Nice flounder taken by this angler fishing a dock in Northeast Florida. Boat is anchored upcurrent of the structure.
May 12, 2025
By Terry Lacoss
All around Florida, flounder fishing provides great sport and excellent eating. Perhaps nowhere in the Sunshine State is this fishery more popular than it is in the northeastern corner. Flounder can be targeted from small boats in the backwaters, inlets, and beaches as well on foot. Northeast Florida from Daytona Beach all the way up to Amelia Island, finds a multitude of shallow flats, boat docks, rock jetties, inlets, and tidal creeks offering excellent flounder habitat. Southern flounder, which range to 15 pounds or more, and the smaller Gulf flounder are by far the predominant species.
Here are five great tactics used by flounder enthusiasts in this region. Guaranteed one or more of them will improve your chances of catching flounder wherever you fish in coastal Florida.
Fishing a live mullet on a jighead, and allowing it to drift with the tide, will provoke flounder strikes. This fish grabbed more than a mouthful! 1. Live Mullet on the Bottom Some of the best Northeast Florida flounder waters are found at the George Crady fishing pier and the nearby sandy shoreline of Nassau Sound inlet. Flounder fishing here is excellent from late spring through fall. Best fishing comes during the last of the falling tide while fishing between and close to the old bridge supports. Fishing on the bottom with live finger mullet or mullet strips is a deadly tactic for flounder. Conveniently, mullet can be cast netted along the nearby shoreline. Seasoned flounder fishermen also choose strips of ladyfish as well.
Wade fishing is extremely popular at the George Crady pier, and the preferred tactic is bumping live finger mullet along the bottom during a falling tide. Wade fishermen bring along a 4-foot cast net and first capture a dozen or more live finger mullet, then keep them alive in a bait bucket. Next, a live finger mullet is barbed and cast out into the falling tide and allowed to drift slowly along the bottom. Once a strike is detected, the angler slowly reels in the slack line, counts to five, then sets the hook.
Advertisement
Wade fishing for flounder at the George Crady fishing pier is excellent at the northwest side of the pier and the southwest side of the pier as well.
The heavy tides that flow through the George Crady fishing pier seem to be a key element. Here, a variety of forage including mullet, menhaden, shrimp, crabs, and more is the big attraction for flounder. Schools of redfish and seatrout are also catchable while fishing from the popular fishing pier and nearby on foot.
This is nothing short of hallowed ground for flounder fishermen. This is where Jacksonville’s Larenza Mungin landed the International Game Fish Association’s all-tackle record southern flounder, which weighed 20 pounds, 9 ounces. Mungin’s record was landed on December 23, 1983, while fishing from the George Crady fishing pier.
Advertisement
The small rock jetties at the footsteps of historical Fort Clinch, in Fernandina Beach, are another magnet for flounder. Fort Clinch shore fishermen do well while drifting live finger mullet, live finger mullet or strips of mullet along the bottom. The falling tide is the best tide while targeting Fort Clinch flounder.
Eddie Cabler with an impressive trio. 2. Jigging Shallow Flats The backwaters of Northeast Florida are abundant with flounder habitat, including mud flats, sandbars, oyster bars, dock pilings, and tidal creeks. Here, the shallow flats that coincide with these fish habitats are key. Jacksonville’s Eddie Cabler is an expert at locating flounder structure, and employs some specific fishing gear, baits, lures, and tactics.
“My favorite flounder setup includes a 6-foot, 9-inch baitcasting rod with a fast tip,” Cabler explains. “My flounder reel is a Shimano Curado DC baitcaster filled with 20-pound test braided line. An 18-inch length of 20-pound Sea Worx fluorocarbon leader is then attached to the braided fishing line using back-to-back uni knots. I prefer targeting flounder during the last of the incoming tide when the water clarity is best.”
Cabler often targets tournament size flounder while retrieving a 3⁄8-ounce lead head jig barbed to a 5-inch chartreuse Fishbites Dirty Boxer Curly Tail .
During the 2023 Jacksonville Flounder Pounder fishing tournament held by Chip Davis to benefit the School for Autism, Cabler took top honors after weighing in a 9.1-pound flounder.
“I was casting my favorite flounder setup, a 5-inch chartreuse colored Fishbites rigged to a 3⁄8-ounce chartreuse lead head close to old broken concrete dock pilings in the St. Johns River,” Cabler said. “That flounder thumped it as soon as it hit the bottom! I reeled that huge flounder easily right up to my boat, but as soon as it saw the boat, an incredible fight followed.”
“Once I netted that big flounder, I knew I had a chance in winning the tournament, and headed straight for the weigh-in.”
