# Frozen Finger Mullet



## HOOK'N&SLING'N

Is this a plyable flounder bait?  
I hear the bigger the bait the bigger the fish. I don't have a cast net but want to do some flounder fishing. Has anyone had any luck using frozen finger mullet?

Any flounder tips would be helpful.

P-Town


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## POMPINOLOVER

Well The ideal way to catch flounder is with a moving rig ....Flounder burry , then attack minnows as they come by .. they rarely chase a minnow, I would go with fresh spot belly , but the finger mullet belly would work, and put the strip of meat on a carolina flounder rig on the jig head , just make it look like a minnow.. works on the outer banks everytime .....D


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## POMPINOLOVER

almost forgot , throw it out and very slowly wind it in as it drags across the bottom ....D


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## ccc6588

Use live minnow. Live finger mullet is great if you can catch them. Slightly bigger than largest minnow is best. You need an aerator or flow through to keep finger mullet alive.


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## The Crew

*Frozen Mullet*

Will definitely work - use an invisible leader and bounce the bait along the bottom like previously stated. Try to work as much area as possible. They are ambush predators and as long as it looks alive they'll attack. The bigger they get the smarter they get; so if they see line or leader they will probably not strike that's why the invisible leader.
Good luck!:fishing:


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## HOOK'N&SLING'N

*Armed and Dangerous*

Thanks for the reply all!! I am a fairly polished fisherman; however, have never really fished for Flounder. I am looking to add this guy to my resume. Again thanks for the inputs, I will post soon with my results.

P-Town


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## ccc6588

Flounder is an early morning fish. Start at sun rise and you'll have a good chance.

Flounder bite best when the current is moving and the water is clear. Fish live bait during the incoming tide when the water is clear. Fish strips of bait (croaker, blue, spot) on the outgoing tide. Drag the bait slowly on the bottom or drift on a boat. If you can catch an incoming tide during the morning, that would be prime time.

Think - clear water/moving tide/live bait. Murky water/moving tide/cut bait


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## Crashman65

*Well put*

ccc6588, that is some solid info there. I never thought of it that way but it makes sense. Will apply to my next flounderin' trip.

Thanks.


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## ASK4Fish

ccc6588 said:


> Flounder is an early morning fish. Start at sun rise and you'll have a good chance.
> 
> Flounder bite best when the current is moving and the water is clear. Fish live bait during the incoming tide when the water is clear. Fish strips of bait (croaker, blue, spot) on the outgoing tide. Drag the bait slowly on the bottom or drift on a boat. If you can catch an incoming tide during the morning, that would be prime time.
> 
> Think - clear water/moving tide/live bait. Murky water/moving tide/cut bait



hmmm....well then i guess most of my flounder have been "flukes" because although i catch more fish numbers wise in the am..my keepers and those of friends usually seem to come later in the day when the bigger fish are searching for cover from the midday sun...also as to the above about mullet...two days ago a 19.5" flounder took a 6" mullet...a big mullet can still attract smaller fish and flounder have big mouths so use the biggest bait you can get away with...ohh...and the water was stained as i dunno what but they wouldn't touch strips only live...


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## Crashman65

I think CCC is right in general. Doesn't mean fish won't bite strip bait in clear water or visa-versa and doesn't mean they stop biting after morning. If you read posts from HThomas on the boating board he nails flounder just before and after sunrise. 

One thing I've noticed for sure is that the flounders seem to "sleep" during slack tide. It's like the bite turns off and they rest until the tide starts and they feed again.

And I've seen some little fish chase some monster baits too. I've seen a 12" flounder chase a 7" strip to the top of the water and nail it. That guy was walking on water to get that bait. Too cool.


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## HOOK'N&SLING'N

*Greatly appreciated*

Again, thanks for the info. Being a fisherman I realize that there aren't perfect rules to fishing, just common sense, practice, and good old fashion luck....(skill). I will apply the tips that you have so generously shared and put them to good use. I plan to do Rudee this weekend, hopefully the NE wind won't dirty the water up too bad. I will keep you posted!

P-Town


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## Crashman65

tight lines hook'n&slingin. look forward to your report.


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## rattler

A flattie will chase a bait a long way...go to you tube and type in flounder fishing...an 18" flattie took my 8" croaker...when I go flattie fishing I take set rods with live bait(spot, croaker, etc)and a rod that I keep the bait moving on...whatever large strip I have(squid, blue,etc)...and they will hit on a slak tide...as a side note i've caught some big fish in stained water when it was raining...good luck,good fishing...


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## ccc6588

Yes. In general, my information is solid. This does not mean that you can't catch flounders on live minnow or mullets in murky water since I have. The largest flounder I ever saw being caught was probably a 12 pounder. It was caught during the night by someone bouncing cut croaker strips on Seagull pier probably about 10 years ago. It is widely known that flounders are sight oriented fish, but still you can catch them during the night. Last year, I caught quite a few southern flounders at Sebastian Inlet Florida during the night on live finger mullets. 

As one of the posters pointed out, I find that large flounders like a moving tide. I find 2 hours before and 2 hours after high tide to be the best time. In Va. you also have lots of crabs and skates that get on your line during slack tides so a slack tide is usually not good. 

I haven't caught much flounders on lead head jigs, but over the years I have caught them on a fresh water spinner bait on top water, bloodworms and fishbites. I've never caught them on crustaceans (clams, crabs, sand flea) except live shrimp in Florida.


