhard (Oct 24, 2002)

I like just the outer edge of the fillet, cut right along the line that separates the main meat and the fin muscles. This section has a lot of action. Each end naturally tapers off to a point. Cut to 3" or up, depending on how ambitious you are. You can catch many flounders on each peice. I use the white side although I have been told that the dark side works also.
There's not much you can do about the ranger's attitude on this one. You are guilty if you don't have the carcus and he's a jerk. They want us to trust them! SO! TRUST US!! if we say the strips come from a legal fish. Sorry, I generally don't rant, but I've had to put up with being harrassed in that way.


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## Anthony (Jul 3, 2002)

Honestly I like to use just the skin. It's very thin and very durable, it takes quite a bit of work to get the skin off the hook.


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## GotchaMack (Jun 16, 2004)

Whoa! I just learned a new one, you have to provide a legal carcass if you are using flounder bellies, that is CRAZY! I've always cleaned flounder, throw the fillets in the fridge, the carcass in the trash, and the belly fillets in the freezer for bait. Now I find out I'm not allowed to use the pieces of a fish I kept legally at will, what a joke. I can see the reasoning behind this, but holy krap, it is just a tad bit too anal retentive for my taste. :--|


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## Cdog (Mar 18, 2002)

GotchaMack said:


> Whoa! I just learned a new one, you have to provide a legal carcass if you are using flounder bellies, that is CRAZY! I've always cleaned flounder, throw the fillets in the fridge, the carcass in the trash, and the belly fillets in the freezer for bait. Now I find out I'm not allowed to use the pieces of a fish I kept legally at will, what a joke. I can see the reasoning behind this, but holy krap, it is just a tad bit too anal retentive for my taste. :--|


Guess you have never seen someone kill a 14" flounder to use the belly to catch croaker.  Rules are rules, follow em or get em changed. IMO.


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## GotchaMack (Jun 16, 2004)

Cdog said:


> Guess you have never seen someone kill a 14" flounder to use the belly to catch croaker.  Rules are rules, follow em or get em changed. IMO.


I hear you Dog but I'm not one of those idiots and I can't believe people are that frappin stupid(well I can it just sickens me). Its just too bad that laws in this country are made to accomodate the idiots and screw the responsible people in the process.


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## Cdog (Mar 18, 2002)

GMack, I was about to edit my post but I see that you see where I am coming from. Its not us that causes this, its the idiots. Only thing I can see to solve that is more self policeing.


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## jjaachapa (Aug 7, 2004)

I avoid the whole ordeal by C&R.


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## Kimoslobby (Jun 18, 2001)

*The utilization of flounder bellies...*

to catch flounder seems counterproductive to me. A 16 1/2in. flounder can provide a nice belly fillet, provided care is taken in the cleaning. 

I don't follow the rationale of sacrificing edible meat to get more of the same, especially with the multitude of viable alternatives available: strips of croaker, white perch, sea robin, lizardfish, bluefish, and mullet are all equally effective. One man's trash is another man's flattie bait.

Or perhaps I'm a victim of the flounder media bias, and therefore should return to my cave to continue plotting insidious ways to elevate Jake Ace's blood pressure.

PS. Jake once rummaged through a cleaning table for a scrap of cobia belly, a single piece of which he used successfully for three weeks. So distrought was he at finally losing the strip on a cast that he snuck upon me as I napped on a bench, his intention being a fine, white strip of Kimoback. Thankfully, his senses returned and he realized his well-marbled target would have difficulty holding a hook.


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## Digger (Jan 4, 2000)

Kimo I remember watching a dude catch a undersided Flounder and sliceing a strip from it's belly and tossing the fish back inthe water(he knew what he was doing) this was in 99-01 I cannot remember which of those years. But it is sad when people will stoop that low for bait. So if you want belly either keep the carcass or buy it and retain the reciept(it probably needs to be same day or one day before to be valid) or don't do it.


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## Rockstar (Jun 23, 2004)

i'll save myself the hassle and stick to mullet.


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## Digger (Jan 4, 2000)

Rockstar said:


> i'll save myself the hassle and stick to mullet.



Very Wise!!!


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