LeeAnn Chiavarini of Brick holds up a nice summer flounder, which was caught on The Gambler out of Pt. Pleasant Beach. Photo by Ron Sinfelt.

Fluke, summer flounder, flatfish, doormats -- call ‘em whatever you want. But definitely call ‘em the fish species most sought after by the summertime Jersey angler. New Jersey’s coastline is loaded with flatfish-friendly structures, culminating with tidal back creeks, artificial reef sites, shipwrecks, rocky inlets, and large, inviting bays. Jersey’s a virtual housing authority, with a bit of everything to attract and hold fluke all season long. The key is to get inside the mind of the fluke, and then to find where they are.

CHASING FLATTIES
Summer flounder run a migratory pattern that can help you locate them at any time during the year. Spawning occurs during the fall and winter, while the fish are moving offshore to reach their wintering grounds. Each female releases as many as 4,000,000 eggs on the way. Soon after, hatched larvae will begin to drift inshore to enter coastal and estuarine waters.

And their growth rates are phenomenal! During a fluke’s first year, it may attain a length of between 9 and 12 inches. By the time it reaches 20 inches in its third year, it will most probably weigh more than 3 pounds. Once it passes the 25-inch mark, which is usually around the flatfish’s fifth year, it begins to fill out to around 7 to 8 pounds. As it attains 30 inches at roughly 9 years of age, all bets are off. The 10-pound mark has been breached and its doormat status solidified.

New Jersey’s state-record fluke is the one Walter Lubin hoisted in while fishing off of Cape May, way back in 1953. His fish was probably a summer flounder well into its teen years, but was no doubt a fluke of doormat proportions! And larger fluke do exist -- make no mistake about it.

Finding them is fairly easy if you know a bit of the fluke’s biological mindset. Once waters start to warm up near 55 to 60 degrees, they tend to migrate back inshore from late April through June into the backchannels and inlets. By July, they are still sitting put in their haunts in the backwaters and inside bays and inlets, but begin to trickle out on the inshore humps and bumps. Come mid- to late summer, they tend to drift back out, from 2 to 8 miles off the beaches. Here in this range, they will hold to feed until late September and October, when they begin their migratory 90-mile push back out to their wintering grounds over the Continental Shelf.

Generally, Jersey summer flounder enthusiasts will find that the bigger specimens are sticking tight to ledges and edges. As the summer wears on, they will hold in deeper channels and around offshore structures such as rock beds and wreckage.

It’s August now -- so where are the finest spots from north to south Jersey to poke around and bag some quality fish? Read on for five proven Jersey flatfish grounds to check out right now.