Ken Schultz's Field Guide to Saltwater Fish - Macaw Pets store

The summer flounder, most commonly called fluke, is a
member of the Bothidae family of flatfish, or left-eyed flounder.
Fishing for summer flounder off jetties and bridges is a
mainstay of mid-Atlantic coastal sportfishing.
Identification. The body is wide and somewhat flattened,
rimmed by long dorsal and anal fins. Its mouth is large and
well equipped with teeth. The eyes are on the left side of the
body and close together. The teeth are well developed on
the right side of the jaw. Background coloring is usually gray,
brown, or olive but adjusts to the environment to keep the
fish camouflaged. There are also many eyespots that change
color. The blind side is white and relatively featureless.
Size. The average summer flounder weighs 2 to 5 pounds,
the latter being about 23 inches long. It is capable of growing
to 35 inches in length but rarely does, and the all-tackle
world record is a 22-pound, 7-ounce fish caught at Montauk,
New York. Historical data indicate that female summer
flounder may live up to 20 years, but males rarely exceed 7
years of age.
Spawning behavior. Sexual maturity is reached at age 3.
Spawning takes place during the fall and the winter, while
the fish are moving offshore into deeper water or when they
reach their winter location. Currents carry newly hatched
flounder into the estuaries and sounds, where they undergo
a transformation in shape and become bottom dwellers.
Food and feeding habits. Adults are largely piscivorous
and highly predatory, feeding actively in midwater, as well
as on the bottom. Extremely fast swimmers, they often
chase baitfish at the surface, which is not characteristic of
most other flatfish. Fluke are known to eat what is available,
including shrimp, crabs, menhaden, anchovies, silversides,
sand launce, killifish, weakfish, hake, and other flounder.
Flounder, Summer
Paralichthys dentatus
OTHER NAMES
fluke, northern fluke,
flounder; Dutch: zomervogel;
French: cardeau d’été.
Distribution. The summer
flounder occurs in the western
Atlantic from Maine to
South Carolina and possibly
to northeast Florida, and it
is most abundant from
Cape Cod to North
Carolina.
Habitat. A bottomdwelling
fish, the summer
flounder prefers sandy or
muddy bottoms and is common
in the summer months
in bays, harbors, estuaries,
canals, and creeks and
along shorelines, as well as
in the vicinity of piers and
bridges or near patches of
eelgrass or other vegetation.
It typically prefers relatively
shallow waters and depths
of up to 100 feet during
warmer months, then
moves offshore in the winter
to deeper, cooler water of
150 to 500 feet.
Flounder, Summer 79