Alabama guide Richard Rutland has been at the forefront of capturing flounder for use in the state's flounder tagging and stocking programs. (Richard Rutland)

By Frank Sargeant
Frankmako1@gmail.com

It used to be a “thing” to head to the coast of Northwest Florida or South Alabama during the annual flounder run and load up on these tasty flatfish.

It was pretty much an automatic deal, as the flounder came pouring out the passes from about mid-October to late November, to set up out at the buoys, drop killifish or “bull minnows” down to bottom, and reel in all the flounder the law allowed—and in some cases more. They were thick and there seemed no end to it.

But of course there was.

Flounder numbers plummeted as more and more anglers discovered this easy fishery via internet videos and the marina grapevine.

Both states saw a slump in flounder numbers starting about 10 years ago, with both flounder numbers and sizes declining rapidly.

The area has two flounder species. Southern flounder grow up to 3’ long and reach 20 pounds and prefer somewhat silty bottom. Gulf flounder, which average a couple of pounds and are identified by three oscellated spots on their up-side, prefer sand bottom and clearer water usually—they’re more common on the Florida side of the Flora/Bama line.

Flounder can be caught on a variety of jigs and live baits in nearshore waters much of the year. (Ray Markham)

Both species spawn in nearshore waters around structure off the beaches October into early December as water temperatures drop below about 73 degrees F. Biologists tell us the newly hatched juveniles migrate into estuarine nursery areas from January through April, and there they stay until they reach sexual maturity, when they join the fall migration out the passes.

With the bottleneck at the passes, most adult spawners were being caught, and flounder numbers dropped. 

Anglers complained and fishery departments listened.

Alabama closed the month of November beginning in 2019, cut the bag limit in half from 10 to 5 and increased the size limit from 12 to 14 inches. 

Florida followed suit in 2021, with no harvest from Oct. 15 until Nov. 30. They also increased the minimum size from 12 to 14 inches and reduced the bag limit from 10 to five.

The effort already appears to bearing fishy fruit.

Southern flounder are often much larger than Gulf flounder, but both are great on the table. (Z-Man Lures)

Dr. Sean Powers, Director of the Stokes School of Marine and Environmental Sciences at the University of South Alabama says the last four years of flounder catches at the Alabama Deep Sea Rodeo are an indication that flounder in the area are on the rebound.

“I’m particularly excited about flounder at this year’s rodeo,” Powers said. “Five years ago was the low point. We had 24 flounder total weighed in at that rodeo. Now we’re approaching 100 fish weighed in again.”

Alabama also has a stocking program underway. In conjunction with CCA Alabama, more than 250,000 flounder fingerlings spawned at the Claude Peteet hatchery have been released into Alabama coastal waters since the program began in 2020.

Things appear to be on an upswing already in Florida, as well, with more anglers reporting more flounder catches along the Gulf Coast, where the Gulf flounder is the dominant species.

There’s concern that the continued warming of the Gulf of Mexico may negatively impact flounder (and other species) in the future, but for now the fish seem to be on the comeback trail thanks to improved management. You can no longer load the cooler in November, but that hopefully means much better fishing the rest of the year for these tasty flatfish.