# Founder gigging on Jekyll?



## Rhodes (Nov 19, 2014)

I've been shrimp seining for several years down at Jekyll Island and I most always catch an abundance of small  throwback juvenile flounder. I always seine at St Andrews park in the Jekyll river and since I always seine at night and on a falling tide I thought it might be worthwhile to try some flounder gigging on the back end after I finish shrimp seining for the night to try and supplement my catch with a few of those tasty flatties. I’ve always heard and read of flounder gigging on the Ga coast but have never tried it. Most of the articles I read though deal with gigging from a boat. As I live three hours from Jekyll and only make a few trips a year I would only be interested in gigging from shore. I've heard of people gigging flounder in knee deep water at low tide in Jacksonville, about 50 miles further down the coast so I've rigged up an underwater light and thought about giving it a try on the next trip. Also I'm really only interested in doing this on Jekyll Island since that’s where I always seine. Since I've never done this before, I thought I might could solicit some expert advice from some of ya’ll who have. I just have a few questions about the process:

1.)  Is there a preferred tide for flounder gigging? That is I would assume you would want a fairly small discrepancy between high and low tide to have clearer water to see them, but I'm not sure. 

2.)  When is the best time to gig?  High tide, low tide, or some time in between?

3.) Also, what is the best time of the year for flounder gigging?

Any help would be greatly appreciated…..thanks


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## hunterofopportunity (Nov 19, 2014)

since we have the marsh and mud our water is muddy as the tide goes out, and cleaner as it comes in.i've seen boats gigging in aug-oct but I never have.


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## hollandae (Nov 19, 2014)

Low in coming. Summer is assumed to be the best time, but you can do it year round. I would get yourself a good led headlight too. Just give it a shot next time you're there. West marine right down from the causeway has gigs.


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## BuckMKII (Nov 22, 2014)

Since flounder have to be 12 inches how do you know that it's going to be a legal size when you gig it unless is obviously really large?


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## Anvil Head (Nov 23, 2014)

You pretty much answered your own question....a 12+ looks large. If you are not sure don't gig it. Think of it this way, your foot with a shoe on it is going to be around 12" or larger (unless you have really small feet. If you are looking closely you can usually see enough of their outline to discern size. Once you've seen/gigged a few you'll be able to gauge just by the distance between the eyes. Might be a little chilly wading this time of year.


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