Winter Flounder

Name:

Winter Flounder

Other Names:

Black back

Scientific Name:

Pseudopleuronectes americanus

Fish Habitat:

Winter Flounder spends the summer off shore in deeper waters, and winters in shallow coastal estuaries rivers and bays.

Fish Habits:

Winter flounder diet is limited by their small mouth size. Adults feed mostly on small invertebrates, shrimp, clams, and worms. Feeding occurs solely during the day because winter flounder depend on sight to locate prey, and intensifies during ebbing and flooding tides. At night, winter flounder lie flat with their eye turrets retracted until sunrise.[

Fishing Tactics:

Small pieces of bloodworms and strips of clam are the choice of bait. You can also used sand worms, grass shrimp, or very small minnows. Chum is often used to lure the fish in, clam being the most popular and sold in most bait shops. Another tip when chumming for these fish: a toilet bowl plunger on a long pole will help stir up the bottom and add to the chum effect. Some folks make their own clam chum mixed with corn.

Winter flounder for some reason react favorable to the color yellow. Just tossing some corn overboard can lure them in sometimes. You'll often see corn colored beads on winter flounder rigs. Long shank hooks with narrow gap are best, as the fish have a very tiny mouth and the long shanks are less likely to be completely swallowed.

Distribution:

It is native to coastal waters of the western north Atlantic coast, from Labrador, Canada to Georgia, United States. In the waters from Newfoundland down through Massachusetts Bay it is the most common near-shore (shallow-water) flounder.

Fish ID Help:

They can be differentiated from summer flounder because they almost always have eyes on the right side of their bodies. They also do not have teeth. Summer flounder have their eyes on the left side of their bodies, and do have teeth.