The first fall cool fronts have moved through the Carolinas and with them better fishing has come our way. A lot of nice flounder are being caught right now, along with those ever-reliable redfish. Pier fishing is still off and on with occasional spot showing up and some kings having been decked.

The big news is the flounder bite around Sunset Beach. Lots of flounder are around structure inshore, around the inlets, and in the surf near the piers.

John McDowell was headed down to Sunset Beach to try some shore fishing for flounder. I told him to get some finger mullet and use a fishfinder rig moved slowly with pauses. I also told him to concentrate on the moving tides, fishing for the hours after high and low tide as the current really started to move.

Since then he has kept me updated with reports.

“Just wanted to check in with you from Sunset Beach,” said John. “Caught my first flounder thanks to your tips and articles today! 20-inch beauty and had a few more on but need practice with setting the hook.”

A lot of folks have trouble at first setting the hook when using live bait for flounder. You have to give the fish time to take the bait. Some anglers wait as long as a minute or two but I usually give it about 30 seconds. John was getting better as the next day came.

“Well three more flounder today,” he said “Plus three blues in the 13 to 14 inch range. Thanks again for all the tips on flounder it is really paying off.”

Later that night he did even better.

“Caught a fat 22-incher this evening,” John wrote. “You know your stuff because I am using the fishfinder rig and hitting from high tide for about three hours or so heading into low tide and they seem to be loving a lively finger mullet. I am hooked now on the fall fishing it’s awesome. You made my year, thanks a million!”

In the fall, it is hard to beat a live finger mullet. Mud minnows are great and you can get them at the store, but for fall flounder (as well as bluefish and redfish) nothing is better than a live finer mullet on a simple fishfinder rig held down by about an ounce of weight.

In addition to the flounder, redfish are still plentiful in the backwaters and larger red drum are hitting at the Little River Jetties. There are some spot on the Sunset Beach pier, and some king mackerel have come in after the spot and bluefish schools. Several pier kings have been decked along the Brunswick County beaches.

If you want to fish at night, there are plenty of black drum around the pilings of the bridges, docks, and piers as well. Use very fresh shrimp from a seafood market and fish on the bottom. Sheepshead are present too, harder to catch but taking fiddle crabs for some anglers.

Fall fishing around Sunset Beach is just gearing up and is already good. Now is a great time for flounder, and many folks concentrate to them now before changing over to speckled trout as the weather cools even more. Remember to fish slowly, with frequent pauses, and give those flounder some time to take that finger mullet before you strike.

For many more tips and tactics for Carolina flounder fishing check out my new book Surf and Saltwater Fishing in the Carolinas