JMSurfFishing
08-17-2023, 09:56 PM
Had a good weekend to fish for some fluke and got to Island Beach State Park just before 6:00 am. Low tide was at 11:30 am. Headed to a spot that was thick with cocktail blues a few weeks ago and started out throwing a Kastmaster to see if anyone was home. No hits so switched over to fluke with a bucktail and teaser rig.
Started off throwing a 1/2 ounce white bucktail and chartreuse gulp working a stretch of beach where I knew there was a hole. Had some taps but was missing hook sets. Caught a baby fluke and a short to start. Switched my teaser bait to a 5" white gulp jerk shad and I got whacked skipping the bucktail back to me pulling in a nice 18.5" fish. Lost a few other fish but the bite turned off shortly after that so I took my dinner and went home.
Sunday morning I went back to my same spot at Island Beach shortly before 6:00 am. Started out with lots of fluke action, hits on every other cast. My trauma for the day started when I was skipping my bucktail right in the wash and all of a sudden felt weight on the line but no distinct hits. I set the hook but wasn't getting any real fight or head shakes, just heavy tension. Thought that I might have snagged a ray for a second. Kept reeling in and sure enough had a big fluke on. I used the waves to help bring the fish onto the sand. Got him halfway up on the sand, but not out of the wash, and the weight of the fish was putting a lot of tension on my rod. I was afraid the fish was going to break off trying to drag him in so my mistake was backing off the tension of the line. When I backed off, the fish spit the hook as a wave was washing in and I ran towards the fish as fast as I could. Still had my rod in one hand and tried to grab the fish which went right through my feet and slipped back out to sea with the wave. Was a heavy fish, easily 22". That stung for the rest of the day, actually still hurts thinking about it. But I guess that what keeps you coming back.
Managed to regroup and made a move to a new stretch of beach which I saw was a little deeper as the tide was going out. Was getting hits on every cast and caught 5-6 fluke before calling it a day. Ended up keeping one 16" fish.
Overall a fun few days of fishing with good action. You can't beat fluke fishing this time of year with a light weight setup, surf bag and board shorts. Tight lines.
Started off throwing a 1/2 ounce white bucktail and chartreuse gulp working a stretch of beach where I knew there was a hole. Had some taps but was missing hook sets. Caught a baby fluke and a short to start. Switched my teaser bait to a 5" white gulp jerk shad and I got whacked skipping the bucktail back to me pulling in a nice 18.5" fish. Lost a few other fish but the bite turned off shortly after that so I took my dinner and went home.
Sunday morning I went back to my same spot at Island Beach shortly before 6:00 am. Started out with lots of fluke action, hits on every other cast. My trauma for the day started when I was skipping my bucktail right in the wash and all of a sudden felt weight on the line but no distinct hits. I set the hook but wasn't getting any real fight or head shakes, just heavy tension. Thought that I might have snagged a ray for a second. Kept reeling in and sure enough had a big fluke on. I used the waves to help bring the fish onto the sand. Got him halfway up on the sand, but not out of the wash, and the weight of the fish was putting a lot of tension on my rod. I was afraid the fish was going to break off trying to drag him in so my mistake was backing off the tension of the line. When I backed off, the fish spit the hook as a wave was washing in and I ran towards the fish as fast as I could. Still had my rod in one hand and tried to grab the fish which went right through my feet and slipped back out to sea with the wave. Was a heavy fish, easily 22". That stung for the rest of the day, actually still hurts thinking about it. But I guess that what keeps you coming back.
Managed to regroup and made a move to a new stretch of beach which I saw was a little deeper as the tide was going out. Was getting hits on every cast and caught 5-6 fluke before calling it a day. Ended up keeping one 16" fish.
Overall a fun few days of fishing with good action. You can't beat fluke fishing this time of year with a light weight setup, surf bag and board shorts. Tight lines.