What Type of Artificial Bait to Use for Flounder?

Flounder is the fish for people who don't like fish because they lack the fishy taste and smell that most other saltwater fish have. Flounder hang out in ridges or depressions on the sea floor waiting for their prey. They prefer sand and places where there are distinctive landmarks or cover. Daily limits and minimum weights differ from one location to another, so check area regulations before fishing. Live bait is usually more effective than artificial bait, but getting and keeping live bait on a fishing trip is sometimes challenging.

  1. Plastic Lures

    • Flounder prefer plastic grub tails in pink or red. Soft pink grub tails that look like live bait work best. Bait and tackle shops near the fishing area are good resources for lures that are effective on local flounder. Lures are a good choice for drifting. Drifting is pulling the boat near an inlet and allowing it to drift without anchoring, dragging the lure along the bottom. Flounder sit on the bottom, waiting for their food to swim by. When a flounder is removed from a good spot, he is soon replaced by another, so if you have success in a spot stick with it. In popular fishing areas, fishermen line up and drift their boats together, allowing each other room so the lines do not get tangled. Dipping or rubbing the lures with a scent is most effective.

    Scented Jigs

    • Hair jigs are also effective for flounder fishing. Many anglers jig with a spinning rod using a white, chartreuse or pink lead-head jig. Attaching a bucktail or rubber tail usually makes the jig more effective. Squid scent works well for flounder. Flounder also like the scent of minnows, mullet, menhaden and shrimp. The best time to fish for flounder is while the tide is rising near an inlet.

    Trailers and Spoons

    • Scent impregnated plastic trailers catch flounder in many areas, and spoons with weed guards and strip trailers work well in areas with weeds or other snag hazards. Flounder usually hang out around inlets, natural or artificial reefs and areas with covering. The same techniques used to find bass in freshwater are effective for finding flounder in saltwater. These baits usually do not catch the larger flounder, but you can often meet your daily limit of smaller minimum-size fish.

    How Use Artificial Bait

    • Artificial bait has to be worked to look like live bait. If your artificial bait is not catching flounder and nearby fisherman are finding success, work the bait a little more and try to mimic the movements of a small fish. Practice working the bait in the water and you should have more success. When fishing with artificial bait, do not wait to set the hook as you would with live bait. The strike is usually hard and the hook needs to be set instantly. Live bait is the most effective, but it is sometimes hard to find and is difficult to keep alive on an all-day fishing trip.