# winter flounder



## spearfisher59

have not been lately.been seeing flatties caught on rod &reel.so some must still be around. anybody been over that way


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## sealark

Nope horrible in pensacola area, been getting bad here for years. Many more giggers, small charter boats and divers. They should shut Flounder down November and December for a couple years. That would give the spawning Flounder a chance to multiply.


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## flounder1156

sealark said:


> Nope horrible in pensacola area, been getting bad here for years. Many more giggers, small charter boats and divers. They should shut Flounder down November and December for a couple years. That would give the spawning Flounder a chance to multiply.


I concur Sealark. The summer flounder my sons and I use to target on the lower Escambia River ,upper bay during the summer and fall are no longer to be found. 
With the increase in floundering boats set up with trolling motors, quality lights ,generators, allowing for giggers to cover more water ,an the harvest of roe laden females in November/ December has taken a toll on the summer flounder population . Like you I say close it for a 2 month period, increase the minimum size to 14" and a 6 fish daily bag limit.


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## sealark

Size limit doesn't need to be raised. Just simply shut it down for the two months.


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## Walton County

sealark said:


> Size limit doesn't need to be raised. Just simply shut it down for the two months.


A 12" flounder aint worth eating and sure aint worth cleaning. I say move it to 16".


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## sealark

Walton County said:


> A 12" flounder aint worth eating and sure aint worth cleaning. I say move it to 16".


You don't know what you are talking about. Cut the head off, scale and gut a 10 in. Flounder and deep fry. Hard to beat. 
I had a restaurant over off 98 before the lilian bridge all she wanted was the small flounder. That was back in the 70s. Before the decline. Gill nets were another problem years ago with flounder.


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## Walton County

sealark said:


> You don't know what you are talking about. Cut the head off, scale and gut a 10 in. Flounder and deep fry. Hard to beat.
> I had a restaurant over off 98 before the lilian bridge all she wanted was the small flounder. That was back in the 70s. Before the decline. Gill nets were another problem years ago with flounder.


Dont get me wrong, I like flounder. But if we are eating 10-12" flounder, I am gonna need a limit just for me.


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## dsar592

I agree. I've lived on the eastern shore of mobile bay since 72. I used to fill the freezer every year with flounder, shrimp and crabs by going to 1-2 jubilees. This year I did get into the shrimp. But the floundering just sucks.


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## jack2

sealark said:


> You don't know what you are talking about. Cut the head off, scale and gut a 10 in. Flounder and deep fry. Hard to beat.
> I had a restaurant over off 98 before the lilian bridge all she wanted was the small flounder. That was back in the 70s. Before the decline. Gill nets were another problem years ago with flounder.


i remember that place. pretty good food back then. i didn't know it shut down.
name was "fish basket" or something like that.
edit: filling station?

jack


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## sealark

jack2 said:


> i remember that place. pretty good food back then. i didn't know it shut down.
> name was "fish basket" or something like that.
> edit: filling station?
> 
> jack


Yes run by 2 old ladys always had 3 or 4 old men eating those in those days 11 inch size Flounder. Those were the good old days. No money plenty of time no regulations. A hell of a day to walk away from that back door with 10 or 11 bucks in hand.


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## OHenry

I thought it was just me. I've been trying for three years with dismal results. Maybe 10 fish per year; wading and boat.


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## jack2

sealark said:


> Yes run by 2 old ladys always had 3 or 4 old men eating those in those days 11 inch size Flounder. Those were the good old days. No money plenty of time no regulations. A hell of a day to walk away from that back door with 10 or 11 bucks in hand.



i know whatcha mean, ron. good ole days.

jack


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## flounder1156

Sealark 
Increasing the size limit from 12" to 14" will allow the juvenile female Southern flounder to mature an contribute to the spawn which would have an impact on the number of juvenile flounder recruiting into the fishery. In other words protect the young flounder til they can spawn after their first year. 
Southern Flounder males and females grow rapidly ...male's achieve 3/4 -1 lb in a year,females about the same . Yet the female has not reached spawning maturity . it is the second year that nearly 100% of the year class have .


