First Productive Flounder Trip

I headed out last week in my Predator 13 kayak hoping for two flounder to eat for dinner that evening with my wife. After a very slow start to the flounder season I figured the bite would be on since the water has been warming, or so I thought. Upon paddling across the first harbor I fished I noted water temperature was 46.4 degrees, much colder than I had anticipated. I was hoping for 50 degrees. I was loaded with light tackle, flounder rigs, and sea worms. It was winter flounder, or blackbacks, I was after. They are delicious fried or baked, and I had my mouth watering for some fried.

I headed to one of my more reliable spots, a sheltered harbor with mud bottom, but I was uncertain since my last two tries there produced nothing. Sure enough, four hours later and having drifted the entire harbor twice, I still hadn’t had a bite. It was discouraging to say the least. I had one last trick up my sleeve that I wanted to try before admitting defeat. It was a small area of the harbor, only accessible at high tide. I paddled in, dropped my line, and hooked a fish right away. It was a short 6” flounder, but it was more than I had caught in the previous four hours. Even though it was too short to keep (NH has a 12" minimum length limit) it was promising since where there is one, there are usually more. One more drift and one more flounder, except this time it was a 16” fish. I was psyched. I only needed one more keeper to make a good meal for two of us, but it wasn’t going to happen in that spot. After fishing it out with several drifts and rechecking my regular hole with no results I decided to pack up and try a different harbor, one that I wasn’t as familiar with for flounder. I was determined to go home with dinner without having to stop at the grocery store on my way home.

I loaded my kayak and fishing gear and headed to the new location. Two hours of drifting produced nothing. The wind was favorable for a drift back toward the launch so I figured I would head in with my tail between my legs. I re-baited and began my final drift. I figured I would pick something up at the store on my way home to go with the flounder in hopes that I could stretch what I had into a meal for two. Not long after beginning my drift I felt the infamous double-tap of a flounder. I gave it a few seconds to “climb on” and gently set the hook. It was a nice one, definitely a keeper. I put the fish on the stringer and continued my drift. A minute or two later another bite, and another fish. This time it was a bit smaller, but still a keeper. I felt like I was on top of the world. No trip to the grocery store for me. I wondered, could I be so lucky again? Was there a pocket of fish holding in this one area for whatever reason? I continued my drift while I started putting some of my stuff away. I looked up and saw that I was dragging weight on my line, but figured it was sea weed. I lifted my rod and began reeling, but quickly realized it was another respectable flounder. I fished for nine hours, the last three hours of the incoming tide and all of the outgoing tide for four flounder. I'm just glad I was able to pull off dinner in the eleventh hour.