Flounder On Structure

I asked Craig Freeman if he would tell me how he catches all of those big flounder. He was nice enough to respond and this is what he sent me:

I use 7' medium-heavy rods with braided line and smaller baitcasters like the Shimano 400B or 5500 ambasseduer.

The hooks I use are 4/0 Mustad khale hooks. If my bait is running big I will go to a 5/0 Mustad.

I run 30 inches of leader from a three way to the hook and 12-14 inches of leader to the weight. I use 15lb trilene big game as my line.

For bait I like to use 3"-4" spot or finger mullet. I like the mullet better because they don't "hide" in the bottom structure like a spot does. The spot seem to be able to hide a little better in the rubble, where a mullet will just swim.

I use a 2-5 oz sinker depending on the tide. I usually just use a 2 oz sinker.

For tide I like slower moving water. The middle hour and a half where it is ripping has never been good for me. The last 2hrs before and after the slack has been best for me. I rarely use over two ounces.

I like to hook the bait through a bone. For spot I go through the nose hole and for mullet I go through the eyes.

When anchoring over structure I try to put the back of the boat on the uptide side of the structure. I do this because I believe the flounder lay on the front edge and the sides of the structure. By position the boat like this the baits can "drift" to the fish.

The other thing I do is cast uptide and let the baits wash back. I feel that gives a more natural presentation.

Let me know if you need anymore info. I think I covered all that you asked for.

Craig

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