In internal and ocean waters, all species of flounder are included in a 14-inch size limit and the bag limit is a total of eight fish.

SOUTHERN FLOUNDER
Southern flounder are the common flatfish of bays, estuaries, waterways and inlets. They also are caught from the surf and ocean piers, where they mix with summer flounder. Like summer flounder, southern flounder strike live minnows, strip baits and jigs fished on the bottom.

The stock status is "overfished" and the population appears to be in decline. The recently implemented size and bag limits for combined flounder species in the internal and ocean waters should help stop the decline.

Average recreational landings were 222,780 pounds from 1996-2005 and 361,702 pounds in 2005. Average Recreational Commercial Gear Licenses (recreational gigs and nets) were 83,126 pounds from 2002-2005 and were 58,099 pounds in 2005. The eight-fish limit was put in place to decrease the harvest by those using nets and gigs recreationally, but it also affects hook-and-line anglers fishing in areas of abundance, such as inlets and nearshore ledges.

Both summer and southern flounder are subject to extremely high commercial fishing pressure. Commercial quotas and closures help keep the fishery intact.

BLUEFISH
Bluefish are listed as "recovering." Although bluefish are no longer being overfished, the population is still in an overfished state. With regulation, fishing mortality has decreased steadily since 1991 and the biomass has been increasing since 1997.

Average recreational landings from 1996-2005 were 899,944 pounds. In 2005, recreational landings were 1,115,076 pounds. Average citations for fish over 17 pounds from 1996-2005 were 20, and in 2005 just five citations were issued. Although on the surface, these low citation numbers look like they are indicating that there are not very many big bluefish; but, in fact, anglers in North Carolina usually release big choppers rather than eat them, so the number of citation entries probably greatly underrepresents the number of big fish actually caught.

Bluefish occur in all sizes along the coast. Small snappers begin biting at artificial reefs, inlets and in the surf in late April. Big choppers show up along the same areas as well as offshore in May. There are always some small fish around. Then in September and October, the choppers begin to show up again along the beaches near Cape Hatteras.

Jigs, spoons, surface poppers and resin-bodied flies are used to catch bluefish. They are a good fish to go after when nothing else is biting because a bluefish is always hungry. Toss or troll anything near a bluefish and it's likely to bite it. Some anglers catch bragging-sized bluefish by using live menhaden for bait.

Bluefish give their presence away by slashing at baitfish and chasing them by leaping from the surface. Seabirds are attracted to these feeding frenzies and help anglers find bluefish. Slicks left by the oily bodies of baitfish give anglers clues to the presence of bluefish by both sight and scent.

The bluefish limit is 15 fish per day of which only five can exceed 24 inches total length.

SPOTTED SEATROUT
Spotted seatrout, also known as speckled trout, are listed as "viable" by NCDMF. The fish spend their life cycles in estuaries, resulting in concern over environmental factors rather than fishing pressure as having adverse impact on their size and abundance.