The veteran guide recommends anglers use their trolling motors to approach these reds quietly and then cast with soft plastics on heavy jigheads or use ?-ounce gold spoons.

    “You want something you can cast pretty far because sometimes they will spook easily,” James said.

    There is also plenty of action for big reds at the jetties.

    Anglers should use long surf rods baited with cut mullet, live croaker or blue crab. When using crab, pop off the shell and rig through hook through the joint of the back paddle-like leg. It’ll hold good there.

     Chunk this bait into deep holes and around the boat cuts to find reds anywhere from 36-50 inches.

    Summer is the slowest time of year for catching flounder, but they do not shut down completely.

    Most of the action is in the big, flowing cuts in a bay system like Chocolate Bayou in the Galveston complex and Johnson Bayou on Sabine Lake.

    Fish incoming tides in the first 100 yards of any of the larger cuts with a curl-tailed jig tipped with shrimp or live mud minnows fished on a fish finder (Carolina) rig. This consists of an egg shaped slip weight rigged about a 12 to 18 inch leader finished off with a hook. Drag it slowly and when you feel a “thump”, count to 10 and then set the hook. With lures cut the wait down to about two seconds.

    In the cuts, incoming tides are best for good numbers of flounder. Along the cane-lined shorelines, however, the first hour of a falling tide is best. Roseau cane has a very intricate rooting system and baitfish hide inside it on high tides. Flounder have figured this out and lie in ambush when the waters recede.

    There are also a fair number of fish around the passes in the summer. In these areas, live mud minnows or finger mullets on a fish finder rig are best. Some anglers are starting to wise up to the fact that they can set out several rods with live bait and as flounder move through, they can get more action with more rods.

    Anglers fishing around the Pilot Station in Sabine Pass often employ this method and tend to catch some of the biggest flounder in the area.

Chester Moore, Jr. is the Port Arthur News Outdoors Editor. To contact Chester Moore, e-mail him at cmoore@fishgame.com. You can hear him on the radio Fridays from 6-7 p.m. on Newstalk AM 560 KLVI or online at www.klvi.com.