The Galveston County Daily News

Every year on record, beginning sometime around the Harvest Moon, which is the full moon closest to the fall equinox, flounder begin their winter migration to the deeper and warmer waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

The migration starts when the days begin getting shorter, which triggers an instinct in the popular flatfish to get out of the back bays, marshes, bayous and creeks.

This is to avoid being trapped by major cold fronts that leave much of the shallower waters mostly dry in their wake.

Years ago, by November, the first freeze of the season had hit the coastal waters, and flounder were well into their migration. With the warm winters in the past 20 years, the migration has been delayed until later in the year.

Because of this, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department concluded more restrictions had to be invoked on flounder bag and size limits.

Based on past creel surveys, state officials concluded November was the month most flounder were caught.

The reason is that, during November, the migration was in full swing and flounder were stacked up like carpet covering a floor around certain areas of the Upper Texas Coast.

This created a sort of “sitting ducks” effect on the flatfish, as anglers, both commercial and recreational equipped with lanterns and gigs, could virtually clean out an area in one evening.

Additionally, both groups had a two-day possession limit, which meant that if a limit of flounder were caught before midnight, another could be taken following that time, even if the action lasted only an hour or so into the next day.

Regardless of the views about the giggers versus rod-and-reel anglers versus commercial operations, flounder stocks were being depleted at an alarming rate.

Today, we are fishing under a new set of regulations designed to rebuild the stocks of this popular fish.

First, the double-day possession limit has been abolished, and only one day’s possession is permitted.

For recreational anglers, the bag limit has been cut in half from 10 to five a day.

That is for 11 months.

During November, the bag limit is two a day per angler, and the only means of taking flounder is by line and pole, thus eliminating gigging for flounder during that month.

The minimum size of 15 inches has not changed.

The Reel Report, a daily fishing column in The Galveston County Daily News, has reported on efforts to hatch flounder fingerlings and the success of Sea Center Texas at Lake Jackson in accomplishing that objective.

At least one fishing tournament in the Galveston area offers prizes to anglers entering live flounder in suitable condition to be transported to Sea Center for their restocking efforts.

Now, with that background on flounder, let’s look at what we can expect in the way of action on flounder in November.

During the later part of the annual flounder run, larger flatfish will begin to appear on stringers.

This is a sign that the run is in its last stages.

Unless a severe winter takes place, flounder will stay around as long as there is bait for them to eat. Actually, that is the key to a big flounder migration.

For the past several years, reports of flounder catches have come year-round. This has been because of warmer-than-usual winters.

During November, watch several areas for good reports. They include all the shorelines on both sides of the Galveston Ship Channel; Pelican Island, especially around Seawolf Park; the channel side of both the North and South Jetties; the abandoned barges along the Intracoastal Waterway near Port Bolivar; Rollover and San Luis passes; and many spots in between.

While fall is the big season for flounder, spring also is a good time to find concentrations of the flatfish when they return from the Gulf to the bays.

The spring run is not consistent on timing and tends to drag on longer than the fall migration. Popular places during the fall run will attract the fish upon their return to the bays.

If flounder are your objective, then November is your month.

Get out and bring in a limit and read the Reel Report to find out where the action is.

Capt. Joe Kent writes “Reel Report” for The Daily News. Call 409-683-5273, or e-mail reel.report(at)galvnews.com.