Saltwater
Winter Flounder
Where to find them, how to catch them and the tackle to use.
01Introduction
The winter flounder, or blackback, is a thick, dark, right-eyed flatfish with a small mouth. It moves into shallow bays and estuaries in the cold months to spawn, when most other coastal fish have left, so it's often the first saltwater fish of the year. Inshore fish are usually 8 to 16 inches; offshore fish can reach 2 feet and 6 pounds. The white, flaky fillets are excellent.
02Where to Catch
Range: the Atlantic coast from Labrador to Georgia.
Habitat: muddy and sandy bottoms in bays, estuaries, harbors, tidal rivers and channels. Winter flounder lie half-buried with the dark side up, and their color changes to match the bottom. In late winter and spring, fish the deeper sloughs, channel edges and flats of the bays; in summer many move to deeper water or offshore.
03How to Catch
Timing
Late winter through spring is prime in the bays, with another chance in late fall. Pick bright, calm days that warm the shallows; the bite often improves as the water reaches the mid-40s°F. Fish slower current, such as the hours around the high-tide change.
Chum and anchor
Anchor on a channel edge or flat and drop a chum pot filled with ground clam and mussel to the bottom so the scent drifts past your baits. Stirring up the bottom (bouncing a sinker, or pumping it with a plunger in shallow water) also draws fish.
Baits and rigging
Winter flounder have tiny mouths, so use small, long-shanked hooks (such as a Chestertown style) on short snells, two to a rig. Bait with short pieces of bloodworm or sandworm, clam bits or clam siphons, or mussel. Bounce a flat or yellow-painted sinker to stir up the bottom, and add a small yellow grub or bead above the hook; flounder look up and lunge at movement.
04Tackle
A light to medium spinning rod with a fast tip lets you feel soft bites. Use light monofilament or braid, three-way swivels or a two-hook rig, snelled small hooks, sinkers and a chum pot. Winter flounder seasons and limits vary by state, so check your state's current rules.
05Questions anglers ask
How is a winter flounder different from a fluke (summer flounder)?
Winter flounder (blackbacks) have their eyes on the right side and a small mouth, and they eat worms and small shellfish. Fluke have a much larger, toothy mouth and chase moving baitfish, so winter flounder need small hooks and small baits.
Why is it called winter flounder?
It moves from deeper or offshore water into shallow bays and estuaries in winter and spawns there from late winter into spring, when most other coastal fish have left.
What's a chum pot for?
A mesh pot filled with ground clam and mussel sits on the bottom and puts out a scent trail that draws flounder to your baits. Stirring up the bottom does the same.