The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) will open 2025 flounder harvest season for Inland Fishing Waters and in Joint Fishing Waters for hook and line fishing only, Sept. 1 to Sept. 14, 2025. The daily creel limit is one fish with a minimum size limit of 15 inches.
The season length, size limit and daily creel limit are established in NCWRC rules and are consistent with the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission’s Southern Flounder Fishery Management Plan Amendment 3 and proposed Amendment 4. The preferred management option in Amendment 4 would reallocate flounder harvest to a 50/50 split between commercial and recreational sectors in 2025.
“Wildlife Commission fisheries biologists examined recent N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries’ Flounder Harvest reporting and accounted for the potential 50/50 reallocation. They determined that the NCWRC’s current season, creel limit and size limit for Southern flounder would be in accordance with the management plan and allow for a limited harvest of flounder while protecting the fishery from further overfishing,” said NCWRC Inland Fisheries Chief Corey Oakley.
N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries opens its recreational harvest season for the same two weeks, so the season, size limit and daily creel limit will be consistent across jurisdictions.