Summer Flounder (Fluke)

Summer flounder are left-eyed flatfish: when laid with the belly down, the eyes and mouth are on the left side. They have a large mouth with well-developed teeth (unlike the small-mouthed winter flounder), a brown to olive upper side that changes color to match the bottom, and 10 to 14 eye-like dark spots scattered across the body, five of which form a distinct pattern near the tail. Doormats over 8 lb are nearly all females and can exceed 30 inches.

Fluke range from Nova Scotia to Florida but are abundant from Massachusetts to North Carolina, with the heart of the fishery from Rhode Island and Long Island through New Jersey, Delaware and Virginia. They winter offshore on the continental shelf in 150 to 500 feet, migrate inshore in April and May as water warms past about 55 F (13 C), spend summer in bays, inlets, channels and along beaches and nearshore structure, and move back offshore in October and November. Their preferred range is 56 to 70 F (13 to 21 C).

Unlike most flatfish, fluke are active predators that lie buried in sand and rush up to grab squid, sand eels, spearing, crabs, shrimp and small fish, and they will chase a bait several feet off the bottom. They feed throughout the day and are most active on moving tides, especially the outgoing tide that pulls bait out of bays and through inlets. Bigger fish favor structure: the edges of channels, the lee of wrecks and reefs, sod banks and hard-bottom lumps offshore.

Fluke are the summer bread-and-butter of Mid-Atlantic party and charter boats, back-bay skiffs and surf anglers, and a 10 lb doormat is a highly prized catch. The fishery is tightly managed with a minimum size that has risen over the years, so most fish caught are released, and anglers increasingly use big baits and heavier jigs to target the larger keepers on offshore structure.