Inshore, bays and inlets

Flounder

Paralichthys spp.

Flat, camouflaged and lying on the sand edge of the channel you just paddled through.

What they like

  • 0.8–5 musual depth (they tolerate 0.3–25 m)
  • 14–27 °Cwater temperature they feed in
  • clear or coloured waterwater clarity
  • sloping edges, channels, drop-offsbottom they hunt, in order
  • the outgoing (falling) tidetide
  • daylightlight

Sandy drop-offs beside channels and inlet mouths on the falling tide; the autumn run to the ocean is the best fishing.

Season by region

Peak months, shaded. Outside them the species may still be around, just less reliably.

Florida and the Gulf
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Georgia to the Chesapeake
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
New England
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Bait and technique

Methods: spinning / casting, bait.

Bait and lures: Live mud minnows or finger mullet on a jig head, Gulp shrimp, bucktails dragged slowly.

Technique: Drag a jig slowly along the bottom where sand meets a channel edge, pause when you feel the thump, count to three.

Rules

Florida: Florida: 14 in minimum, 5 per day, closed Oct 15 - Nov 30. Verify with FWC.

North Carolina: North Carolina has had very short seasons; check NCDMF before you go.

Seasons, sizes and bag limits change every year and differ by zone. Check the current regulations before you keep anything.

Depth maps where flounder live

Preferences are expert estimates from the fisheries literature and angling practice, not measurements at your spot. The likelihoods on the maps are a planning aid, not a catch prediction.