Ideas for Making Your Flounder Gig Pole

The best flounder gig pole isn't only good for flounder gigging, it works well for all types of fish gigging. We carefully considered this when making the decision to start selling our own flounder gig poles. With a durable flounder gig setup, the fish size doesn't necessarily matter, and whether you're gigging from a boat or walking shouldn't matter, either. Quality flounder gigs are going to hold up regardless of what they're put through. Even if you put them on a homemade flounder gig pole. If you want to skip to the photos of flounder gig pole setups, scroll down to the bottom.

The photo above is a Mini Swamp Eye Submersible Flounder Gigging Light mounted to a 6 FT Flounder Gig Pole wrapped with a Heatshrink Ruler for Flounder Gig Pole, and a 3 Prong Flounder Gig on the end. This flounder gig setup takes minutes to put together, and it’s a lightweight, bright, bulletproof setup that will last for a very long time. If you want a durable setup that lasts, this is one of your best options. 

The one discrepancy to this statement is the pole you use to go gigging. The best flounder gig pole length is 6 ft for wading or 12 ft for gigging from a boat. 

Types of Flounder Gig Poles

We've seen a lot of different flounder gig poles. Stainless steel, galvanized pipe, aluminum, bamboo, wood dowels, broomsticks, PVC conduit, and many more. Despite how crazy some of these materials sound, they all have their advantages and disadvantages when used as gigging supplies.

Heavy Duty, Heavy Weight

• Stainless steel
• Galvanized pipe

Heavy Duty, Light Weight

• Aluminum

Light Duty, Light Weight

• Wood Dowels
• Broomsticks
• PVC Conduit
• Bamboo Pole

Stainless steel and galvanized pipe are both strong and work well if it's all you have, but they're heavy and most people would rather a lighter weight alternative for their gigging supplies. Wood dowels, broomsticks, and PVC conduit are all good options if you're looking to throw something together and want to make the most out of what you've got in the garage.

There's nothing wrong with a true homemade flounder gig pole, but using better-quality materials is going to help you create the best flounder gig. As you can imagine, the materials in your garage probably aren’t the strongest or most durable options for your flounder gig. None of these garage find materials are very strong but they are lightweight and will probably last a trip or two before you're ready for an upgrade.

The two most popular materials for flounder gig poles are aluminum pipe or bamboo sticks. These are both lightweight options and they both have enough rigidity to hold up to sticking a fish. If you're poling the flats, aluminum is going to be a little stronger. If you go to stop your boat on an instant, an aluminum pole might bend a little but a bamboo pole will snap. Aluminum is more forgiving than bamboo, which is the primary reason we typically recommend aluminum flounder gig poles over bamboo. 

The Best Flounder Gig Pole

We've consulted with several flounder gigging and fish gigging guides, and when aluminum is compared to bamboo for gigging poles, the most common feedback we've received is that aluminum holds up better for the long haul. So what’s the best flounder gig pole? There are a few types for you to consider, and each one has its own benefits and detriments. 

Bamboo Flounder Gig Pole

A bamboo flounder gig pole has a lot of flex and is lightweight, but if you try to stop a boat with a bamboo pole, you're likely going to break it. So it’s not the best flounder gig in terms of strength, but it is very flexible.

When using bamboo poles for fish gigging:

• be conscious to not put the pole down infront of a moving boat and try to stop the boat in an instant.
• It's better to run the fish over, then come back and try to find where the flounder was laying.
• Some of the guides we've spoken with say they'll stab a gig into the ground a couple feet away from where the flounder was laying so that they relatively mark the spot where the flounder was located.
• If you are wading and gigging, then a bamboo flounder gig pole works well.
• Ideal lengths for wading are 4-6 ft and when gigging from a boat 8-10 ft. 

Aluminum Flounder Gig Pole

An aluminum flounder gig pole is lightweight, has enough rigidity to stop a flounder boat on an instant when trolling along, and is a readily available gigging supply that comes with free shipping from Outrigger Outdoors.

• Aluminum is a far more popular gigging pole than bamboo is, primarily due to its increased durability to hold up to everything that gigging from a boat throws at it.
• Aluminum is among the most lightweight options available. 
• Aluminum pipe can bend when trying to stop a boat moving quickly, it is going to last far longer and hold up better than a bamboo gig pole would.

If you're a weekend flounder gigger, then either a bamboo or an aluminum flounder gig pole will work for you. There are also plenty of flounder gigs out there that will fit both options. Our flounder gigs will mount to either pole, but the vast majority of our customers prefer aluminum flounder gig poles. 

Making your own flounder gig pole is pretty easy when you start with a solid foundation. Our flounder gig heads are made with a pipe insert and come with a 316 stainless steel bolt. They are designed for 3/4-inch NPS pipe (3/4-inch NPS, nominal pipe size, means actual OD of pipe is approximately 1.05").

Make Measuring Fish & Water Depth Easier

One of the newest innovations is a heatshrink wrap that fits flounder gig poles with a 1-inch outside diameter by Outrigger Outdoors. This heatshrink ruler for flounder gig poles is a quick and easy way to turn your flounder gig pole into a multi-use measuring stick. 

We use ours for measuring water depth as well as measuring fish. We've even laid a flounder gig pole down next to a flounder to measure him, and he never moved believe it or not.

Here are the 4 steps to make a flounder gig pole with the Outrigger Outdoors flounder gig:

1.) Remove the stainless steel bolt from the flounder gig head

2.) Slide the gig head over the 3/4-inch NPS pole

3.) Drill a 1/4-inch hole through the bolt hole on the gig while it's mounted to the pole

4.) Slide the stainless steel bolt through the gig head and pipe.

OR

Purchase a make-ready Flounder Gig Pole Setup. 

In a matter of seconds, you’ll have the best flounder gig in your hands so that you're ready to hit the water and go gigging.

Converting your flounder gig pole for wading and gigging

The easiest method to convert your flounder gig pole into a wading and gigging setup is to use a 1/4-inch bolt or U-bolt to attach your flounder gigging light to. If wading and gigging, we recommend using the Mini Swamp Eye Submersible or Swamp Eye Submersible Flounder Gigging Lights. The mounting brackets they come with are made to fit 1/4-inch bolts and U-bolts, which makes it easy to attach them to any flounder gig pole. 

Next, we recommend utilizing a 7 mAh "deer feeder" battery to power your wading and gigging setup. It is easiest to attach F1-type heat shrink connectors to the power leads on your flounder gigging lights, which are made to fit the battery terminals on the small 12V DC deer feeder batteries. If you include a note on your order of flounder lights asking for them, Outrigger Outdoors will happily include these heat shrink connectors free of charge.

Once you're setup with your new flounder gigging supplies, you're ready to go wading and gigging!

Flounder Gig Pole Setups

Here are some photos of flounder gig poles our customers have put together.