The watch for flounder anglers in Florida is nearly over, beginning this Thursday, December 1st you’ll be able to legally harvest Florida flounder as soon as once more. Hopefully, the flounder don’t take a play out of the purple snapper handbook and disappear as quickly because the season begins.
Again on October fifteenth the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Fee (FWC) closed the leisure harvest of Florida flounder species in state and federal waters in each the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. This was achieved to assist defend the flounder through the spawning season once they collect in bigger teams to organize to spawn. This annual flounder season closure and different fisheries administration measures on the Florida flounder have been authorised again in December 2020 through the FWC December Fee assembly. This was introduced on by information the Fee had obtained from flounder inventory sampling that confirmed a declining development within the inhabitants ranges of flounder within the waters round Florida.
So ranging from December 1st the season is open once more for all species of flounder in all of the authorized methods you’ll be able to catch flounder. Be it gigging, seine nets, forged nets, or hook and line. This is applicable to each state waters and federal waters in each the Gulf and Atlantic.
To make clear the time period Florida Flounder covers three totally different species of flounder, the gulf flounder (Paralichthys albigutta), southern flounder (P. lethostigma), and summer season flounder (P. dentatis). The rules simply lump all three species collectively into one regulation so you’ll be able to have as much as a 5 fish combination of the three flounder species. The scale restrict for all three species additionally doesn’t change and must be 14″ complete size.
Be taught extra about flounder rules at MyFWC.com/Marine by clicking “Leisure Rules” and “Flounder” or obtain the Fish Guidelines App at Instagram.com/FishRulesApp or Fb.com/FishRulesApp.
