Flounder Parts Are Not The End-All Of Flounder Baits

The last police blotter I received from DNREC Enforcement listed another violation of the law concerning flounder parts. It is really pretty simple - if you have flounder parts on the boat, you must have the carcass the parts came from. This begs the question, why would you want to carry around the rack from a flounder just so you can use flounder parts for bait? There is really no good answer.

Back in the day, before there were any regulations on flounder, it was a common practice to cut up small flounder and use the strips for bait. Unfortunately, the myth that flounder parts are some magic bait that will bring flatfish running from far and near has persisted, when in fact the only reason we ever used that bait in the first place was because it was free. Today, we have minimum size regulations on flounder, so unless the flounder parts on the boat are at least 16 inches long, you have to carry the rack the parts came from.

Another critter that used to be free for the taking was a horseshoe crab. They would stack up along Delaware Bay beaches in enormous piles, and some communities would pay people to come and cart them away.

More