Fluke: The Feds were right

[Abrasion]

Based off the reports I've been reading and from my own experience this season, it seems like the feds were right to lower the quota and increase size limits.

I think anyone that has been fluking this season would find it difficult to disagree....

[Taxman]

Try bait,trolling isn't always successful

[hammer4reel]

Based off the reports I've been reading and from my own experience this season, it seems like the feds were right to lower the quota and increase size limits.

I think anyone that has been fluking this season would find it difficult to disagree....

Talk to the commercial guys . Best season they have had .
Main body of fish is offshore feeding on heavy concentrations of squid and sand eels .

We won't see great reports until the bait is here .

.

[swcody13]

Oh boy, this will be a thread to follow today

[bunker dunker]

if the bait gets here is the question.they are catching good fluke from ri down to montauk because they have bait.nj dose not get the bait that we used to.the sand eels seem to just pass thru nj but never stay in any reel masses.

[Abrasion]

The bait is here. There are literally miles of sand eels very close by.

[hammer4reel]

There are definitely sand eels here .but the fluke are strying on the body of bait they have been on for months .
The fish coming in from the east have been on massive amounts of squid .
They have no reason to move off of

[bunker dunker]

yes they are here now but when that water goes up a few more points they will head north.same with squid,heavy in the spring than gone

[SplitShot]

Just got back from a quick morning fluke trip out of SRI on my friends boat.... we kept trying different spots that used to produce, using different gulps, bucktails AND squid... all we got were seabass, which swam away happily.... we finished about 9 miles out in 90' but the wind really started picking up along with white caps and seeing a storm heading our way, decided to play it safe and come back in... Of course, it only drizzled a little and no fluke for dinner :(

Next Time!!! :D

[Abrasion]

Some comments from a very well known headboat from the last week:

"Not many area's holding fish just yet and to stay in Sandy Hook bay is just dying a slow death, for now. My fuel bill for the past week will prove that."

"After searching half the ocean the past couple of days looking for the bite"

"Morning didn't start out the way I had planned, fish either moved or didn't want to co-operate. Picked at mostly shorts with a good drift, went in search mode and found some life"

"Slugged and picked away all day, not easy fishing by any means, we are fishing and always looking in new area's trying to find the Mother load"

[torchee]

Last year June was hot fishing,
I'm praying that the hot fishing will be early July this year
I was walking around barefoot in the surf, raritan bay and shark river this week and they were all cold.
Dropped a 5lb + fish Thursday from shore
But had too few shorts
I have a feeling that fluke are going to explode any minute

[torchee]

The whole month of May the weather sucked and the temps plummeted to winter levels

[frugalfisherman]

You're not keeping enough 16 inch fluke.

[captmark]

We had a quick half day trip on Thursday and loaded up on Fluke we found 1 patch and just like years past you had to 1st find them and then work them, the only difference was from years past lots of ling which I believe that bottom temp is still real low, oh we only had short fluke but several over 19

[Reel Class]

There's nothing like assessing the entire fluke season 3 weeks into it :rolleyes::rolleyes:

Give it time man.

[dales529]

There's nothing like assessing the entire fluke season 3 weeks into it :rolleyes::rolleyes:

Give it time man.

Exactly Capt. Just like the Feds doing a trawl survey on open sandy bottom with 50 degree water and surprise no fish in the nets. Same old crap
Let sees what the rest of the season holds before we make illogical assessments.

Plenty of fish out East and North of us I hear

[Capt John]

Exactly Capt. Just like the Feds doing a trawl survey on open sandy bottom with 50 degree water and surprise no fish in the nets. Same old crap
Let sees what the rest of the season holds before we make illogical assessments.

Plenty of fish out East and North of us I hear

Very true.....water down deep still cold. Your last sentence is what I heard the other day too. My brother-in-law lives in RI.

[AndyS]

It's only June !!! Year after year after year the best fluke fishing is in August. Does anyone not keep a log book or remember years past ??????

[bulletbob]

It's only June !!! Year after year after year the best fluke fishing is in August. Does anyone not keep a log book or remember years past ??????

I dunno about that.. Out in the ocean maybe on the rocks and humps.. In the bays, rivers, and inshore ocean??.. Shorts and more shorts becomes the order of the day.. Those "easy to reach" populations get hammered day after day by thousands of boats for close to 3 months, and are picked over pretty well by the time August rolls around...

[Togfather2530]

Ok guys. The fluke fishing sucks so far this year. Again I don't mean to be negative but like usual the sea bass fishing is good and I'd be doing that if it was open. Last year after the hurricane there were no fluke to be found. I get so tired of these captains depending on their livelihood posting these "optimistic reports". In all honesty go on a party boat and u will be lucky to get 2 keepers for 60$ + tip. I was out last weekend and I couldn't buy a bite. 1 keeper which I threw back by the way. The fishing sucks. I totally agreed with u abrasion.

[Mike K]

South Jersey back bay is way better this year. Opening day I had three keepers by 8:00 AM. Now, the reefs are starting to produce. Was at OC reef Thursday for 3 hours went 1 for 4. Now some will call that a bad day, but boats out there earlier had limits. It's not even July yet. August is usually best on the ocean reefs. Threw back a 14" Sea Bass too. A guy like me can make a meal out of a 14" Bass, but the rules are the rules.

