Species › North America · Saltwater › Southern Flounder
Saltwater
Southern Flounder
Paralichthys lethostigma · flounder, mud flounder, doormat
Photo: SEFSC Pascagoula Laboratory; Collection of Brandi Noble, NOAA/NMFS/SEFSC · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons
Overview
Southern flounder are left-eyed flatfish with a brown, mottled upper side that changes shade to match the bottom, a white underside and a mouth full of sharp teeth. Unlike the related gulf and summer flounders, they have no distinct ocellated spots. They range from North Carolina to northern Florida on the Atlantic and from the western Florida panhandle through Texas and into Mexico on the Gulf, with the biggest fish historically from Texas, Louisiana and the Carolinas. Most keepers run 14–18 in and 1–3 lb; a 5 lb fish is a prize and a 10 lb doormat is a career fish.
Flounder lie half-buried on sand and mud near current breaks, channel edges, marsh drains, pilings and jetty rocks, exploding upward to grab finger mullet, menhaden, shrimp and mud minnows. Females grow far larger than males and live in estuaries through the warm months before migrating to the Gulf or ocean to spawn in late fall, which creates the famous October–December flounder run through passes and inlets. Stocks have declined in several states, prompting seasonal closures and tighter limits, so check the rules every year. Anglers love them for the subtle bite, the giggers love them at night, and everyone loves the thin, sweet white fillets.
Where & when
Flounder move into bays in spring and feed through summer, but the peak is the fall migration from late September through November when fish funnel through passes and inlets toward the Gulf or ocean; Texas and the Carolinas close or restrict harvest during part of that run.
How to catch
Gear
Lures
Baits
Regulations
Southern flounder are closely managed with minimum sizes, daily limits and seasonal closures that have tightened recently in Texas, Louisiana, North Carolina and other states, and gigging often has separate rules; a saltwater license is required and limits change yearly.
Records
IGFA all-tackle world record: 20 lb 9 oz (9.33 kg) — Nassau Sound, Florida, December 23, 1983 (Larenza Mungin). State and regional records are kept by each fish & wildlife agency.
Frequently asked
When should you set the hook on a flounder?
Wait. A flounder grabs the bait crosswise in its teeth and holds it before turning it to swallow, so set immediately and you pull it free. On lures, drop the rod tip, count to three and set; on live bait, give the fish five to ten seconds of slack or let the rod load fully before reeling into it.
Where do flounder go in winter?
Most adult southern flounder leave the bays in late fall to spawn in the Gulf or ocean, usually in 50–200 ft of water, and return in late winter and spring. A few fish stay in deep channels and around warm-water outflows all winter, which is where winter catches come from.
Bite forecast — Southern Flounder
Recent catches
Posted by anglers on the live map, filtered to Southern Flounder.