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## Play'N Hooky Too

I'm ok with all the above...:thumbsup:

shut it down in the winter (too cold to wade that time of year anyway)
increase the size limit to 14" (I don't stick any that are smaller than that unless I'm desperate)
Decrease the possession limit to 6 (If I get 6 in a night I consider that a real good night, especially here lately.)


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## CurDog

Put All the Shrimp and Net Boats out in the Gulf, Prohibiting them fishing any intracoastal waterway, bay, river, etc. 
Then they will all grow up, plus the shrimp, specs, croakers, mullet, drum, etc. 

It's not going to happen, but it'd be nice if it did.


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## sealark

Take the shrimp off the list. Shrimp only live one year. The season is closed until after last years shrimp have reached a legal size and spawned. Then the shrimpers can catch them. There is always legal good size shrimp to be caught. FWC trawls and regulates opening day by size of shrimp.


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## DMC

CurDog said:


> Put All the Shrimp and Net Boats out in the Gulf, Prohibiting them fishing any intracoastal waterway, bay, river, etc.
> Then they will all grow up, plus the shrimp, specs, croakers, mullet, drum, etc.
> 
> It's not going to happen, but it'd be nice if it did.


Your right. They want close shrimping in late fall early winter. Shrimp I wouldn't worry about but it would save a lot of others you mention . 
There are tons of baby flounder killed in nets along with others. I also think the size limit should be raised.


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## CurDog

sealark said:


> Take the shrimp off the list. Shrimp only live one year. The season is closed until after last years shrimp have reached a legal size and spawned. Then the shrimpers can catch them. There is always legal good size shrimp to be caught. FWC trawls and regulates opening day by size of shrimp.


I'm sure, but I was referring to the tons of Bypass juvenile fish killed while shrimping. 
Thing is, my cousin used to shrimp from his 16' trihull boat years ago. Nothing spectacular, but I can't recall him having very much bypass if any at all. And he caught more shrimp than he could use at times, and sold the rest. Of course he didn't drag the bottom either, unlike commercial shrimp boats which amass tons of bypass juvenile fish which don't make it when finally tossed back over.


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## FLfishcatcher

*juvenille flounder*

i may be mistaken but i think new born flounder are born swimming vertical and then the mature and swim horizontal.
i remember seeing one near a piling as a youth that was vertically swimming with one eye on each side of its body.
Here's a interesting article clip retrieved from: http://gcrl.usm.edu/public/fish/flounder.php


They swim upright with a side-to-side motion of the tail. As the larva mature they are transported by currents and tides into the shallow water of bays and estuaries.

Metamorphosis and Eye Migration
The stages of the southern flounder from early larva through settlement as a juvenile.
Near the end of their larval period, 30 to 60 days after hatching and at a length of 1/3 to 1/2 inch, the larval flounder settle to the bottom and begin a strange and complex metamorphosis. The skeletal system, muscles, and nerves of the head gradually rearrange themselves and the right eye moves to the left side of the head. The body also adapts to allow the fish to lie on the bottom and swim with its left side up using an up-and-down motion.


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## DMC

Yes sir you are right. At that point they want be caught in net because of size. When they reach the size of 2 in or better they will be caught in the net. Most pull the net at least an hour or longer. At this point they are killed. Most nets are at least an 1 1'4 in on the mesh size.
It's tuff for the baby flounder to escape . It's one of the things I hated about shrimping because of the by catch that is killed. It is what it is.


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## kingfish501

5hose nets have both turtle shooters in them and fish shooters in them. The Ted's let most of the bycatch out.


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## sealark

The good old days, dug this out of scrap book. One dive stage 2.


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## flounder1156

Ahhhhhh ,the good old days.....I have pics and memories of flounder massacres from Escambia Bay, old Pensacola Beach Bridge ,Ft.Pickens......
Another species over-fished ...... we killed them all.


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## kingfish501

The reason for the small fish...profit margin. Dinner would cost the same, but smaller fish =less pounds to pay for.


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