Winter flounder

[Blackfish Doug]

I hope that this year we see more winter flounder trips on this board. I don't care how much it costs for bait. I did many Fluking trips where I lost over $100 in bucktails & gulp & got nothing but shorts. My average is at least $20 in tackle loss for a fish that is not as good eating or fighting fish. This is why I no longer have any interest in fishing for fluke. I would say that 2 keeper flounder have more meat then 3 keeper fluke. Most of the time when your flounder fishing your culling your flounder just keeping your biggest fish. You spend less gas money to get to the fish not as much traveling time as well. If anybody is doing any open trips or if anybody is looking for somebody to fish with them & split costs I would be willing to do it if it fits my work schedule just pm me. I know the picture shown is from a offshore trip but I have caught flounder like this in the back bays as well.

[Scrubby]

Did you just say fluke are not good eating??

[Blackfish Doug]

Did you just say fluke are not good eating??

In comparison to winter flounder I think it's a much better eating fish hands down. If it wasn't for the raw fish & I don't eat raw fish I feel your eating the sauce not the fish. I would rather eat a flounder,sea bass,cod, blackfish,Ling,whiting,any tuna,Mahi,wahoo its on the bottom of my eating fish list sorry. I didn't say it was a bad eating fish my statement was comparison to winter flounder.

[Gerry Zagorski]

I'm with you Doug.... Flounder are much better eating then Fluke.

Too bad the regs are what they are...

Used to look forward to fishing for them in April when we launched the boat for the season. We'd fish for them until the Stripers showed up.

In spite of the regs people are still fishing for them but the fishing has been tough up in the Raritan Bay and rivers these past few seasons. Hopefully they make a decent showing this year.

[NJ Dave]

Caught a few flounder this year off shore while sea bassing. He'll of a fighting fish and tasty.
I agree with Doug, fluke fishing in NJ is a waste of time. I don't enjoy the fishing, the throw back to keeper ratio sucks, and the fight is just so so.
Bring on the show shoes.

[bigal427]

Have to agree flounder are better eating then fluke. But to say fluke fishing is a waste of time? It's probably one of the most popular fish to fish for in the summer. Down in Barnegat Bay you get a good early summer bite and do not have to run far and fish in shallow water and fluke seem to fight harder when hooked in shallow water. If they drop the size to 17" I could see a lot of limits coming out of the bay. Also winter flounder fishing has not been good in Barnegat Bay in the Waretown area for at least the last five years noting like it use to be. It's been hard to get your 2 fish limit

[tautog]

I have my offshore hooks tied up, number 6 virginias on 30lb leader.

[Blackfish Doug]

Have to agree flounder are better eating then fluke. But to say fluke fishing is a waste of time? It's probably one of the most popular fish to fish for in the summer. Down in Barnegat Bay you get a good early summer bite and do not have to run far and fish in shallow water and fluke seem to fight harder when hooked in shallow water. If they drop the size to 17" I could see a lot of limits coming out of the bay. Also winter flounder fishing has not been good in Barnegat Bay in the Waretown area for at least the last five years noting like it use to be. It's been hard to get your 2 fish limit

Why am I being misquoted so much nowhere did I post that is was a waste of time. The areas where I fish is mostly the rough stuff that's where the big boys live I understand it losing tackle & is all part of the game. I no longer want to spend close to $200 on a bad day & look at nothing but ice in my cooler. I know down by where you fish there is plenty of fluke & it can me a lot of fun even if you don't get a keeper. Matching the proper gear to the size of the fish is a great challenge. But I know quite a few fisherman who do fish in your area that do very good with the winter flounder in the bay's. The problem is that when it's good by you most of the fisherman are already into the fluke when that good bite is going on.

[bulletbob]

When I lived in Union Beach I lived for flounder fishing.. It was incredible fishing back then.. Fluke fishing was great too, but in my opinion, winter flounder are a lot more fun.. Better fight inch for inch, WAY better eating, no comparison, and for whatever reason, I just liked them better back then and still do to this day.. LOVE those massive snowshoes we see on the bottom fishing boats in spring and summer!.. I hope we have a big resurgence in population in the bays and rivers,,, but I have my doubts sad to say... bob

[Joey Dah Fish]

I did a few offshore trips with Mimi last season with Steve O. A lot of nice flounder were caught. And yes much much better eating than fluke.

[jmurr711]

Since everyone's misquoting dougie I will say it. FLUKE IS BLAND.I LOVE THEM GUMMY MOUTHED FLATTERS THOUGH

[dakota560]

Fluke is a more dry fillet than flounder. Flounder are very moist and have better flavor for whatever reason. Hear a lot of people make similar comments about fluke. Personally I think they're good eating but don't over cook them or cook them dry. Add some lemon juice and broil fillets with Italian bread crumbs or Panko and a little butter as opposed to deep frying, they're amazing. Or saute some onions with butter and a little evoo. After you're done with the onions, leave some of the juice in the pan and cook a few fluke fillets with just adobo and pepper to season or your favorite seasoning and add to the sauteed onions. Don't overcook the fillets, a minute or so each side is plenty. They're absolutely delicious this way.

