SOUTH CAROLINA IN THE FIELD



Flounder
Gigging In South
Carolina
Flounder gigging is an oft-overlooked method of catching fish for saltwater anglers and is an extremely effective way to load up on some of the best-tasting seafood along the South Carolina coast. Flounder are shallow-water feeders, especially at night. During the nocturnal hours, the fish will move very shallow near the water's edge, often in mere inches of water and settle in on the bottom to ambush their forage as it swims by. Simply described, all you do is rig lights on your boat and pole along and gig the flounder when you spot them. Perhaps that is a slight oversimplification, but the process is definitely not difficult.
That's particularly true when you go with someone who knows the flounder gigging business. Certainly John Lowder of Florence fits into that category. Lowder is a flounder gigging guide and, based on his research, he is the only USCG licensed and insured guide in the state who specialzes solely on gigging flounder.
Lowder began gigging over 20 years ago and immediately fell in love with the sport. On the night we gigged, we had out two limits of flounder before 1 o'clock in the morning.
"Not all nights are like that," Lowder said with a big grin. "Sometimes my clients limit out very quickly."
The good news is that he's only partly joking: The action can be that fast and furious.
Our trip began at a good pace in terms of spotting and gigging fish, and it held up throughout the evening. Because of some muddy water, a flounder gigger's nightmaqre, we had to change locations a couple of times. But knowing the area as he does, Capt. Lowder quickly had us back in clear water sticking hefty flounder every few minutes.
In fact, after we gigged our last flounder, we poled the boat out of the shallows to the deep water for the return trip to the landing and we spotted
several more legal-sized flounder on the way out. It did make me want to go back for another trip. But the cooler full of flounder we already had was plenty for any one night.
"The keys to gigging success are simple, but crucial," Lowder said. "First, you must have a good lighting system. I use two 175-watt metal halide lights powered by a portable generator. Each light generates 14,000 lumens of light. This can be compared to two 100-watt, 120-volt lights that produce 1,750 lumens of light. In the case of flounder gigging, more light is better, much better. It allows you to see the bottom more clearly and farther out. I have also rigged mu lights so they are submersible, different that what most giggers do and I think it helps me see the fish better.
"The gigs I use are usually 10 feet long and can be made simply from a closet rod, although I use both aluminum and fiberglass poles. One commercial gig is the B&M model, which is carbon steel. The advantage is it stays very sharp and has very aggressive barbs, which help hold the fish. The downside is that it will rust in continued saltwater use. Sea Striker makes a stainless gig that I like and while it won't rust, it has less aggressive barbs. Plus, with continued use of poling the boat in the sand and shells, the stainless steel points will become blunted. Those are factors giggers will have to plan on overcoming," Lowder noted.
Lowder suggests looking for flounder on sand, mud ormixed sand and shell bottoms. "The fish will literally get into inches of water and they will generally face into the current. If it's deep enough for me to float my 16-foot aluminum boat, it's deep enough to gig a flounder. I key my efforts on seeing fish, of course, but if I see numerous fresh flounder beds, simply imprints in the snad or bottom that have the form of a flounder, I'll work the area hard. I konw fish have been there within a recent tide. Having forage in the area is another factor I key on. Flounder will not be there unless they have something to eat," he added.
Lowder also suggests that you gig
the fish in the head because that's the only real skeletal structure in the fish and the best place to hold the fish on the gig while you lift it out of the water.
"When gigging a fish, don't rush. Stop the boat with the gig pole and place the gig right over the fish and stick it. If you lunge at the fish, you'll often miss them. Unless you touch them, they will likely stay right there while you position the boat," he said.
On Lowder's trips, he allows the clients to do the gigging and if they want to learn how to pole the boat and get the full experience. "But if they just want to stick fish, that's fine with me, too," he added.
The size limit on flounder is 12 inches minimum length and the creel limit is 20 fish per person. All that's required to gig flounder is a saltwater license. Contact Capt. Lowder at (843) 206-7633 or CaptJohnLowder@aol.com. - Terry Madewell