North Carolina is home to excellent flounder fishing in coastal waters, bays, and nearshore areas where this species is commonly found.
According to catch data from over 20 million anglers on Fishbrain, these are the best baits used to catch Flounder.

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Disclaimer: Always check local fishing regulations, water access rights and land ownership before fishing, regardless of any catches logged in that area by the Fishbrain community. Fishbrain has mapped millions of acres of government-owned land across the USA to help you identify potential fishing access, but you are responsible for ensuring compliance with all legal requirements.
Fishing regulations in North Carolina can change throughout the year. Make sure to check this page before fishing for the most up to date rules and regulations for the current season. Local regulations govern when you can fish, the max size of the fish you can keep, how many fish you can keep, and more.
Below you will see fishing regulations for catching Summer flounder as of April 6th, 2026. To view regulations for a different fish species, please click on your preferred species in the drop-down.
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The N.C. Department of Environmental Quality's Division of Marine Fisheries today announced that the 2025 recreational flounder season will open in Coastal and Joint waters of the state Sept. 1 at 12:01 a.m. and close Sept. 14 at 11:59 p.m.
The two-week season will open with the following provisions for both the recreational hook-and-line and gig fisheries:
Harvest of flounder with a Recreational Commercial Gear License will be prohibited.
The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission's season will be open Sept. 1-14 as well, so the season, size limit, and daily creel limit will be consistent across jurisdictions.
The season, size and creel limits comply with provisions of the N.C. Southern Flounder Fishery Management Plan Amendment 3, which specifies that season and possession limits be set annually to keep the fishery within the recreational quota. The current 2025 recreational quota under Amendment 3 is 212,941 pounds, or 40% of the overall quota.
For more specifics on the recreational flounder season, see Proclamation FF-25-2025.
The commercial flounder season for internal Coastal and Joint Fishing Waters (rivers, creeks and sounds) will be announced in the coming weeks through a separate news release and proclamation.

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