Flounder Guide — Biloxi, MS

Flounder are the most underrated fish in Biloxi's Back Bay, and also the best eating. If you know where to look, they're not hard to find. If you don't, you'll fish right over them all day.

The key is barnacles. Piers, bulkheads, and concrete pilings covered in barnacles hold flounder consistently. Barnacles attract shrimp and small crabs, which attract baitfish, which is exactly what flounder are waiting on. They lay flat on the bottom directly beneath that structure and ambush anything that drops down. A plain piling holds far fewer fish than one covered in growth.

Add shade and a natural channel nearby and you've found a flounder hole. They like cover overhead and moving water beneath them. The channels and dredge cuts around Back Bay give them the depth to set up and the current to push bait through. Find a barnacle-covered pier over a natural bottom channel and you're in the right spot.

The setup is simple. Drop straight down along the piling with a circle hook on 18 to 24 inches of fluorocarbon leader and enough weight to keep the bait on the bottom. Live shrimp is the first choice. Squid, menhaden, mullet or other small cut bait works when shrimp aren't available. Let it sit. Flounder are not aggressive chasers, they're ambush fish. The bite is usually a slow pick-up, not a hard strike.

If you're fishing from a pier, drop a handful of rabbit foot pellets around the piling. They dissolve slowly and draw shrimp into the area, which keeps flounder holding tight to the structure longer.

Use fluorocarbon leader and don't skip it. Flounder have teeth and a rough mouth. A big fish thrashing at the surface on light mono will snap the line every time, especially when you're pier fishing and can't follow it. Plenty of good fish have been lost right at the surface for this reason.

Popping corks with live shrimp drifted along the edge of structure also works when flounder are active and feeding up off the bottom. But when they're holding tight, straight down is the move.

Spring and fall are the most productive seasons in Back Bay. Water temps in the 65 to 75 degree range keep flounder active and feeding. Summer slows midday but early morning near structure still produces. They're in Back Bay year round. Winter concentrates them deeper in the channels.

If you want to fish similar structure in Louisiana, the Grand Isle flounder fishery follows the same approach: tidal movement, structure, and bait on the bottom.

Flounder are worth the effort. Clean them right and there's no better eating fish in the Gulf.