"Flounder Pounding" with Capt. Terry LaCoss from Fernandina Beach

JohnYaksJax Reporting - Terry was a substitute for Rusty Borthwick of B&M Bait & Tackle who had a sick employee.  Terry is a well-known area guide who use to fish the Bass Masters circuit and now guides mostly up in Fernandina.

Terry's main target is Structure!!  He uses his fishfinder and depth finder to locate and mark them as well as finding them at low tides.  Take digital pix of the locations to help find them at different tide stages.  Creek mouths funnel bait out to waiting flounder, and when the tides are higher, the flounder forage near the grassline....some of the splashes we see are flounder, not reds!  He uses a Danforth anchor to securely anchor and position so that you can cast upcurrent of the target and let it drift down to the waiting fish.  He loves to fish with 6" finger mullet and sometimes uses them with spinnerbait rigs when the current is really running or incoming.

When the flounder first bites, it strikes hard trying to kill the bait and then goes back to position the bait headfirst to eat it...that is the tap-tapping we feel.  WAIT for at least 5 or even 10 seconds and then carefully reel in the slack until you feel the weight of the fish...don't worry...it won't let go of the meal!!  Then set the hook.

Jigheads and shrimp and also a good bait. He likes Cotee brand jigs and hooks the shrimp thru the tail from bottom to top so that it jerks backwards like shrimp do when they flee from fish.

Rapala lures, especially the Countdown models, are his favorite lures with a chartreuse top or back.  He usually changes the hooks to #4 ones and now uses a red treble hook on the back place to look like it's bleeding. They are good at low tides especially. Use a slow retrieve, let it stop and sink and twitch it once..and hold on!!

Watch for feeding birds on the shoreline; it's a sure sign that there is bait near the shore and there will probably be flounder there also!

OFFSHORE: flounder can be found offshore and some large ones are caught there.  Fish on "spoil areas" where there are lots of rocks and debris.  Heavy 4-5 oz jigs with fresh squid can be deadly for offshore flounder.

STRIPERS can often be caught on cold nasty days in the St. Mary's River near I-95 and the Railroad Bridge.

Florida Sportsman Seminars: Saturday, March 12, 2005. Notes by John Stewart (JohnYaksJax).