Flounder.....

[h20hunter]

So....here is the skinny. My son, Mark (6), and I are having a mans day. No girls. No mommies. Just the men by God. We are planning on heading out of Everett to go fish around Hat. I'm thinking flounder are the fish of the day. I've fished for everything else but not really ever target these tasty little morsels. How do you guys fish for them? I'm thinking basically an egg sinker, a split shot, then maybe two feet later a hook with a bit of shrimp meat? Sandy areas? Not real deep, not real shallow?

Any tips and advice much appreciated.

[runamuk]

When I used to fish for them off Camano....the area was sandy, to small gravel bottoms near kelp beds using sand shrimp or those awful sand worms you can dig on the beach that have pincher like appendages .....  I also caught plenty of darn bullheads since they eat anything they can get in their mouth.... but I always caught flounder with those baits never my lures....and yes this was back in the mid 80's when dinosaurs roamed so...ymmv  my son caught flounder this last summer, tied off to a boat bouy in the same spot I used to fish not sure what he was using for bait/lure...

[NRA4LIFE]

Been kind of slow for us around Hat the last few years.  When we did get them our best luck was off the South part of the island in 30-50 feet of water.  They will bite almost anything.  We also seen a guy fishing off the shipwreck last summer for them, again in roughly the same depth.  He seemed to be doing really well.

[Alchase]

Pile worms if you can get them, were the best bait on the canal when i was a kid. Clam necks work well also and stay on the hook through multiple fish.

[h20hunter]

Good tips....thanks....keep 'em coming.

Since the whole goal is to simply get out and fish I'm not to worried about slaying them. A few filet and fry up will work well. Besides, we catch to many and it will take away from our time at the range in the afteroon!

[NWBREW]

Good tips....thanks....keep 'em coming.

Since the whole goal is to simply get out and fish I'm not to worried about slaying them. A few filet and fry up will work well. Besides, we catch to many and it will take away from our time at the range in the afteroon!

Fishing and gun range.. Good Man day with the son.

[h20hunter]

Yes sir.

We are hitting the salt in the morning...not to early, not to late. Fish a bit. Maybe drink some root beer.

Get home, quick wash on the boat. Grab our bows and his Rossi .22 and off to the range at 1:30. Sling a few arrows, pop off some .22's, then off to Razzles for a beer for me and a shirley temple for him.

Home by dinner for some fried fish dinner with momma and baby sister.

Early to bed for daddy.

[NW-GSP]

I always used worms on the south side of hat isl but my bait was always getting ripped off but I was nine years old and catching anything was still fun for me, bullheads, starfish,flounder and sometimes crab

[Echomules]

We usually drag a 3/8 - 1/2 oz jig head with a small 3-4" rubber grub, white is good. Drag it through the sand at different depths and find them. Anchor for a while, when it slows down, move to dragging again.
Have fun!

[Rob]

Nice thing about puget sound flounder is that all the tumors give the meat a nice chewy texture.  Kinda like octopus...

[rasbo]

I use clam necks,and drift point to point of small bays,on the bottom...good crab bait

[h20hunter]

Thanks Rob.....I'll keep that in mind. Hope it's not as chewy as those pesky wolfies!!!

[pjb3]

I'm looking for a spot north of Camano but I do use squid, works great. Gotta keep the crab away though

[h20hunter]

oh....yeah....little strips would stay on the hooks nice...thanks.

[Rob]

Thanks Rob.....I'll keep that in mind. Hope it's not as chewy as those pesky wolfies!!!

I hear the wolfies are pretty tasty actually.  Too bad only the tribes can harvest.  I also hear that PS king crab taste like lobster. 

I have seen lots of starry flounder when diving in the flats off the possesion point bar.  Makes for a nice drift dive.  drop to 100 feet, and drift with a surface buoy so your boat can track you.  interesting rolling sand dunes out there.  The couple times I have done that I recall seeing lots of starry flounder.

We did it once on the west side of the bar, and once up close to the horseshoe. 

[JimmyHoffa]

Sandy coves or areas near ledges when the tide is doing something--not sure of any secret tide for up there, but have seen where they go on the prowl in near shore areas with the incoming tides then go set up in ambush in choke points for the outgoing tides.  Any bait with lots of scent should work fine especially when water is moving. 

[pjb3]

Whats a "wolfie"?

[h20hunter]

Wolfie is a wolf eel. Awesome fish. Lots of fun and very cool to see and interact with. They will take treats such as urchins from your hand and are very docile. they usually live in little dens and pair up. They are a fish, not an eel, and are very much NOT OK to catch and or eat. No season anywhere in the puget sound is open for them. I was making a joke since Rob has a bit of experience when it comes to diving. Check YouTube and maybe type in "gig harbor wolf eel"....that will give you an idea.

