Summer Flounder: season, lures and limits

Showing the fish for Cape Cod and the Islands, MA.

Fishing region

Season in Cape Cod

Peak months: Jun.

JFMAMJJASOND

MA DMF: live inshore in Massachusetts in the warmer part of the year and move offshore with the approach of fall; fisheries occur from Cape Cod south. OTW May 2025: the peak season for big fluke is usually June (Nantucket Shoals). (Our inference)

Season by region

Myrtle Beach	JFMAMJJASOND
Long Island	JFMAMJJASOND
Cape Cod	JFMAMJJASOND
Rhode Island	JFMAMJJASOND
Connecticut	JFMAMJJASOND
North Jersey	JFMAMJJASOND
South Jersey	JFMAMJJASOND
Delmarva	JFMAMJJASOND
Virginia Beach	JFMAMJJASOND
Outer Banks	JFMAMJJASOND
Southern NC	JFMAMJJASOND
Charleston	JFMAMJJASOND

Where to find them

Sandy and muddy bottoms of bays and harbors in summer for small and medium fish, larger fish deeper (MA DMF); Nantucket Shoals for big fluke in June (OTW).

On the bottom along jetty walls, inlet edges and trough edges.

What to look for

Five large eyespots on the back half of the body tell it from southern flounder (no distinct spots) and Gulf flounder (three spots).

What to throw

Bucktail or jighead with a 4 to 5 in paddle tail1/2 to 1 oz, 4 to 5 in tail. Slow hops along the bottom: lift, drop, let it touch, repeat.

Jighead with a scented soft-plastic shrimp or mullet (Gulp style)1/4 to 1/2 oz, 3 to 4 in. Slow drag and hop on the bottom with pauses; scent does the work.

Sand eel teaser (dropper ahead of a plug)Weightless; the plug behind it gives casting weight oz, Small sand eel or spearing imitation: fly, Red Gill or soft plastic. Fished with the plug; slow.

Bait

Live mud minnows (spring), Live finger mullet (as water warms). Carolina rig: 3/4 to 1 1/2 oz egg sinker, about 12 in leader, No. 2 to 1/0 hook; let the current move it.

Leader

About 12 in of leader on a Carolina rig.

Common mistakes

Setting the hook too fast on live bait
Reeling the bait along instead of letting the current move it

Landing

Net it; do not lift a flounder by the line.

Handling

Sharp teeth

Use pliers to unhook.

Keep or release

MA DMF: white, flaky meat. Season and limits are in the regulations file.

Recipes for summer flounder

Typical: unknown. Large: Females to about 20 lb (MA DMF).

Limits

FishOS has not checked the MA limits yet. Check the size, bag and season rules with the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries before you keep a fish.

Sources

MA DMF: Learn about fluke (Official source)
On The Water: What's Biting in May on Cape Cod? (Peros, Fee, 2025) (Angler knowledge)
NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-NE-151: summer flounder essential fish habitat (Official source)
SCDNR species profile: summer flounder (Official source)

All the fish of Cape Cod

Summer Flounder