Summer Flounder (Fluke) Fishing in Delaware

Summer flounder, also called fluke, is a summer fish in Delaware’s bays, inlets and nearshore ocean, and the size limit changes partway through the year. This guide covers the Delaware rule, where anglers fish for fluke and how the season runs. For how to catch them, see the summer flounder how-to guide.

The rule

The rules snapshot above shows the rule with the date we checked it. In tidal water the season is open all year with a daily limit of 4 fish. The minimum size is 16 inches from January 1 to May 31 and 17.5 inches from June 1 to December 31. The size change on June 1 catches many anglers out, so measure every fish. Seasons and sizes are reset from year to year, so check the Delaware Fishing Guide before you keep one.

Where to fish in Delaware

Cape Henlopen. Anglers fish the pier here for flounder. See the Cape Henlopen guide.

Lewes-Rehoboth Canal and Roosevelt Inlet. Speck rigs with pink Gulp! baits are a local choice at Roosevelt Inlet. See the canal and Roosevelt Inlet guide.

Indian River Inlet. Jigs with live minnow or Gulp! around the pilings and drifts along the inlet edges are common. See the Indian River Inlet guide.

Inland Bays, surf and Delaware Bay. The Inland Bays, the Atlantic surf and the Delaware Bay shore and open water all hold fluke. See the Inland Bays guide, the surf guide, the Delaware Bay shore guide and the Delaware Bay boat guide. Our research also mentions fluke near the mouth of the Broadkill River.

Seasons and timing

Fish arrive inshore in warming bays in spring. Summer is the peak, and early morning and the incoming tide are the best times. On hot days fish move deeper. In fall fish stage in the surf and inlets before they move offshore. In winter they are offshore, and shore fishing is mostly unproductive.

Rods and tackle

A 6 to 7 foot 6 inch medium-fast spinning rod is typical, or a 7 to 8 foot rod for boats, with a 3000 to 5000 size reel and 10 to 20 pound braid with a 15 to 30 pound fluorocarbon leader. Live minnows, squid strips, Gulp!-type baits and cut bait are the common baits, and bucktails and jigs tipped with them are the common lures. Drift slowly and keep the bait on the bottom. These are typical choices, not requirements.

Shore and boat

Piers, jetties, canals and inlets are the shore options. At some piers, the research notes that high tide is the only time to fish. A boat gives access to channel edges, reefs and bridges and to larger fish. Inlet currents are strong, so use care.

How the fishery is managed

ASMFC’s 2025 management track assessment found that summer flounder are not overfished and are no longer experiencing overfishing, and the next management track assessment is scheduled for 2027. Under the commission’s conservation equivalency approach, anglers follow the rules of the state where they land their catch, which is why the Delaware size and bag limit can differ from the limits in neighboring New Jersey or Maryland. The commission’s 2026 and 2027 specifications include a recreational harvest limit of 8.79 million pounds coastwide. Because the Delaware limits are reset from year to year, check the Delaware Fishing Guide, which was last updated on September 23, 2026 when we read it.

Measuring and carrying fish

Delaware measures a fish by total length, the greatest straight-line length from the tip of the jaw or snout to the farthest extremity of the tail, with the upper and lower lobes of the tail squeezed together. A flounder that barely makes the limit can shrink on ice, so measure it on the boat or pier. Delaware also has a possession rule that matters if you fillet at the water: it is unlawful to have any part of a summer flounder that measures less than the current minimum size unless you also have the head, backbone and tail intact from which that part was removed. If you plan to clean fish before you get home, keep the carcass.

Fishing from the floating courtesy docks at boat ramps is prohibited unless otherwise posted, so use the piers, the shoreline and the inlet instead.

State record

DNREC’s records page lists a flounder of 17 pounds 15 ounces caught by William Kendall in 1974. The page lists a single flounder entry and does not label it a summer flounder, so we read it as the summer flounder record without being able to confirm that from the page. The page gives no length, location or method for it. A new record must weigh at least 2 ounces more, be approved by Division staff and be weighed on a certified scale.

A note on the season

DNREC’s October 29, 2026 report is a reminder that fluke fishing is a warm-water fishery. One group fishing the surf that week caught only skates and a single 10 inch flounder, far under the minimum, and rough water had pushed most anglers into the sheltered Indian River Inlet and the back bays. Plan fluke trips for the months when the fish are inshore, and use the late-season reports to decide whether the run is over.