A two-week recreational fishing season will open next month for Gulf flounder in ocean waters off the central and southeastern North Carolina coast.
The North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries announced Monday that it is opening the season March 9-22 in ocean waters between the north end of Portsmouth Island (south of Ocracoke Inlet) to the South Carolina line.
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Gulf flounder may only be fished by hook and line during the season. There is a bag limit of one fish per person per day, and a size limit of no less than 15 inches in length.
Other specific information is available in the division’s proclamation.
State fisheries officials included in an amendment to the Southern Flounder Fishery Management Plan an opportunity for recreational fishers to harvest summer and Gulf flounder during a time when they are less likely to catch southern flounder.
North Carolina has historically managed southern, summer and Gulf flounder as one in the recreational fishery.
Strict regulations limiting recreational southern flounder catch remain in place because, according to the latest stock assessment, this species of flounder is overfished and overfishing is occurring, according to a fisheries release.
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North Carolina’s recreational 2026 and 2027 season for summer flounder, which is jointly managed by the federal Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management County and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, must align with the fall flounder season.
While summer flounder range in distribution from Massachusetts to Florida, the species is most abundant from southern New England to Hatteras Island.
Gulf flounder range from North Carolina through the Gulf and are more abundant the further south you go, which is why the division chose the area it did for recreational Gulf flounder harvest, limiting the probability of summer flounder catch.
Physical characteristics that distinguish the three species of flounder are available on the division’s flounder identification webpage.
Under a new state harvest reporting requirement law, anglers must report their harvest of flounder, striped bass, spotted seatrout, weakfish (gray trout), and red drum to the division.
