Gulf Coast Fishing Guide
Inshore Fishing for Flounder
 Editor’s Note: Let's face the fact that in the South, we have some of the finest saltwater fishing, both inshore and offshore of any region in the nation. During the spring and summer months, we can fish by day and by night with great success. I've named some of the top inshore and offshore fishing destinations in our area, all places where I've caught fish before, and you can, too.
Coco Marina at Chauvin, Louisiana - Full of bayous, back bays, small ditches and canals that feed the marsh, this area often homes flounder in the mouths of culverts, small creeks, ditches and little streams that cut through the marshes. As the tide runs out of the marshes, the baitfish come with the tide. By lying in these cuts and ditches, the flounder don't have to go looking for a meal but rather have their food brought to them. Although grubs and jigs will produce flounder, most flounder fishermen prefer live mud minnows for catching flatsides.
Honorable Mentions for Flounder:
Fort Morgan near Gulf Shores, Alabama - Fish the lighthouse and the oil rigs in Mobile Bay, out from Fort Morgan for flounder.
Chandeleur Islands off the Mississippi/Louisiana Coasts - You can catch flounder by fishing the cuts and ditches that run through and out of the marshes on the island.
Lake Calcasieu in Lake Charles, Louisiana - Fish for flounder in the small creeks and the streams that drain the marsh.
Best All-Around Inshore Fishing:
St. Lucie Estuary, near Jensen Beach, Florida - I have to pick this fishing hot spot on the Atlantic Coast as my best all-around selection for a place where you can take the most inshore fish, including redfish, tarpon, speckled trout, flounder and snook, year-round. This month you'll locate abundant numbers of all these fish in this region's shallow waters where you can fish from a boat or wade.
The Information You Need for the Best Flounder Fishing:
* Coco Marina, Chauvin, Louisiana: (800) 648-2626; (985) 594-6626, http://www.cocomarina.com/charter_fish.html
* Fort Morgan in Gulf Shores
Captain Gary Davis: (251) 943-6298
*Chandeleur Islands
Bobby Carter at the Isle of Capri: (228) 436-7893; 436-4753,
http://www.isleofcapricasino.com/
* Lake Calcasieu
Captains Mary and Jeff Poe: (337) 598-3268, http://www.biglakeguideservice.com/
Best All-Around Inshore Fishing:
* St. Lucie Estuary
Captain Ed Zyak: (772) 485-FISH, www.stuartflatsfishing.com, email: localcolorgs@aol.com
Chamber of Commerce: (772) 335-4446 http://www.stluciechamber.org/
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