Summer Flounder

Season in Connecticut

Peak months: Aug.

OTW May 2025: CT season opens May 4. CT DEEP reports (2011, 2012): named fluke spots from Fishers Island to the Housatonic mouth; deep water (90 ft plus) is the rule in the August dog days. OTW July 2025 (eastern CT): best luck in August, sometimes shallow (20 ft or less). (Our inference)

Season by region

Where to find them

Fishers Island (Isabella Beach, Wilderness Point), the Stonington breakwater, Groton Long Point, Bluff Point, the Thames channel, Two Tree Island channel, Niantic Bay and Black Point, south of Long Sand Shoal, Falkner Island, outer New Haven Harbor and the Housatonic mouth; deep water in August (CT DEEP).

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

Many throwbacks; the size limit can change mid-season (OTW July 2025), so check the regulations file.

Recipes for summer flounder

Typical: About 15 in, 1.5 lb. Large: unknown. SC record 3 lb 8 oz (1982, as SCDNR lists it).

Limits

FishOS has not checked the CT limits yet. Check the size, bag and season rules with the Connecticut DEEP Marine Fisheries before you keep a fish.

Sources

• On The Water: What's Biting in May in Connecticut? (Elser, Rayner, 2025) (Angler knowledge)
• CT DEEP marine fishing report, July 30 2011 (reposted on Patch) (Official source)
• CT DEEP Long Island Sound marine fishing report, Aug 2 2012 (reposted on Patch) (Official source)
• On The Water: What's Biting in July in Connecticut? (Elser, Rayner, 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 Connecticut