Cabler prefers targeting Jacksonville/Northeast Florida flounder during the months of August and September when the water temperatures begin to cool and there is a plentiful supply of baitfish including mullet, menhaden, and shrimp. The fishing is great that time of year, as long there aren’t any tropical storms; too much rain will hurt the flounder fishing.
Cabler often catches from 30 to 40 flounder on a good day of fall flounder fishing. His largest flounder weighed just a hair over 12 pounds. “I caught that big flounder while working live finger mullet close to the Mayport dock pilings. However, I prefer working artificial lures as I can cover more water and faster.”
Flounder Regulations : Florida flounder must measure at least 14 inches in length, with a bag limit of five per day, per angler. For more regulations, visit www.myfwc.com Tail-hooked live shrimp took this flounder in a marsh creek at low tide. 3. A Spin on Livebait Fishing Seasoned backwater fishing guide Capt. Roger Bump employs a unique tactic for flounder, particularly during late summer and fall.
“When the mullet are running in summer and fall, flounder become very aggressive feeders and want a larger bait,” said Bump. “I make my own in-line spinners using a No. 5, silver colored Colorado blade that gives off a lot of flash when the water clarity is clean. When the water is off colored, I will use a gold blade.”
At the business end of the in-line spinner, Bump will attach a No. 2 black nickel Kahle hook. “I prefer a thin wire hook for a better hookset,” he said. A 6- to 7-inch mullet is then barbed from the lower mouth up through the top of the head. Finally, a ¼- to ½-ounce pencil weight is attached to the main line with a swivel. This allows the spinner and live bait to free fall naturally with a lot more natural action than when weight is attached to the inline spinner.
“Once a flounder takes my unique in-line spinner and live mullet setup, I will allow the mullet to swim off where the thin sharp hook will set itself. Most flounder fishermen will produce a hard hookset which is about 50 percent successful with a large live bait hook.”
Flounder lie flat on the bottom where their mouth is at a difficult position to capture a live bait. This is good reasoning for letting the flounder eat your lure-live bait combo and swim off without setting the hook. “A sharp, strong thin wire hook will set itself,” Bump noted.
Prime habitat for flounder here. Fish a live bait? Cast a soft bait on a jighead? Options are many. 4. Fly Fishing Fly fishermen can be successful at catching flounder on the fly. Casting a weighted, black Clouser minnow fly into the mouth of a feeder creek during a falling tide is a deadly tactic. Strip the fly slowly along the bottom, where flounder are likely to be waiting in ambush of an easy meal.
5. Bow Fishing Amelia Island’s Capt. Ben Sports charters his uniquely outfitted fishing boat with several strong lights mounted high off the front deck which shine directly down into the water. A large custom front deck allow several fishermen to stand in preparation of either shooting flounder with a bow and arrow or spearing them with a flounder gig.
“My boat is custom-rigged with lights and a large platform that allows my guests to see a variety of sealife at night,” said Sports. “We typically will navigate along a sandy marsh edge where flounder are numerous.”
A 30- to 50-pound draw weight compound bow is preferred, outfitted with a closed face spinning reel. The fishing reel is filled with 20- to 50-pound braided fishing line depending on the size fish that you will be targeting. The closed face spinning reel allows bow fishermen to reel their flounder up to the boat. A screw-off arrowhead allows you to push the arrow through the fish, screw off the arrowhead, then retrieve your arrow back through the fish.
Practice makes perfect. Before you go bow fishing, practice on your backyard lawn. Placing plastic cups at various distances makes for great target practice. However, because fish are normally swimming, placing balloons on your yard where the wind is moving them allows you to sharpen your aim when fish are moving. Also keep in mind that there is a retraction factor where fish appear to be higher in the water column than they are. Aiming about three inches below your targeted fish should place your arrow right on its underwater target.
About that Flounder Thump Flounder forage on a variety of sources including small crabs, shrimp, and finfish. However, the sneaky way flounder feed often confuses fishermen. Flounder wait patiently for forage to pass within their strike zone, grabbing their prey with their sharp teeth. Once their dinner has been immobilized, flounder will discharge their prey, then come back and swallow their stunned meal. This unusual feeding tactic often prompts fishermen into setting their hook too soon, while not allowing the flounder to take their bait and hook deep into their mouth. Setting the hook too soon, as the flounder ejects the bait or lure, often results in a missed opportunity. After the first thump, seasoned flounder fishermen will simply lower their rodtip and wait for the flounder to recapture the bait or lure, then set the hook.
This article was featured in the April 2025 issue of Florida Sportsman magazine. Click to subscribe
