Choosing the right fishing rod, whether building or buying, is key to mastering different techniques and lure types. One such specific type is the flounder rod. In this article, we will look into what makes a good flounder rod and what you’ll need to build one if you so choose.
What Makes A Good Flounder Rod
When determining what to look for in a good flounder rod, there are many design elements one must consider. Action, power, rod length, components and more all come into play. To understand how all of these elements work together we recently sat down with Dylan Kiene AKA “Dr. Doormat” on the Mastering Rod Building podcast to learn his thoughts on what makes a good flounder rod.
Dylan Kiene is a PhD candidate at the University of South Alabama working on his dissertation on flat fish life history in relation to climate change, with a focus on the southern flounder. He has worked at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab at the University of South Alabama School of Marine Environmental Sciences, where he has played a significant role in tagging and tracking over 1,000 southern flounder over the last several years using acoustic tags. His research has provided valuable data on the flounder population’s migration patterns and helped inform fisheries management decisions that have contributed to the recovery of the southern flounder fishery in Alabama.
In addition to his keen scientific knowledge of flounder, Dylan is also an avid rod builder and angler. When we sat down to interview him, he confessed to building an impressive sixty or so rods over the past year-and-a-half, almost all of which were flounder rods! It’s also worth noting that all of the fish that he caught for his research were caught on hook-and-line, to say nothing of the fish he catches “for fun.”
Flounder Rod Setup
One of the first decisions a buyer or a builder must make is spinning vs casting. While many flounder anglers use spinning rods for floundering, Dylan prefers a baitcasting combo.
“I use a casting reel, and I run braid to a fluoro or mono leader,” he says. “I use a modified, reversed albright knot for my leader connection, and then a loop knot to my jig head for the best action. I’m a big fan of a standup, screw lock jig head as well, and I actually prefer the action of a lot of freshwater soft baits when I’m flounder fishing. And I’m a bit of a stickler with my handle. I want that reel right on the spine of the blank for maximum sensitivity. Handle construction and reel to rod interface is important when you put a flounder rod together to ensure maximum sensitivity. You want some stiffness and rigidity there.”
Best Rod Length For Flounder Fishing
When it comes to choosing length, Dylan typically goes with a pretty standard length for inshore anglers; seven feet. Some anglers prefer to go a bit shorter if more precision casting and control is need (around docks, for instance) and some prefer to go a bit longer for added fish-fighting leverage and greater casting distance. But for most, a seven to seven-and-a-half foot rod is about right.
Flounder Rod Action
Action is much more important than weight when fishing for flounder. Super-fast actions are popular with many flounder anglers, according to Dylan.
“When I’m flounder fishing, I want the rod to be sensitive,” he says, “I’m living in the tip of the rod. With a high modulus blank with a fast tip, you can feel every little detail of the bottom. You pick up almost a sixth sense, where after four or five casts through an area, you know where it’s shell bottom, and where it’s mud. And of course, if you’ve ever felt a real doormat slam your bait on a high modulus blank with braided line, you know it’s life changing! One minute you’re fishing, and the next you’re like, ‘Holy cow, did Thor just hit the tip of my rod?’”
But while sensitivity leads to increased sensitivity, it comes at a cost.
“The tradeoff,” he says, “is that when you get a big flounder to the side of the boat and get a little bit vertical on it, they’ll do this thing where they open their mouths and swim backwards. If you have a really fast rod and they do this, there’s a high tendency for them to shake the hook. So my all around favorite style is with a rod that is a little bit more parabolic. But it’s a fine line to tread, because you need that sensitivity in the tip to know what’s going on down there. I’ve found that no matter what guide train you use on a build, it’s important to put good money into the tip top. A titanium tip top can make the sensitivity of a rod go through the roof.”
What Power Rod For Flounder Fishing?
Power relates to the rod’s resistance to bending. The heavier the rod, the more fish-horsing and lure-slinging power it typically has, but that power typically comes with a sacrifice of sensitivity. Since flounder fishing involves a lot of “touch-and-feel” work on the bottom of the water, Dylan prefers a relatively light power.
“My favorite blanks that I’m using right now is a medium lite, fast action, spin jig blanks,” he says. “It’s a pretty parabolic blank, and I’m spiral-wrapping the guide train. You get lots of good sensitivity, but you also get these crazy parabolic bends when you’re fighting fish. That really helps to keep the hook pinned. It makes for a very forgiving rod.”
While a medium-light power rod may seem a little underpowered for big, doormat flounder, Dylan says that the right blank and the right guide train formula will surprise you when it’s time to throw-down with big fish.
“One of the first fish that I caught on that rod,” he says of his little medium-lite, “was a forty-inch redfish. You always catch the biggest fish on the lightest rods, right? And I mean, I was horsing that fish in. That little rod was bent all the way to the butt. But it had the reserve power to get it done.”
Final Thoughts On Flounder Rods
Choosing the right flounder rod boils down to understanding the specific requirements of flounder fishing and how different rod characteristics meet those needs. Whether you’re building your rod or buying one off the shelf, pay attention to the rod’s specs, components used, and the reputation of the manufacturer. With the right rod in hand, you’re well on your way to more successful and enjoyable flounder fishing.
