Jersey’s winter flounder season just opened on March 1st, and if its anything like last spring, we could be in for a heck of a spring fishery. Flounder poundin is a light tackle affair, but you can up your odds to catch more fish by adjusting your tactics a bit to get them chomping.

Regarding rigs, a yellow bead above the shank or a small ¾-inch yellow rubber grub above a Mustad size #6 Chestertown or Size #8 Mustad Long Shank Beak hook, lanced on before the bait, creates enough color and attraction to convince a flatback to eat. Fin Strike makes some solid pre-packaged flounder rigs with the yellow corn beads already lanced on. Yellow seems to be a predominant color flounder gravitate to, and some anglers even go so far as to paint their 1 to 2-once bank or coin shaped sinkers yellow to attract fish when bouncing them up and down in the mud.

Stirring up the bay bottom gets fish on the feed. A plunger fixed to a long dowel can be plunged over the side to stir up the mud bottom, releasing worms, clams and forage that runs with the tide to attract flounder to your baits. Another way to create a slick is to utilize the engine props. For some reason, every time the boat’s engines start, the flounder start hitting. When the props begin to turn it churns up the shallow water, but could also be the vibration that gets them eating. Try starting and stopping your engine every now and then and see if it sparks a bite.

By far, one of the top secret tricks is the “Ol’ Boy’s” secret. On your chumpot, always have one 12 inch snelled hook tied directly to the bottom square in the chum pot metal, and make sure it rests on the bottom. Tie another hook on a long 36 inch leader two inches above the other hook and bait up with bits of mussel, clam or worm. More times than I can count, I’ll be pulling a flounder or two up with the hooks on the chum pot as the flatfish come right up to the chumpot feeding like they are cows in a trough. Winter flounder poundin should be firing on all cylinders by the end of the month, put these tricks to the test and fill your limit quickly.