Flounder fishing- Folly Creek

Got home from Deal Island (exhausted) just after noon on July 3, only to get a phone call from my buddy Bruce Davis, the greatest flounder fisherman there ever was.  I fished once with Bruce a few years back and was quite impressed with how much he knew about this fish, even though we hadn’t caught many on a cool March day.  But this was different, Bruce was calling to tell me that he had been fishing the last 2 weeks at a place in Virginia and had never seen the fishing so good- tall words from this guy, and that we ought to go together the next day, July 4.  After initially declining but after thorough consulting with my wife Candy, I called Bruce back and told him that we were on.  Yes, I had just committed to awakening at 4 am to meet up with Bruce at 5 am in Delmar.  Got to bed early and made the 5 am connection with Bruce, thankful that he was driving and that we were taking his boat, an 18 ft jon that he has specifically configured for slaying flounder.  An hour and a half to 2 hrs later, we were at the ramp on Folly Creek, just east of Accomack, VA.  What a beautiful place, probably one of so many that I am not even aware of here on the eastern shore.  The VA eastern shore fascinates me any way, with borders on both the Atlantic and the Chesapeake.  So, we launch and follow the creek out about 2 or 3 miles to Metompkin Bay, which promptly empties into the Atlantic Ocean.  The water coming out was clear and adequately deep, and I wondered what finned treasures it might hold other than founder.  We commence fishing in a labyrinth or creeks and guts, all pulled along well by the now incoming tide.  Immediately I caught a flounder which measured 18 inches, a keeper.  Our rigs were interesting and very specific.  3 foot looped fluorochrome leaders, looped as to not present any knots to the fish in order to maintain invisibility.  No weight, using a ¾ oz naked jig head, rigged with a Gulp worm (Pumpkinseed, specifically), plus a live minnow (good sized minnows). We later augmented this to include a small strip of flounder belly and also a frozen shiner.  The idea was to not spook the flounder with an additional weight.  The worm was the same color as a species of shrimp which Bruce claimed was their favorite food.  The last element of our success was the electric trolling motor, as Bruce was able to maneuver the boat with great accuracy over shoals and holes.  The fishing was spectacular, we caught at least 80 flounder, a slow day by Bruce’s standards but beyond anything I had ever done, plus it was nice to catch a fish other than Croaker.  By 12:30 pm we had caught our limit of 8 (4 each), with one at 25” and another at 23”.  Netting these larger fish was critical- the flounder were really good at shaking out the hook.  Two pieces of instruction Bruce gave me for hooking fish, critical since I had not yet developed a good feel for hooking flounder, were 1) gently pull back on the line when feeling a strike or anticipating the fish taking the bait, and 2) maintaining pressure on the reel once I started winding one in.  Bruce still out fished me, but I felt like I was getting the hang of it.  Must return some day soon  !!!!