2024 season will last 4 days, in inland and joint waters only
North Carolina anglers will get a 2024 flounder season after all, but only in inland and joint waters of the state. The season will last a total of four days, and will be split into two sections, with the first being Sept. 1 – 2 (the Sunday and Monday of Labor Day), and the second taking place the following weekend, Sept. 7 – 8. Anglers will have a daily creel limit of one fish, with a minimum size limit of 15 inches. The season will be open only to hook and line anglers, so gigging will not be legal.
The flounder season was announced on July 25, 2024 by the NCWRC, which has authority over inland and joint waters. Earlier this year, the Marine Fisheries Commission, which holds authority over the state’s coastal waters, declared that no recreational flounder season will be held for 2024 in coastal waters.
The season, and the dynamics of North Carolina’s waterways, presents a dilemma for flounder anglers who might launch their boat from a ramp that is located on the state’s coastal waters, catch flounder while fishing in inland or joint waters, then return to the coastal-waters boat ramp with flounder they legally caught. But if checked by a game warden at the boat ramp in coastal waters (or during transit), the angler could face the possibility of being fined.
Aside from opening the 4-day flounder season, NCWRC Chairman Monty Crump asked the Marine Fisheries Commission to shift the flounder allocation from 30% to 50% for the recreational sector. NCWRC determined that a 50% allocation to the recreational sector would allow the 4-day recreational season without going over the flounder quota of Amendment 3, and called on MFC to open a recreational season in 2024, using the 50% allocation as a guideline, for coastal waters. Crump has stated that the Marine Fisheries Commission has not responded to their correspondence.
See NCWRC Chairman Crump’s letter to Marine Fisheries below:
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