[Joey Dah Fish]

Fluke is a more dry fillet than flounder. Flounder are very moist and have better flavor for whatever reason. Hear a lot of people make similar comments about fluke. Personally I think they're good eating but don't over cook them or cook them dry. Add some lemon juice and broil fillets with Italian bread crumbs or Panko and a little butter as opposed to deep frying, they're amazing. Or saute some onions with butter and a little evoo. After you're done with the onions, leave some of the juice in the pan and cook a few fluke fillets with just adobo and pepper to season or your favorite seasoning and add to the sauteed onions. Don't overcook the fillets, a minute or so each side is plenty. They're absolutely delicious this way.

My 2 cents. Cold water fish pretty much are better tasting as warm water fish

[NoLimit]

I stayed in just to try river flounder this year. Waiting for some sun and a break in the wind. We used to start in Feb if conditions were right

[Blackfish Doug]

Since everyone's misquoting dougie I will say it. FLUKE IS BLAND.I LOVE THEM GUMMY MOUTHED FLATTERS THOUGH

I love it Joe I know you probably would put those GUMMY MOUTHED BANANA COD ahead of them as well too bad the regulators took that away from you.

[coltsfan61]

Think the stock is getting better being we have the two fish limit for Luke 5 years I'm thinking?

[hammer4reel]

Think the stock is getting better being we have the two fish limit for Luke 5 years I'm thinking?

More like 9.


Fluke fishing has been way more reliable than winter flounder by far.

Doug If your losing a hundred bucks worth of bucktails a trip your boucing them in the wrong part of the ruff stuff.
Fluke are along the edges, not in the rubble.
We watch our ff every minute of the day, with that person calling out the rubble as best as we can, it has totally changed our loss rate

[Ryelof]

I did a few offshore trips with Mimi last season with Steve O. A lot of nice flounder were caught. And yes much much better eating than fluke.

Ditto had some great flounder trips on the Mimi this year.

[bigal427]

Isn't flounder closed now?

[Blackfish Doug]

More like 9.


Fluke fishing has been way more reliable than winter flounder by far.

Doug If your losing a hundred bucks worth of bucktails a trip your boucing them in the wrong part of the ruff stuff.
Fluke are along the edges, not in the rubble.
We watch our ff every minute of the day, with that person calling out the rubble as best as we can, it has totally changed our loss rate

I agree with you Dan I know exactly what your talking about but I rather catch that 50lber & release it with you then to catch short Fluke all day & release them. I used to like it but the more I did it the the less I liked it. In my opinion it's not worth the price of a charter anymore. I'm too used to fishing way out east where a common day is a average of 5lb plus fish plus a good mixture of Sea Bass & other things to go along with it. South winds too much cold water NE wind too rough finally you get that NW wind but it's wind against the tide & when it's finally right you get a good hour of fishing.I had too many trips even with some of the best Fluke fisherman here that this happened to me. I'm tired of that old saying that it's fishing not catching. That line when it comes to me is too worn out. last year I did not go on any headboat or charter boat targeting Fluke. I probably wont do it again this year again either. The best fluking I will probably do is on the back of the Paramount before it goes offshore.

[Blackfish Doug]

Isn't flounder closed now?

Yes but there are no flounder around right now anyway it opens 3/1 according to last years regulations. This years regulations has not been released as of yet. They are just trying to figure out to see how much they want to screw us this year. But everybody who knows anything about our regulations knows that already anyway.

[RussH]

I've done 1 flounder trip in the last 6 years. I think it was the first time I met the Shrimp Man and a couple others from here. Hardly anyone caught anything. I still have a couple dozen bright yellow 2-4oz sinkers in a box in my basement that I was considering stripping the paint off of. But if a Charter were to target them I might try it again. I miss flounder fishing. Used to go every year with my grandfather out of Sheepshead bay in the late 80's. Fun fish on light tackle.

[fishfishfish]

Me and my uncle nick go on the Mimi when captain Kenny targets winter flounder we always do well i belive winter flounder is the best eating wish the bag limit was 5 instead of 2 the old Norma k use to target the winter flounder long time ago

[bassnblues]

There's a sponsor charter in Quincy MA that does flounder trips.

[Skolmann]

There's a sponsor charter in Quincy MA that does flounder trips.

Capt. Colby's Little Sister Charters, fished with him many times over the past 12 or so years and have yet to have a bad trip. Unfortunately I was a little late in reaching out to him and all the dates I'm available are already booked.

[Jay]

I couldn't agree with you more Doug. Hands down much better tasting fish and a good fighting fish much better than Fluke.

[Topeka Boy]

Love fishing for Flounder and they taste so good. I love those offshore trips when you can limit on flounder and then fill your bucket with ling.:D

[bunker dunker]

right up the navisink,plenty of fish

[tautog]

Lots of sleepy fish in the rivers tight now but most are far smaller and much thinner than the summer fish in the deep.

