170 
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
This flounder is a valuable food fish in Chesapeake Bay, and its importance is greatly increased 
because it occurs in the bay during the winter, when other fish are scarce. In 1920 it ranked six- 
teenth in quantity and seventeenth in value, the catch being 53,719 pounds, worth $5,372. 
In Maryland it ranked ninth in quantity and eighth in value, the catch amounting to 40,119 
pounds, worth $4,012. About 60 per cent of the quantity taken was caught in pound nets and 40 
per cent in fyke nets. The counties having the largest catches were Kent, with 11,960 pounds; 
Somerset, with 8,117 pounds; and Dorchester, with 6,780 pounds. 
In Virginia it ranked twenty-first in quantity and twentieth in value, the catch amounting to 
13,600 pounds, worth $1,360. About 75 per cent of this amount was taken in pound nets and 25 
percent in fyke nets. The counties haying the largest catches were Accomac, with 2,300 pounds; 
Gloucester, with 1,400 pounds; and Warwick, with 1,300 pounds. 
The winter flounder is caught in the Chesapeake from November to April and a few stragglers 
in May. Nearly all the pound nets in the bay are taken up by December and reset in March. 
The winter flounders taken with this apparatus, therefore, are nearly all caught in November and 
April and a few in May. Fyke nets, being small and easily fished by one man, are used throughout 
the winter, and the winter flounder is one of the principal species caught. This flounder takes the 
baited hook. However, very little hook-and-line fishing is done in the Chesapeake during the 
winter months. 
Unlike most of the salt-water species of the bay, the winter flounder appears to be more common 
in Maryland waters than in the lower sections of the bay. Around Norfolk the principal catch is 
taken with pound nets in November and early December. At Cape Charles it is taken in pound 
nets in late fall and early spring, and in Cherrystone Inlet it is taken during the winter with fyke 
nets. In the lower York River the winter flounder is one of the principal fish taken with fyke nets 
during the winter. At Lewisetta, Va., and Crisfield, Md., it is taken in November, December, 
March, and April in pound nets and fyke nets. At Solomons a few are taken in the spring, but the 
principal season is late fall. At Annapolis the winter flounder is one of the chief fish taken in the 
late fall and early spring. In the vicinity of Love Point it is considered an important winter fish. 
Few, however, are taken northward of this locality. The best catch of winter flounders made at 
Love Point by a set of two pound nets on one day during the spring of 1922 was 400 pounds. 
As this flounder is caught during the colder months, when other species of fish are compara- 
tively scarce in the bay, a market is always available and a good price generally is obtained. A 
large part of the catch is sold in Norfolk, Portsmouth, Washington, and Baltimore. The price 
received by the fishermen in 1921 and 1922 ranged around 10 cents a pound. 
As a food fish this species is considered somewhat superior to the summer flounder. It is an 
important fish in the fall and early spring along the entire middle Atlantic and New England coasts, 
where in places it is quite abundant. In the vicinity of New York and elsewhere this is a favorite 
fish of anglers, who catch large numbers with hook and line. The name most used for this species 
in the Chesapeake is “holibut” or “halibut.” 
The maximum size recorded for the winter flounder is 21 inches. Individuals over 18 inches 
in length and over 3^ pounds in weight are unusual. The usual size of fish seen in the markets 
on the Chesapeake range from one-half to 2 pounds, and only occasionally are larger ones seen. 
Habitat . — Northern Labrador to Georgia, not taken in commercial numbers south of Chesa- 
peake Bay; entering brackish to nearly fresh water. 
Chesapeake localities. — (a) Previous records: Southern part of Chesapeake Bay, Potomac 
River, and coast of St. Marys County, Md. ( b ) Specimens in collection: From many localities 
from Robins Point, on the Susquehanna River, where the water was fresh enough to drink, to the 
mouth of the bay; taken both in shallow and deep water, ranging from a foot or two to 29 fathoms 
in depth, and nearly all catches having been made between November 1 and June 1. 