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## ccc6588

ASK4Fish said:


> hmmm....well then i guess most of my flounder have been "flukes" because although i catch more fish numbers wise in the am..my keepers and those of friends usually seem to come later in the day when the bigger fish are searching for cover from the midday sun...also as to the above about mullet...two days ago a 19.5" flounder took a 6" mullet...a big mullet can still attract smaller fish and flounder have big mouths so use the biggest bait you can get away with...ohh...and the water was stained as i dunno what but they wouldn't touch strips only live...


Several weeks ago, I also caught the bigger fish later in the day. It was actually right around noon, but the tide was 2 hours before high tide and the current was moving nice. The water was nice and clean.

Flounders actually do not have a very large mouth, but when hungry they will bite big bait. A 6 inch mullet is pretty large so you've done a very nice job of catching that 19.5 inch flounders and applying the general rule for flounder fishing in not setting the hook too early. Of course with flounders, sometimes you don't even know there was a bite. But with a large bait, if you do get a bite, the general rule is to count to 10 before setting the hook.
This is particularly true for larger baits.


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## Fishman

Crashman65 said:


> One thing I've noticed for sure is that the flounders seem to "sleep" during slack tide. It's like the bite turns off and they rest until the tide starts and they feed again.



Not sure about the sleeping part but at slack tide not much bait is being stirred around. So may be there is not a lot of bait for them to chase

Don’t forget to feed that fish give him about a five to ten count, then set the hook.


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## ASK4Fish

ccc6588 said:


> Several weeks ago, I also caught the bigger fish later in the day. It was actually right around noon, but the tide was 2 hours before high tide and the current was moving nice. The water was nice and clean.
> 
> Flounders actually do not have a very large mouth, but when hungry they will bite big bait. A 6 inch mullet is pretty large so you've done a very nice job of catching that 19.5 inch flounders and applying the general rule for flounder fishing in not setting the hook too early. Of course with flounders, sometimes you don't even know there was a bite. But with a large bait, if you do get a bite, the general rule is to count to 10 before setting the hook.
> This is particularly true for larger baits.


ok...so a 24"flounder can swallow a baseball...thats not a big mouth?...fishing live bait off of a pier is a waiting game...set your bait in a likely spot and wait for a fish following a rip, tide line, or searching for cover to come across your bait...i've had 15" flounder take baits larger than 6" (strips anyways)...you just have to give them time to eat it...and as far as waiting i'll wait till they start to run off with the bait before slowly lifting and applying generous pressure to the circle hook...


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## Crashman65

ASK4Fish said:


> ok...so a 24"flounder can swallow a baseball...thats not a big mouth?...fishing live bait off of a pier is a waiting game...set your bait in a likely spot and wait for a fish following a rip, tide line, or searching for cover to come across your bait...i've had 15" flounder take baits larger than 6" (strips anyways)...you just have to give them time to eat it...and as far as waiting i'll wait till they start to run off with the bait before slowly lifting and applying generous pressure to the circle hook...


Uh, ok. So how do you get a baseball on a 2/0 circle hook?


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## ASK4Fish

Crashman65 said:


> Uh, ok. So how do you get a baseball on a 2/0 circle hook?


you drill a hole...and put a hanger eye in it and hook onto that   ...but really i showed a guy on lynnhaven tonight how a 19" flounder could take a 5" spot...shhould have seen his face   ...really though that fish surprised me aswell...


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## Fishman

Believe it or not a small flounder WILL take a largr bait no problem.

Keep the bait moving youll find mor fish that way.


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## Crashman65

All this talk about flounder is making me jonz for that subtle thump,thump...thump...thump. 

I do more boat fishing than pier/surf fishing and we drift 3-way fluke killer rigs with 4/0 or 5/0 kahle hook with long strips of flounder belly or other cut bait. The 6"-7" strips have great action.

All of my reading on this board and TF leads me to believe the small 5"-6" spot, croaker or mullet are the way to go for larger/trophy fish. 

A buddy of mine said it best...

"all I know is flounder like a great big hunk of meat!"

Everyone seems to prefer the carolina rig or fish finder rig on this board. 

I've learned so much on this board i'm not sure what to try next. 

But that baseball thing still has me wondering


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## ASK4Fish

Crashman65 said:


> All this talk about flounder is making me jonz for that subtle thump,thump...thump...thump.
> 
> I do more boat fishing than pier/surf fishing and we drift 3-way fluke killer rigs with 4/0 or 5/0 kahle hook with long strips of flounder belly or other cut bait. The 6"-7" strips have great action.
> 
> All of my reading on this board and TF leads me to believe the small 5"-6" spot, croaker or mullet are the way to go for larger/trophy fish.
> 
> A buddy of mine said it best...
> 
> "all I know is flounder like a great big hunk of meat!"
> 
> Everyone seems to prefer the carolina rig or fish finder rig on this board.
> 
> I've learned so much on this board i'm not sure what to try next.
> 
> But that baseball thing still has me wondering


i used the baseball to relate the size of a 24" flounder's mouth...i didn't say it would eat it...


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## ASK4Fish

Fishman said:


> Believe it or not a small flounder WILL take a largr bait no problem.
> 
> Keep the bait moving youll find mor fish that way.


moving around a 5" spot or mullet is not very practical for me...i pretty much know where they're at based on patterns i've noticed over the years i've kept logs...i'll put it in one of my spots and w/o a doubt one of them will produce...and many will produce daily...


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