[NoLimit]

There is no closed season for winter flounder (Oops - that is wrong but I thought when they opened it last March it was to be open year round)

[Jay]

There is no closed season for winter flounder

It's closed January and February. Open Season: March 1st - December 31st.

[mikeytheflop]

http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/pdf/2015/maregsum15.pdf

It's closed January and February. Open Season: March 1st - December 31st.

[stevelikes2fish]

Back rivers are loaded up right now with the little guys.

[capt richie]

Hey guys the winter flounder fishing in the bb in april has been insane for like the past 5 years on a sunny incoming tide its drop and reel i think i had 8 double headers last year and its a shame i think i only saw like 3 boats fishing all spring i guess people think there gone or the 2 fish limit holds them back but it is a ton of fun and no fuel burn!!

[capt richie]

i'm with you doug.... Flounder are much better eating then fluke.

Too bad the regs are what they are...

Used to look forward to fishing for them in april when we launched the boat for the season. We'd fish for them until the stripers showed up.

In spite of the regs people are still fishing for them but the fishing has been tough up in the raritan bay and rivers these past few seasons. Hopefully they make a decent showing this year.

like i said in my post the bb is loaded with them mantoloking bay head area march and april we had a few trips last year where it was awesome also i see you have a carolina classic this is my second year with my 35 and i love it

[snapperbluefish101]

like i said in my post the bb is loaded with them mantoloking bay head area march and april we had a few trips last year where it was awesome also i see you have a carolina classic this is my second year with my 35 and i love it

I agree, I fished back there this spring too and it was pretty good! I heard they did not return back there in massive numbers this past fall, as Shark River apparently held a good majority of the fish. You hear that too?

SNAPPER

[Gerry Zagorski]

like i said in my post the bb is loaded with them mantoloking bay head area march and april we had a few trips last year where it was awesome also i see you have a carolina classic this is my second year with my 35 and i love it
We love ours too.. They are tanks!!

[bigal427]

Did not do to good down by Waretown guess I have to head further north

[bulletbob]

Did not do to good down by Waretown guess I have to head further north

I lived many years in Forked River... I did my flounder fishing further north...Never could get much going in that part of the bay,,,

Seems like the influence of the canal/river in the northern part of the bay may have a positive influence on flounder numbers... bob

[Reel Class]

hey guys the winter flounder fishing in the bb in april has been insane for like the past 5 years on a sunny incoming tide its drop and reel i think i had 8 double headers last year and its a shame i think i only saw like 3 boats fishing all spring i guess people think there gone or the 2 fish limit holds them back but it is a ton of fun and no fuel burn!!

check your pm's asap

[Hunter 2]

The Keyport flats always produces nice flounder.

[kpfish]

Id be happy to take some guys for flounder. Bait and chum are expensive!
I try to load the boat so we can put together a good catch. Been getting them good the past few spring seasons.

[bulletbob]

The Keyport flats always produces nice flounder.

When I lived in Union Beach, thats where we fished.. Fishing was spectacular year after year.. Not sure what its like now, but I remember the fishing did not start early in that part of the bay.. It started off better in the Shark , Navesink, Shrewsbury,and Manasquan rivers, and then as that started to fade a bit the bay came on real strong in April into May.. Once the Blues showed up in May, flounder became scarce... We always thought it was because of the cold water coming down from the Hudson River.. Just a theory... bob

[capt richie]

id be happy to take some guys for flounder. Bait and chum are expensive!
I try to load the boat so we can put together a good catch. Been getting them good the past few spring seasons.

it sure has been good your one of the only boats i ever see fishing for them last year i had a 30 grady white in sure you saw us this year we got a new 35 carolina classic we will see if the marine police bust my balls for being in the chanel 6'' lol

[hammer4reel]

I agree with you Dan I know exactly what your talking about but I rather catch that 50lber & release it with you then to catch short Fluke all day & release them. I used to like it but the more I did it the the less I liked it. In my opinion it's not worth the price of a charter anymore. I'm too used to fishing way out east where a common day is a average of 5lb plus fish plus a good mixture of Sea Bass & other things to go along with it. South winds too much cold water NE wind too rough finally you get that NW wind but it's wind against the tide & when it's finally right you get a good hour of fishing.I had too many trips even with some of the best Fluke fisherman here that this happened to me. I'm tired of that old saying that it's fishing not catching. That line when it comes to me is too worn out. last year I did not go on any headboat or charter boat targeting Fluke. I probably wont do it again this year again either. The best fluking I will probably do is on the back of the Paramount before it goes offshore.

Doug I can honestly say the guys I fish with aren't having that problem.we are fishing big baits and limit out most trips.
Sometimes it takes a lot of moving around, but we are finding plenty of nice fluke.
And watching tourney weigh in I see many guys doing the same, and having very good catches weekly