Though creeks often hold good numbers of flounder, that doesn't mean you won't catch some nice ones, as guide Chuck Nelson demonstrates. Photo by Dan Kibler

When Chuck Nelson moved to the North Carolina coast several years ago, one of the first things he did was acquaint himself intimately with all of the little saltwater creeks and brackish rivers that poured into the sounds that separated the barrier islands from the mainland.

You would expect a person who has worked as a mapmaker to catalogue all the twists and turns of a marsh river into a mental index that would rival any chart book. And you'd be right, but maybe for the wrong reason. He wasn't actually making maps.

One thing that Nelson, who now operates a guide service, knew from previous experience on other parts of the coastline was that those relatively small strands of flowing water hold some of the best year-round fishing for one of the most popular of fish: the flounder.

"Sometimes it surprises me how big a flounder you can catch in less than a foot of water in some of these places," Nelson said. "You catch a 3-pounder out of a little ditch that's only a foot or two wide -- that's the big fish in the hole right there."

The fishing isn't as easy as one-two-three, although he's had half-day trips that produced almost two-dozen fish. But one-two-three is a nice way to describe the waltz that Nelson does with big flatfish. When he gets into a creek or a river, he's looking for three main places that flounder like to frequent. Once he finds them, it's a matter of putting bait in front of a hungry fish.

The three hangouts are deep holes, side ditches and oyster bars.

A deep hole is exactly what it says it is: an area in a river or creek that's markedly deeper than surrounding waters. Flounder love 'em because they can lie on the bottom and wait to ambush baitfish and, at the same time, get some measure of protection from the danger that lurks above shallow water.

And the easiest places to find deep holes are on the outside bends of a river or creek channel. Another source would be boat docks to which larger boats are tied because the "blow-out" from engines also scour the bottom.

Fishing deep holes, Nelson said, is not difficult.

"Moving water is the key. You don't want to fish slack water, like at dead high or dead low tide."

Nelson positions his boat on the downcurrent side of the hole and casts upcurrent, letting his bait sink to the bottom and crawl its way through the hole. "You want to let the current carry the bait, just as slow as you can," he said. "You want to just barely drag it along."

The slow presentation gives a flounder that's plastered to the bottom a better chance of seeing the bait and a longer window for a strike. Nelson will often make a half-dozen more casts and drifts with his bait, especially if he can hold his boat in place.

The second "hot hole" for creek flounder is a side channel or ditch that carries water from back in the marsh into the main creek or river. They can be as small as a foot or two wide -- or big enough to float a boat.