Summer Flounder: season, lures and limits

Showing the fish for Outer Banks, NC.

Fishing region

Season in Outer Banks

JFMAMJJASOND

NCDMF: summer flounder most abundant from Delaware to Cape Lookout, inshore spring and summer, offshore in winter. Hatteras Inlet and beaches give flounder in August (Island Free Press); flounder are part of the fall surf mix (Surf or Sound). (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

Hatteras and Oregon inlets, the surf sloughs in fall, the Bonner Bridge area.

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

Good eating. NC has a short, changing flounder season; check NCDMF.

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 NC limits yet. Check the size, bag and season rules with the NC Division of Marine Fisheries before you keep a fish.

Sources

NC Division of Marine Fisheries: flounder (Gulf, southern, summer) (Official source)
Island Free Press: Outer Banks Angling, fishing report for Aug 19 to 24 (Rob Alderman, 2010) (Angler knowledge)
Surf or Sound Realty: Hatteras Island surf fishing seasons (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 Outer Banks

Summer Flounder