How to Fish and Catch Flounder

This is me fishing in foggy Nova Scotia for flounder, more specifically blackback flounder, or more commonly known as the Winter flounder. Some anglers mistaken these flounder for the Summer flounder or fluke and sometimes for even for halibut.

Flounder are clasified as ground fish. There is a 10 fish bag limit per day per person.

I didn't use my outboard motor cause I only fish about 75-100 yrds from where I launch my boat and I if I don't have to put it in salt water I won't.

For some flounder fishing tips, I keep my rig simple, no need for fancy complicated rigging. I was only fishing in 10-15 ft of water right under the boat by my chum pot, so there was no need for swivels, or other fancy attractants.

Begin fishing about 2 and a half hrs into the flood tide as the fish move inshore on the flood...I have'nt ever had too much success on the ebb tide.

The bait I used was soft shell clams. I show myself digging clams and shucking clams...I use a very basic rig using only hook line and sinker in addition to the clams.

I was fishing in tidal waters, salt water, fishing on the ocean...Verticle Jigging live bait and the use of chum pots are my favorite way to catch flounder.

Winter flounder is sometimes called blackback, lemon sole and George's bank flounder. It occurs in inshore and offshore waters from Labrador southward. A muddy reddish-brown, it is sometimes spotted or mottled on its eyed side, and its underside is often tinged with yellow. Inshore fishermen harvest this species with handlines, weirs, and drag trawls; offshore, the fish are harvested with otter trawls. Harvest takes place year round with peak season between June and August.
Like all flounders, winter flounder has a distinctive flat body, with both eyes on the upper (right) side. The blind underside is white, while the upperside is pigmented to match the bottom along which they feed, giving protection from predators. Once cooked, the meat is pure white, lean, boneless and flaky with a mild flavour.
Winter flounder is sold fresh and frozen as whole fish, fillets and blocks as well as fully prepared in various value-added presentations.

Winter flounder's name derives from its tendency to move during the winter months to shallower inshore waters. It ranges from southern Labrador to the waters of South Carolina and Georgia and is most abundant from the gulf of St. Lawrence to the Chesapeake Bay. It is frequently called "blackback" when it is smaller than 3 pounds and a "lemon sole" when it is larger. Like all flat fish, the winter flounder has both eyes on one side of the head. A newly hatched flat fish larva has one eye in each side of its head but within months it adapts to a bottom dwelling lifestyle, by which time one eye has moved to the other side of the head. Unlike most other bottom dwelling fish that rest by lying on their bellies, a flat fish rests on its side. Having both eyes on one side of its head enables the flat fish to rest on the ocean's floor while directing both eyes upward. The winter flounder is referred to as a right handed flounder because the eyes are located on its upper surface when the fish is pointing to the right. A 12" winter flounder is about 2 to 3 years old, a 20" winter flounder is about 9 to 10 years old. Female winter flounder grow faster than males and attain larger maximum sizes to about 8 pounds with a length of 25 inches and may live up to 15 years.