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Charted WatersCoastal Virginia
Sheet 25 of 28

beginner rig

Bottom presentation

Flounder rig (with stinger hook)

Built specifically to solve flounder's well-known habit of biting the tail of a bait before committing to swallow it

Best for
Flounder
Water
inletbridgebayriver
Flounder rig (with stinger hook) schematicTop to bottom: main line, sinker, bead, swivel, leader, hook, bait, stinger hook.

Schematic, not to scale. Hover, tap, or tab through the parts; the drawing isolates each one.

Terms usedMain lineSinkerBeadSwivelLeaderHook sizes

Components

As listed in the rig record, top to bottom.

  1. Main line through a sliding sinker (as in the Fish-Finder/Carolina Rig)
  2. Bead and swivel
  3. Leader to a main hook baited with a minnow or strip bait
  4. A short trailer ("stinger") leader from the main hook's bend to a second small hook, hooked lightly into the bait's tail

Setup

Hook
A main hook (1/0–3/0), sized to the bait, plus a smaller stinger/trailer hook — flounder often strike short, biting the tail end of a bait first, and the stinger hook is specifically there to catch those short strikes.
Weight
Same sliding-sinker logic as the Carolina rig — enough to hold bottom in the current you're fishing, without killing the bait's natural drift.
Leader
The stinger trailer leader is short (2–4 inches), just enough to reach from the main hook to the bait's tail without tangling.

How to fish it

Built specifically to solve flounder's well-known habit of biting the tail of a bait before committing to swallow it — the stinger hook catches those otherwise-missed strikes.

When to use it

  • Inlets, channel edges, and pier pilings over sand and shell
  • Drifting or slow-dragging a minnow or strip with the current
  • Days when short strikes keep stealing the tail off the bait

Common mistakes

  • Setting the hook on the very first tap, which is often just a flounder testing the tail — many anglers wait for a second, more committed pull before setting

Variations

Sliding-sinker rigs: the same idea, adjusted

Rigs drawn from the same schematic family — heavier, lighter, or with one part changed for a different fish or water.

All bottom rigs

Where to use it

Water this rig is documented for

Spots marked “species match” document a fish this rig is for and the way it is fished — a place to try it, not a report that it has been fished there.

All fishing spots