Now that the cold weather months are here, winter flounder inhabit much of the bay and river waters found in northern and central New Jersey. Although winter flounder used to inhabit waters as far south as Delaware Bay, past years has seen the winter flounder move its wintering grounds north. Now, many say that Barnegat Bay is the furthest south that most will find winter flounder.
I personally do not believe this, and know many South Jersey sharpies that know where to catch blackbacks (as they call them) in the backwater. Talk to Captain Al Crudele about this, or reach out to George Brennan at Brennan Marine and ask him where to go to catch winter flounder in South Jersey. They’re there, I tell you.
Others say that Delaware has few, if any, winter flounder. Once again, I disagree and know that this is not the truth.
With this said, one of the best places on the New Jersey coast to fish for winter flounder is Raritan Bay. With its large area, shallow waters and muddy bottoms, one would think that Raritan Bay was made for winter flounder. The bay has many areas that are productive, but there are some that are known as the best. Try some of the following hot spots if you’re looking for some red-hot coldwater flounder action.
Keyport Bay
Keyport Bay is one of the northern bays within Raritan Bay. As its name indicates, the bay is located in the Keyport area. When the winter water invades Raritan and Keyport Bays, Keyport Bay harbors numerous winter flounder as they spend their winter in the bay.
Chris at Crabby’s Bait & Tackle in Keyport says that Keyport Bay always produces winter flounder. One of the best areas in the bay is where the sailboats are moored during the summer. This muddy area is particularly productive for either kind of flatfish. In the summer, anglers always do well with fluke in Keyport Bay by the sailboats. This same spot is just as good, if not better, for their coldwater cousins.
The Mouth of Matawan Creek
Matawan Creek has received a lot of attention lately since a number of books about the shark attacks of 1917 were released. In addition to harboring a rare great white shark, the mouth of Matawan Creek is known to be productive for winter flounder.
According to Chris of Crabby’s Bait & Tackle, there are numerous oyster beds around the mouth of the creek that attract and retain flounder. Because the water surrounding the mouth of Matawan Creek is shallow, it will warm quicker than surrounding deeper waters. This warmer water temperature will make winter flounder more active and attract them to shallower water in the colder months.
The Keansburg and Belford Flats
Just as the shallower water found in the mouth of Matawan Creek attracts the wintering flounder population, the shallow water of the Keansburg and Belford Flats also is a good winter flounder grounds. These flats can be found in the bay in the towns of, you guessed it, Keansburg and Belford.
This water can be quite shallow in places, so be careful when navigating it. Be sure to bring nautical charts with you so you can see what structure and dropoffs there are in the area, and fish them accordingly.
When I talked to Dennis at the Keyport Marine Basin, he said that the Keansburg and Belford Flats were some of the best places to fish for winter flounder. With such shallow water, Dennis says that winter flounder can find those couple of degrees during the winter months that make them active. In addition, he said that most of the flats are quite muddy, allowing winter flounder to lie on their favorite surface.
The Season
New Jersey’s winter flounder season started on March 23 in 2008, and the opening date for 2009 has yet to be announced. We’ll provide this information in an update as soon as we receive an update.
There are other flounder hotspots — look for them in upcoming posts. When fishing these waters, remember that Raritan Bay is big open water and can get quite ugly quickly, so be sure to be safe, especially in the colder weather. Always don a life preserver and wear it in the colder months. You never know when you’ll need it. Be safe, but have fun fishing and catching lots of flatties.
