Fishing with Glen Pla

Palm Coast Observer
Opinion

Last Monday, I had the opportunity to fish with Glen Pla, host of “The Average Angler,” a TV show that airs on the Bright House Sports Network, channel 47.

Pla had contacted me to do a show about fishing in the Tomoka Basin.

We met at the park at 6:30 a.m., loaded the boat with camera equipment and set off for a day of fishing.

We got to the basin and began to work the shorelines with top-water plugs. As luck would have it, we could not find a single trout or redfish to cooperate with us. I started to think about where we could go to get some trout and reds, so I decided to head north on the Intracoastal Waterway, to Bulow Creek.

We fished a stretch of the creek and, again, no luck. I thought for a few minutes, then said to Pla that we would fish an area and probably pick up some flounder. We tied off to the bank and began fishing the incoming tide with jig heads and Berkley Gulp shrimp.

After only a few minutes, Pla was hooked up with a small flounder. We continued to work the jigs and again, Pla hooked into another small flounder. We worked the area a while longer and had two more flounder, and these were both keeper-sized fish. As the current slowed, so did the bite. We then went for a short sight-seeing cruise further up the creek.

Once we returned to our original spot, the current had picked up on the outgoing tide, and so the flounder bite picked up, too.

This time, the fish we were catching — I mean Pla was catching — were of better size. The flounder were now in the 17-inch to 18-inch range, and they were also fat. These fish were hungry: They were swallowing the entire rig. By the time we called it quits, we boated eight flounder, with six of them being keeper size.

We also had several that we lost. During the trip, I found out that flounder was one of Pla’s favorite fish to catch. The flounder saved the day to make for a good fishing show. And believe me, after not landing a trout or a red, the fish gods smiled on us to make for a wonderful trip.

Pla was so pleased with the catch that he said any time the flounder bite is on, give him a call, and he’ll be there.

The show will be on some time in the next week or two so. Stay tuned to “catch” it.