Tagged Fluke

[Billfish715]

We stopped on some bird life and marks two miles off the beach in Ocean County and dropped down some jigs. The first fish on was a dogfish. The second fish was a dogfish. The third fish was a legal striped bass. The fourth fish was a complete surprise. It was a 17' fluke. I quickly tagged and released it and started to consider how we had been screwed by the governmental agencies that seem to control our individual decisions.

That fluke and one other one a bit smaller were still around in water that was 55 degrees. The fluke season closed when? We should have al least been able to use our own judgement about when we should have stopped fishing for them. The number of fishermen who target fluke diminishes dramatically after Labor Day. We were throwing back lots and lots of sub-legal fluke all season. If the season were allowed to continue, the majority of fluke would still have to be returned. The number of anglers who were fishing for them would also have been much fewer. And, fishermen would have used their own judgement about when they were tired of fishing for "summer flounder". Let us decide when we want to quit.

The fact that we caught some fluke at the end of November defies the odds but still, they were there. We could have, if we wanted to, been fishing for them all along.

On a tagging note........a few of my fluke that were tagged last year, came back this year from Long Island in Great South Bay. The biggest recaptured fish had only grown 1 inch. In fact that seemed to be the average growth of the several tags that were reported. A couple of 15" fish had only grown 1 inch. So, released fish do survive and grow. They just don't grow too quickly.

[dakota560]

Fluke have been around until late November early December based on water temperatures for the last 20 to 30 years. This year and recent years are not anomalies as far as that's concerned.

Extend the recreational season one day and be prepared for an increase in size limits or reduction in possession limits. Ask for a slot fish and the first thing you hear is a reduction of an already shortened season or a reduction in the possession limit. If you want to fish through November be prepared for one fish possession limit at 24". The fluke regs are as screwed up as they come and largely favor commercial interests.

In the meantime commercial operators continue to harvest highly concentrated schools migrating off shore in Set / Oct during the primary spawn, seeks optimum 18" to 20" fish which are 90 to 95% breeders, kill millions of smaller fish in the process and single-handedly are responsible for the destruction of tens of trillions, yes that's TRILLIONS, of eggs being removed from the reproductive pool every year with zero impact on their annual quota. The Council and Commission, scientists, sub-committees and every associated person involved in the management of this fishery have their heads in the sand to say it kindly. There will be a time in the not too distant future when draconian measures will be required to save this fishery. The fishery isn't being managed, it's being horse traded for political gain and commercial exploitation. An absolute misallocation of a public resource.

[Ol Pedro]

When I got to New Jersey 20+years ago we would fish for Fluke well into Oct. We would just fish further offshore. First our politicians came after us Hunters and Gun Owners. We warned others that they were coming after the Fishermen next. Well guess what, it's happening. Soon they will build wind farms in our fishing grounds and keep us out. They will keep tightening regs till we will only be able to keep Searobins. They refuse to see Hunters and Fishermen as environmentalists.

[Jigman13]

You can fish the wind turbines off of block. And they're surveying to build more off of the Southside off the Hamptons. They hold tons of fish. If they build them off NJ and allow people to fish them itll be a good thing. Like the FADs my buddy is contracted to build in the Caribbean.

Regardless of the above, the fluke regs are the most f'ed regs of all our inshore species.

[bulletbob]

Some fluke don't leave local waters, and remain inshore mostly dormant.. There is a reason a few Fluke are caught by guys fishing for Stripers in late March in the bays,, They were not 100 miles offshore...... bob

[BugEye Chris]

I caught two keeper size fluke last Saturday
Sea bass fishing on some rocky stuff in around
200 feet on a hi-lo rig with clams. Surface temp
Was 58 and the fish felt warm

[Ol Pedro]

If they build them off NJ and allow people to fish them itll be a good thing. Like the FADs my buddy is contracted to build in the Caribbean..

No doubt it would be good if they let us fish. The first time someone runs into one or some get vandalized then it's game over. Would the utilities lease the sites?