There have been studies done by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources on our Flounder population. The reports and statements made by some of the individuals involved with the study speculate that we are losing our Flounder due to over fishing by sport fishermen and are contemplating banning Flounder fishing by sport fishermen. Read the article by Jiggin Jerry and learn about what is really going on with our Flounder fishery especially if you target flounder when you fish… here is the link https://coastalanglermag.com/are-we-losing-our-flounder-in-south-carolina/
Here’s my opinion/observation for what it’s worth. Cherry Grove, hog inlet.
Pretty much any given day throughout the summer you can find anywhere from 20 to 50 boats on the water. 4or5 fishing poles hanging off almost every house on the creek. numbers of people along the edge of the road fishing. The Park/island full of people fishing. I tagged a number of fish last year in March. Every fish that I tagged was recaptured. A keeper flounder are few and far between Nowadays. Overfished?
I’ve heard the DNR presentation twice by two different fisheries biologists, plus had private conversations with them. This article, IMO, is irresponsible, and I am in general a supporter of Jerry. Scientific data from sampling that has been done for 15+ years has shown a dramatic decline in our flounder fishery, and this is mirrored along the entire coast from NC to GA. These days there are a lot of people making statements based on their personal experience, which is a whole lot different than scientific data. Yeah, I have caught a lot of big flounder in the last year, but after listening to the professionals, I am 100% convinced we have a big problem.
Pressure on our inshore fisheries is unprecedented, along with knowledge and technology to target the fish. Another unknown factor is pollution. One factor that isn’t mentioned with flounder in particular is that males rarely get longer than around 12", and how many keeper flounder are kept, vs released? I bet the number is very, very high - more than any other gamefish. All fish being retained are females.
I have made a personal commitment to tag and release all flounder I catch for the foreseeable future. Summerville Saltwater Anglers fishing club, has taken the same position.
Despite these voluntary efforts, we are looking at pretty drastic measures that will be taken here to try to keep these fish populations from collapsing.
NOT A BIOLIGST SO I WONT ARGUE NUMBERS BUT IF CLOSURES ARE DICTATED IT MUST INCLUDE ALL NOT JUST THE REC. FISHERMEN >>> FAIR FOR ONE , FAIR FOR ALL <<<<<
George McDonald
US Navy Seabees,Retired,
MAD, Charleston Chapter
[http://www.militaryappreciationday.org
When you see “Old Glory” waving in the breeze, know that it is the dying breaths of our fallen hero’s that makes it wave.
author unknown
As one that has spent some time on a shrimp boat I can tell you that shrimp boat flounder bycatch can be quite substantial. Also flounder show up in crab traps at times. I seriously doubt that any shrimper or crabber ever releases a flounder. Some of the places I have historically caught flounder are no longer producing - and that’s without any visible changes to the areas - oysters still healthy - lots of mud minnows, marsh grass intact. I don’t know the solutions , but the rec fishers seem to be the ones to always take the hit, and that’s not fair
I’m with sman. That covers a lot of things going on in this country. I’m glad you didn’t say the G word. They might invoke the personal protection act on you.
EXACTLY ; RAMP CLOSURE FALLS IN SAME CATIGORY ; NOT FAIR TO CLOSE ACCESS TO THE MULTITUDES BUT ALLOW A SELECT FEW ACCESS , IF YOU CLOSE THE WATERS CLOSE IT TO ALL , IF ITS OPEN TO A FEW ITS OPEN TO ALL , PENALISE THE H#LL OT OF THE ONES CREATING THE PROBLEMS AT THE RAMPS OR ON THE WATER BY NOT MAINTAINING THE SOCIAL DISTANCING , NOT TO THE ONES OBEYING THE RULES…
George McDonald
US Navy Seabees,Retired,
MAD, Charleston Chapter
[http://www.militaryappreciationday.org
When you see “Old Glory” waving in the breeze, know that it is the dying breaths of our fallen hero’s that makes it wave.
author unknown
Heck yeah! Just like the corona virus. What do these dang scientists and doctors know that Fox News and Jared Kirschner don’t? Next thing they’ll tell us is that trickle down economics don’t work.
Second article that I read from Jerry that mentions over development. The last article was in opposition to the extension of the Mt. Pleasant Fishing Pier. He happens to be standing on that very same pier in the picture. Rototiller in a flower garden, sure. Newsflash Jerry, SCDNR does not issue permits for development, SCDHEC-OCRM and USACE issue those permits. And it’s the second “tug on your heart strings” article that I’ve read by him: “No more smiles on children’s faces or anyone’s face that would have enjoyed the sport of fishing.” Not saying I disagree one bit. I hate over development, but dang man, get the facts straight and maybe slow down on the frothy emotional appeal.
I will say I just don’t see the recreational hook and line angler causing the decline of flounder. Not boasting by any means, but in the last 6 years of inshore fishing I’ve easily caught over 1000 reds (large majority tagged and released), a few hundred each of black drum and sheeps, maybe 100 or so trout, and I’d put money on it that I have caught fewer than 20 flounder. To Jerry’s point, most anglers are probably like me, we occasionally catch a flounder, but mostly because we don’t know how to target them. There are a few people on this site that do (KOBP!!!) and a few others. They obviously know what they are doing and how to catch them consistently. Maybe the guys that bounce artificials have decent results too, but the bait soakers like me rarely catch them. I’d put money on it that the guys that actually know how to catch flounder are in the minority and regular anglers like me are practically clueless how to actually set out on a trip and know exactly when, where and how to catch a flounder. I hope to be able to one day, but my time on the water is limited and I like to bring home a fish or two to eat when I go.
Like another poster stated - shrimp boat by catch likely is an issue (nothing against the industry by any means) - just a fact. Charter Gigging trips (ordering lights for myself btw) probably has something to do with it. I honestly don’t see development or environmental impacts having an adverse impact on one specific species when all others fishes are apparently doing OK. BTW - take a look at the SCDNR fish tagging numbers and see what fish is most often tagged.
Now, according to the same DNR biologist, our redfish population is so low that we can only keep two, yet we can keep 10 per person for flounder and 20 per boat? Based on my fishing results, I would say they have the limits backwards. Anyone ever thought about that? And why is that?
Is the flounder population declining? I’d say SCDNR seine net research supports that. Should limits
Regardless of the cause of the decline, DNR estimates the number of flounder kept must be reduced by 70+ % to bring the numbers back in 10 years. Remember, setting the limits is done by our legislature in this state, not the DNR (stupid, IMO). So therefore setting of limits is highly political, and therefore the small incremental reductions in catch and creel are not nearly aggressive enough to make a change.
What can we all do, right now? Release all keeper flounder.
One thing I know for a fact, we are not loosing any due to me, ha…
I target them all the time & still never have any luck, catch everything but them.
I would say most people are vacation fishing, only fish for them once a year or so when they come down for vacation. Another large portion is like me, I come down multiple times a year to just fish & to fish on vacation but still not enough to learn how to successfully catch any. And the very small % is like a lot of you guys that can actually produce numbers but even then often do not keep them.
So recreational fishing is most likely not the reason, probably commercial fishing, pollution, development, ect…
Biggest issue I would see from recreation fisherman are the ones who just keep everything that bites the hook regardless of size & limits. I see it a lot on the piers.
Hatteras Inlet before the NC closure last fall.
6 man limit before 9:00 am. 200 flounder caught in 3 hours but now we only have an August 16th thru September 30th Flounder season.
Need more NCWRC, SCDNR and recreational angler input and A LOT less political input…