[h20hunter]

feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PLE805CAAE4E11388C

[Rob]

Here is a photo of me hand feeding one a young one from years ago at Sunrise Beach.

I have had them take herring out of my mouth before!

[Rob]

That clip you posted could be from anywhere, but it really looks like the Eastside of Blakely Rock...

[h20hunter]

Could be....


I do enjoy a nice sunrise beach dive. Had one of my best octo experiences there. Nice midsized one out in the open...just chilling and hanging out. Haven't been down there in a few years though.

[fishinmike]

My friends wolf eel video

[h20hunter]

Also....from browsing the regs I believe kelp greenling are fair game as well. I believe they are considered "other" gamefish and fall under the qty 2 retention slot.

[pjb3]

Also....from browsing the regs I believe kelp greenling are fair game as well. I believe they are considered "other" gamefish and fall under the qty 2 retention slot.

U R right, they are open year round
I have some good spots for them

[gotshot]

We always used shrimp or a piece of prawn.

[pjb3]

Surprised no one mentioned squid, just me?

[Rob]

Nice wolfie clip!

Also....from browsing the regs I believe kelp greenling are fair game as well. I believe they are considered "other" gamefish and fall under the qty 2 retention slot.

Nice thing about the greenlings is, they weigh more per inch due to all the worms in the flesh!

[rasbo]

Surprised no one mentioned squid, just me?

squid...there

[h20hunter]

Killing me rob....dont you need to review your honey do list of stuff before your africa trip?

[lokidog]

Years back, we caught a bunch of yummy Rock Sole off Double Bluff on the westside of Whidbey.  We just used jigs with curly tails and drifted around.  That area had a lot of Sea Pens so you do snag them once in a while as well.  A bit of bait wouldn't hurt.

Wish there was some place here in the SJs to catch flounder, but have never really heard of much.

[Rob]

Heh

Honestly, the last greenling I shot had more worms than flesh!  I stopped shooting them after that!  Poor thing looked like Swiss cheese after I cut all the worms out of the fillets!

I thought it would be better out at Neah Bay, but the little guy was loaded with them.  Even the bigger lings can have worms in the meat but they were never as bad as those greelings!

I just look the otherway and eat dungies from Mukilteo north though.  They are probably basically cancer pills, but they are so dang tasty!

Too bad you can't shoot rock fish anymore.  The ones I shot were pretty much worm and tumor free!  I'll say this though, the limits they are putting on rock fish are really allowing the blue and black rockfish to come back in the PS.  They grow fast enough that you see them first.  Places you never use to see them before, there are now large schools of them.  Yellow tail rockfish too.  It's nice to see schools of fish on a dive in the Sound. 

[pjb3]

Heh

Honestly, the last greenling I shot had more worms than flesh!  I stopped shooting them after that!  Poor thing looked like Swiss cheese after I cut all the worms out of the fillets!

I thought it would be better out at Neah Bay, but the little guy was loaded with them.  Even the bigger lings can have worms in the meat but they were never as bad as those greelings!

I just look the otherway and eat dungies from Mukilteo north though.  They are probably basically cancer pills, but they are so dang tasty!

Too bad you can't shoot rock fish anymore.  The ones I shot were pretty much worm and tumor free!  I'll say this though, the limits they are putting on rock fish are really allowing the blue and black rockfish to come back in the PS.  They grow fast enough that you see them first.  Places you never use to see them before, there are now large schools of them.  Yellow tail rockfish too.  It's nice to see schools of fish on a dive in the Sound.

What do you mean you "shot" them?

Where do you see the schools of rockfish?

[lokidog]

Probably spear fishing.

The only thing I see is more seals in the rockfish areas....   

I once discovered, accidentally, how to get worms out of fish....  I had caught some coastal rainbows down in OR.  After scaling, heading and gutting them, I put them in a bowl in the fridge.  The next night I pulled them out to cook for dinner and there in the bottom of the bowl was a writhing mass of roundworms up to an inch or so long.     Looking back, i should have eaten them instead of tossing as the worms were probably mostly out by that time.  I pretty much only filet all fish I catch now so I can do the see through test to look for them first.  I know they die when cooked or frozen, but it still grosses me out.

[Rob]

Yeah, "shot them" means with a spear gun.  Great fun.

I have seen lots of schools of blue and black rockfish coming back at nearly every rocky place I dive.

