Species guide · Massachusetts
Summer flounder fishing in Massachusetts
Paralichthys dentatus, a bottom species also called fluke, doormat and flounder. Listed for the New England region. Shoulder season, about 1 more week.
Right now it scores best in Buzzards Bay at 68, one of 8 Massachusetts bay systems where the Waterlands engine is scoring it.
Season now
Shoulder seasonSeason by month
From the Waterlands saltwater species research: when the fish are present and biting, not whether retention is open.
New England
Shoulder season, about 1 more week- Jan: Not present
- Feb: Not present
- Mar: Not present
- Apr: Not present
- May: Off season
- Jun: Shoulder season
- Jul: Peak season
- Aug: Peak season
- Sep: Shoulder season
- Oct: Off season
- Nov: Not present
- Dec: Not present
Peak: Jul to Aug. In season (shoulder or peak): Jun to Sep.
Research notes, New England region
Arrive later and leave earlier than farther south. Best in July and August in Long Island Sound, Rhode Island Sound, Buzzards Bay and Vineyard and Nantucket sounds.
Seasons and limits in these notes are background. The regulations below and the regulator’s own page govern.
Where it's scoring now · 8
Massachusetts bay systems ranked by the Waterlands engine's summer flounder score this hour.
Best window today 5-8 PM (68) · Best day Fri, Sep 18 at 5 PM (68) · 151 named spots
Best window today 5-8 PM (69) · Best day Fri, Sep 18 at 6 PM (69) · 27 named spots
Best window today 5-9 PM (67) · Best day Fri, Sep 18 at 6 PM (67) · 40 named spots
Best window today 5-11 PM (64) · Best day Sat, Sep 19 at 5 PM (65) · 158 named spots
Best window today 7-11 PM (66) · Best day Fri, Sep 18 at 8 AM (67) · 44 named spots
Best window today 7-10 PM (65) · Best day Fri, Sep 18 at 8 AM (66) · 409 named spots
Best window today 7-11 PM (64) · Best day Fri, Sep 18 at 8 AM (67) · 122 named spots
Best window today 7-9 PM (60) · Best day Fri, Sep 18 at 8 AM (60) · 2 named spots
How and where it feeds
- Water temperature
- Feeds from 54°F to 82°F, best between 60°F and 76°F.
- Water depth
- 4 to 110 ft of water.
- Structure
- Inlet, channel, wreck, reef, bar, flat, bay and grass, in that order of preference.
- Tide and current
- Prefers moving water and incoming tide, with moderate current.Fluke face into the current and ambush bait carried past them, so a steady drift with the tide is what anglers need; slack water stalls the drift. In back bays the clean water of the incoming tide is the common choice. A VMRC archival-tag study found tide stage itself did not change fish movement, so treat this as a drift-quality factor.
- Light
- Some lift around dawn and dusk.
- Pressure
- Little response to pressure changes.
- Wind and sea limits
- 18 kt of wind and 4 ft of sea. The Waterlands engine scores hours down as conditions pass them.
Tackle and technique
Summer flounder lie half-buried on sand and shell bottom and ambush bait along channel edges, inlet bars and ocean reefs, from a few feet deep in back bays to about 100 feet offshore. Drift with the tide and bounce a bucktail tipped with a squid or fish strip along the bottom. The bigger fish move to ocean reefs and wrecks in late summer, so follow them out.
- Methods
- drift fishing, bucktail jigging, bottom fishing
- Lures
- bucktail jigs with teaser, soft plastic grubs and swimming mullet, spinner and squid rigs
- Bait
- squid strips, fluke belly strips, live killifish (mummichogs), spearing (silversides), live peanut bunker
Regulations
Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries. Synced with MassDMF Sep 18, 2026.
No reviewed summer flounder rule for Massachusetts is on file yet. Check with MassDMF before you keep one.