All flounder species eat the same baits. Summer flounder and southern flounder also achieve some hefty sizes, with a 5-pound fish common and a 10-pounder a true trophy fish. Most Gulf flounder typically weigh only a pound or two, but they can exceed 5 pounds.

The classic flounder rig is a "fish finder" or "Carolina rig," consisting of an egg sinker sliding above or pegged to a swivel and a 15- to 30-pound leader tied below the swivel. Special hooks with wide bends, such as the Kahle style, are used to penetrate far back inside a flounder's mouth to achieve a secure hookset.

Most flounder are lost because the angler sets the hook too soon. Some count to 30 and others wait so long that the flounder begins to move off with the bait before they set the hook. A good adage is "you can't wait too long" to set the hook in a flounder's jaw. The strike can be so subtle that anglers cannot detect it without experience.

Lures have become a mainstay of many summer flounder anglers with the invention of scent-impregnated soft-plastic baits. Stuck on the hook of a jig, these baits will often outfish live baits when cast into likely flounder haunts, such as dips in grassbeds or pockets in oyster beds or beneath boat docks.

RED DRUM
Red drum are still considered overfished, but it is largely because the latest stock status assessment is not yet due. It is likely that the status will change to viable. If not during the next stock review, the fish stock should be reclassified soon afterward. Assessments are routinely performed every three years to give scientists time to assess landing data. However, anglers and biologists are reporting that plenty of red drum in all age-classes are being caught in all of the state's coastal waters.

Reports of great red drum fishing are coming from everywhere. Anglers report fishing huge schools of adult fish that can top 41 inches and grow to over 50 pounds.

"I caught the first three adult drum I've ever caught with a fly rod," said Chuck Laughridge of Roanoke Rapids. "I was fishing the Cape Lookout Shoals when I spotted the fish. I hooked three by casting to the fish as they fed on top of the bar."

Laughridge was fishing in late fall, an excellent time to catch adult drum. The biggest red drum school off Cape Hatteras and Cape Lookout in the fall. Many enter Pamlico Sound to spawn during July and August each summer and the recreational fishery has a large following in waters near Oriental.

Other big red drum are caught at the Cape Fear River mouth in November, especially by flounder fisherman dropping live baits at the artificial reefs. Catching a 50-pound redfish on a medium-duty spinning rod intended for flounder results in quite a tussle and a never-to-be-forgotten experience for any angler.