Anglers catches WEIRD flounder!
Greetings fellow flounder fanatics!
Last weekend, the Saltwater Angler's League of Texas (S.A.L.T) held their annual Memorial Day weekend fishing tournament. As I have done for the last 14 years I provided coverage for the Port Arthur News and came across something very unusual.
Longtime S.A.L.T. member and Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) coastal fisheries worker Kirk Blood caught a really bizarre flounder. The best way I can describe it is that two top sides. Other than the head, the bottom looks just like the top.
Here's the bottom of the fish...
...and the top.
Blood said TPWD would take a fin clipping and submit it for further analysis.
Flounder Comeback
Blood who helps conduct TPWD's fisheries surveys on Sabine Lake said this spring they had the most successful purse seine pull ever in "at least 15 years". TPWD pulls a purse seine a distance of 50 feet at various random locations throughout the spring. In one pull they had seven juvenile southern flounder which shows great promise for the spawns that are taking place in the Gulf and overall health of the population.
I also got a note from Jeff Kaiser with the University of Texas Marine Science Institute in Port Aransas.
"I wanted to let you know the guide whose airboat we use for flounder collection each fall has been going out during this past week on some trips and is seeing an unusually large number of flounder in a couple of hours time. So much it reminds him of the fall run in some ways with lots of good fish moving during the night, more than usual."
Those are very positive signs both the regulation changes as well as the spawning conditions in the Gulf have made an impact over the last couple of years. The future for flounder is looking brighter every day.
Be on the lookout for another update later this week.
God bless,
Chester Moore
Comments