Patrick,

First off your flounder should be just like halibut. I was at the Jersey Shore a couple weeks ago and did some research. The "standard" ways that they say how to fish for flounder with bait was very similar to the "standard" ways they say how to fish for halibut with bait out here.

As far as techniques and stuff check out these two articles:
http://www.swimbait.com/halibut
http://www.swimbait.com/surfhalibut

I did fish the 3 inch Hammers briefly from the beach but it was on a wide open flat sandy spot that a zillion people occupy during the day. I caught a few small bluefish that tore up the hammers pretty good. I'm sure if I knew where to go I could've done better. I went to a couple of local shops and they had lots of cheap injection molded swimbaits (the kind that don't swim very well) so I know Hammers would work if they were in the hands of someone who knew what they were doing out there.

If you do get some three inch Hammers you should try fishing them on an un-skirted buzzbait. I had some un-believable days fishing smallmouth in Delaware using one of these. At this point I don't think I will ever use a skirted buzzbait again. Check this out: http://www.swimbait.com/techniques/buzzhammer.htm

The hitch-hiker is not completely necessary but it does help keep the bait on pretty good. A dab of crazy glue or crazy glue gel would probably work pretty good too.

Good luck!

Pete