Female-Male Fluke

[Billfish715]

I recently visited a saltwater hatchery in Lake Jackson, Texas where they raised redfish, seatrout and flounder. The flounder/fluke were raised inside under controlled conditions of light, salinity, temperature etc. Their holding tanks were similar to very large vats. This is quite a simplistic explanation but what was very interesting was that there were only one or two females in the tank along with over a dozen males. Males were noticeably smaller and lived only about three years while the females were much larger and longer lived. The males don't grow as big nor live as long as the females. Fish that are bigger than 19" are probably females and we are being forced to believe that we are saving the population when in fact we are probably doing more harm by targeting the large females. Wake up "scientists"! You can't have it both ways. The males don't live more than three years and most will die before they are legal size for us to keep.

[Gerry Zagorski]

Why do men usually die before their wives?? Because they want to

[skate king]

Gerry, Now you are starting to sound like Rodney Dangerfield!😄 Billfish, read Capt. Ron's post about quota reductions. Something really needs to change. I'm not positive but I recall a similar post a year or two ago about male/female sizes. Same goes for blackfish.

[Billfish715]

Just to add to my point.......if the males live about three years and then die, the majority are probably about 17". What do we do with the 17" males that will not live more than another year? We "have" to throw them back so they can die! How does that make sense? The information about the southern flounder restoration program is available on various sites for you to read. The fact that the biologists are able to force the females into spawning several times a year is also very interesting.

There is information that the federal scientists perhaps are not adding into their formulas. Common sense is certainly not one of those factors. How can the size limits one year be 15" and the next 15.5" and the next 16" etc. and the fish keep growing and keep being caught without being wiped out? If the size limit was 17", there would still be plenty of 17" fish next year to keep everyone happy. In fact, there would be plenty of 17.5" & 18" fish as well.

I've been around for quite a few seasons and I can't ever remember a time when there were no fluke to catch! I support bag limits but seriously have to question the current size limits. There are fluke in the rivers and and inlets. They are along the beaches and on the reefs. They can be caught in 8 feet or 80 feet. The current suggestions of overfishing and stricter controls by the government representatives will have to be taken to court for them to prove their formulas are based on solid scientific data and are in the best interest of the general public. The fish belong to everyone and we should not continue to surrender our interests to the goals of the governmental bureaucrats....if they even care what the interests of the people are.

[NJ Dave]

Men cant figure out females, do you really think we can figure out fish.
Dont try to figure out mother nature, it ain't happening! !

It does not matter what "we" say, scientists know it all

[Captain Rich]

Originally Posted by Gerry Zagorski

Why do mean usually die before their wives?? Because they want to

You're dating yourself, hijacking that joke ! This is so depressing I may have to move back to Florida earlier than planned, the whole state is much more pro fishing/ pro fisherman.

[TheTenman]

Is the lifespan of a farm raised flounder really indicative of one living in the wild? Either way larger minimums make for less sustainable fluke fishing.

[untide]

This must be a different species of flounder in a texas hatchery then those found in coastal new england waters... At a minimum there are southern and gulf species of flounder as well as our summer flounder. So your thinking that male 'fluke' don't get over 19" is probably flawed.

just my 2¢

[hartattack]

Length Average. . . . . . . weight in pounds
15-16 inches . . . . . . . . . . . 1 to 1¼
17-18 inches . . . . . . . . . . . 2 to 2¾
20 inches . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 to 3½
22 inches . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
24 inches . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
27 inches . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
30 inches . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
37 inches . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

A doormat must be at least 10 pounds; these are only FEMALES and are generally 10 years old or more. Nearly all Fluke over 5 pounds are females

[Poncho]

Not a big salt guy but do read everyone's posts. Interesting topic here. I'm just curious, NJ has implemented on the hunting side of things that hunters can shoot an unlimited amount of does (with proper permit). It is to get the male/female ratio more males than females to produce bigger racks on the bucks which definitely seems to have worked. Maybe fluke is just the opposite. Less females more males produce bigger females? Are you guys seeing bigger size fluke showing in your catches?