Not a Hogchoker

Hello,
I was at the Outer Banks in North Carolina about a year ago, and I dipnetted a small, flat, fish that looked to me like a Hogchoker. I was fine in believing that for a little while, until I was questioned on it being a Fluke or a "Summer Flounder". The fish was taken from the Currituck Sound (brackish water).

http://gallery.nanfa...07_ NT.jpg.html

Here's a story that was shared with me by Mikez on the forum...

"Fluke is the more common name of the summer flounder. They're called "summer" flounder because they move inshore in late spring to summer. The blackback flounder is called "winter" flounder because they're more available in cooler water.
Fluke can get quite big, over 2 foot long and 10 lbs. They are great sportfish and will chase lures or flies right up to the surface. They have huge mouths with big teeth.
Back in the 60s and 70s my Dad used to take me fishing for them every summer. In later years they were overfished and I didn't see one until the late 90s when aggressive regulation brought them back. Now the fishing is almost as good as it was "back in the day".
They're very cool to keep as captives but can eat smaller fish and outgrow most tanks. Length limits for anglers technically makes them illegal to keep as juveniles.
Fluke are different from most other inshore flounder in that they are "left eyed". If you turn a flounder 90 degrees to hold it in the vertical position of most fish, the eyes are on the left side of the fish. Hogchockers, blackbacked and windowpane flounders all have their eyes on the right side of the body."

I'd like to thank Mikez for clearing that up for me, and I hope that the description he gave me could help others avoid making the mistake that I made. (I'll have to change my gallery shortly).

Hello,
I was at the Outer Banks in North Carolina about a year ago, and I dipnetted a small, flat, fish that looked to me like a Hogchoker. I was fine in believing that for a little while, until I was questioned on it being a Fluke or a "Summer Flounder". The fish was taken from the Currituck Sound (brackish water).

http://gallery.nanfa...07_ NT.jpg.html

Big chuckle! Should I send this email on to our Marine Patrol?? Your fish definitely is a summer flounder. There are also 2 others found here - southern and gulf flounders. All very similar. And all have minimum size lengths since their populations are in various stages of overfishing. The summer flounder does seem to be rebounding because of the stringent regulations. Us southerners do not call it fluke though. That's one of those northerner terms.

Fritz Rohde
NC Division of Marine Fisheries

Edited by drewish, 02 September 2008 - 07:58 PM.

Oops, I've taken that photo out of the gallery now. So, the link for the picture won't work anymore.