The "look through" test works well. 

Worms are not unique to the fish of the sound.  Some species seem to collect them more than others.  Seems like bottom fish are more susceptible.

The Red Grouper I shot in the FL Middlegrounds were loaded with worms.  Many of the grouper were actually.  I wonder if they use your waterbowl technique to get worms out of the commercial meat?  It would not be good for someone to pull out a worm from their 25 dollar grouper fillet at Anthony's Home Port!

[Rob]

I should clarify, I have seen lots of schools of blue OR black rockfish at nearly every rocky dive site.  I never bothered to learn the difference.  Not hard to tell, just not important enough for me to dedicate brain cells to.

[h20hunter]

I could't tell the difference either. I know that while fishing for Ling and cabbies I've caught more rockfish of larger size since the restrictions were put in place. I'm not a big rockfish fan regarless. Fun to catch but the return on meat is not that great for the size and growth rate of the fish. I'll catch 'em all day long from shallower waters and just release them.

Regarding the worms....with a little beer batter and hot oil I'll never know the difference!

[Rob]

I started free shafting for black rockfish up in Neah.  What a hoot.  I could load up with a limit of 10 in about 20 min. 

you bring down three spears, none are attached to the gun with a line. (hence "free shaft").  You line up a shot on one black RF and load one band.  Pull the trigger and shoot him (shoot him with a backstop or the spear will pas through).  While you move towards that one, you load a second shaft, and pop another one.  Then sting up fish #1 and load up and shoot another one...  continue till you get a limit.

I have only lost one spear doing that and that was because it passed clean through and went into a slit in the rocks further than I could reach.

Man I miss doing that...  Gotta get out and shoot some fish again soon. 

But this is off topic from teh original post now! 

When I use to fish off Gedney, I'd go to Pike Place Mkt and buy an octopus.  make great bait for bottom fish and they really stay on the hook.

[h20hunter]

Octo.....excellent choice. My son and I were talking about our day to come. I'm not roped into ice cream as well. I told him I think we can handle that.

[Rob]

My son and I were talking about our day to come. I'm not roped into ice cream as well. I told him I think we can handle that.

I have no idea what that sentence means!  It's only 9 am, drinking and typing already???

[h20hunter]

No no no.....I mean....not while at work at least. The whole point of my flounder question was because my boy and I are having a mens day. Well, as much as a 6 year old going on 35 and a 35 year old going on 6 can have. We are starting out the day with some time on the salt fishing for flounder ( or whatever bites). Then home to drop off and quick wash/rinse the boat. Then out to the range with our bows and his little .22. Sling some sticks, shoot some .22 longs. Then we hit our local sports bar for a pint and a shirley temple ( I do love me a shirley temple!!!), then pick up ice cream for dessert....get home...fry up some fish/worm filets...early to bed.

[Rob]

(just flinging crap at you)

Sounds like a quality day!

[Rob]

How did it go?

[h20hunter]

It went well. I'll tell you though....keeping up with a high energy almost 6 year old is exhausting. We got up and going and were on the water and fishing (south of hat) by 9 am. We had very little wind so I set up to do some drifts in about 30 feet of water....between the rock piles/reef and shore. I figured the flat sandy bottom would be flatfish territory. Nope. Nothing. Nada. After about 30 minutes the boy was getting bored so we caught and released a couple rockfish for some excitement. That got him pepped up. We finished our time on the water with one rock sole....about 12 inches. He was pleased to have something on ice. Last time we fished was for humpies so he remembers bonking fish as a big part of it. So, we did keep single little sole and I carved it up and fried it for him. Tasted just fine and no worms that I could see.

The rest of the afternoon went well. Lunch at Razzles......shooting his bow.....plinking with the rifle. All good times.

The little guy was so worn out he was asleep at 4:30 on the ride home from the range. `10 minutes later we were home and he was ready to keep on going. Not me....plopped down in a lawn chair, popped a beer, and grilled up steaks for dinner.

[lokidog]

 

[Rob]

Wish more fathers would do stuff like that with thier kids! 

Sounds like time well spent!

[h20hunter]

Next up....perch on our local lake.

[Ripper]

Sounds like a good time brother. My son just doesn't like to fish that much. I'm really bummed about that. Even when we are catching fish, he still wants to go play in the water on the beach. Is that Lake Stevens you're talking about for perch? Lake Cassidy has a ton of them also. Next time you want to go for flounder I'll tell you where I've caught some good ones. I replied to your post but my computer crashed and it never showed up.

[h20hunter]

Yep.....plenty of perch in lake stevens.