[Detour66]

If the Feds where right there would be no Fluke anywhere. You are saying they are out in the ocean feeding on squid and that's keeping them where the food is.So there are Fluke..just not in SH Bay. July-August are mostly the best Fluke months. Let's give it a chance. I know of some sharpies that are cleaning house every time they go out so the fish are there. BTW...how far offshore are these Fluke ...I am ready to take a ride! :cool: Tight lines!

[SaltLife1980]

Last year the bay was full of bait early in the season which is why it was stupid fishing right off the bat. This year is a different year. Cant compare this years to last years catch already bc the variables are different. If all the bait and all that was in the bay again like last year and this year we were not catching shit id say you have a point.

[NoLimit]

We are having one of the best years on fluke....mostly in 16' or less

[hammer4reel]

It's only June !!! Year after year after year the best fluke fishing is in August. Does anyone not keep a log book or remember years past ??????

good fluking usually starts the last two weeks of June in the raritan Bay.
Ocean fishery starts to heat up by the second week of July.
But with the water colder than normal this spring with all the SE heave. its not surprising the fishery is a few weeks late.

as said when all the bait still out east gets here it will be like someone flipped the switch.

Just one look at the reports east of FI shows they are pounding fish there daily

.

[Reelron]

What you say may be so, but I see some very valid arguments presented here.

I also believe that by following the size limts they restrict us to we help them to be right. As long as we allow them to bump the minium size up we keep moving into the area of taking only the larger breeders! Thus no fluke. Until we are "allowed" to take reasonable size fish we are creating our own problem!

[Togfather2530]

Agreed 100%. Every year it will decline

[Joey Dah Fish]

Not sure if many of you noticed. But we had no real tog bite throughout the April until the very end. In addition no real serious Striper consistency throughout late may and through June. Now Abrasion is saying fluke are very scarce. Well from my perspective just look at water temps and the fact we probably had a total of 8 day in 2 months of west winds and I think most of us can agree water temps are everything. Fluke just started showing up last week in the ocean and give it time. Keep watching those winds we need a good 3-4 consecutive days of west winds and I think you will see much improved fishing. Not to mention the amount of rain we have seen May and June. But to judge the fluke season in this first couple of weeks is irresponsible. Obviously not a long time fisherman or just looking at how great last spring was and comparing it to this spring. Every year is different that fishing.

[FISHGERE]

abrasion you got it right, look at the pictures they cant even get three fish not good. fishing stinks

[Gerry Zagorski]

Not saying the feds are right, but even a broken clock is right twice a day :rolleyes:

Lets talk once the water warms up and the bait fish move in. Look at all the Cod, Winter Flounder and Ling being caught... They are all cold water fish and usually gone this time of year.

Any way you cut it, what they are doing right now isn't working for the fish or the fishermen. Time for some drastic changes.

Point in case, according to them Sea Bass are fully rebuilt yet we are facing a quota reduction?? Heck, you can hardly drop down a piece of squid or clam and not catch one.

[Abrasion]

Not sure if many of you noticed. But we had no real tog bite throughout the April until the very end. In addition no real serious Striper consistency throughout late may and through June. Now Abrasion is saying fluke are very scarce. Well from my perspective just look at water temps and the fact we probably had a total of 8 day in 2 months of west winds and I think most of us can agree water temps are everything. Fluke just started showing up last week in the ocean and give it time. Keep watching those winds we need a good 3-4 consecutive days of west winds and I think you will see much improved fishing. Not to mention the amount of rain we have seen May and June. But to judge the fluke season in this first couple of weeks is irresponsible. Obviously not a long time fisherman or just looking at how great last spring was and comparing it to this spring. Every year is different that fishing.


I must have missed the consistent striper bite you reference. And no, two fish in a day while trolling bunker spoons for 12 hours does not count. I'm sure the headboats will agree with me.

[Abrasion]

Not saying the feds are right, but even a broken clock is right twice a day :rolleyes:

Lets talk once the water warms up and the bait fish move in. Look at all the Cod, Winter Flounder and Ling being caught... They are all cold water fish and usually gone this time of year.

Any way you cut it, what they are doing right now isn't working for the fish or the fishermen. Time for some drastic changes.

Point in case, according to them Sea Bass are fully rebuilt yet we are facing a quota reduction?? Heck, you can hardly drop down a piece of squid or clam and not catch one.

I don't disagree with you on the seabass. It's pretty obvious that the Feds got that one wrong. While there seem to be a much higher short to keeper ratio this year(unless you fished on the Monger), there sure are plenty of them around.

[bunkatabunka]

NJ is overfished. Too many people killing way too many fish. All species. There is not an infinite number of fish out there, and people act like there is. My opinion.

[Joey Dah Fish]

I must have missed the consistent striper bite you reference. And no, two fish in a day while trolling bunker spoons for 12 hours does not count. I'm sure the headboats will agree with me.

Yes you missed it early April in the raritan bay and up the Hudson

[GDubya07]

With the water temp down, SE wind and bait holding the flukies offshore of course they are not here. But the commercials are having a great offshore fishery and the northern states are doing so well let's wait and see when the conditions and water temps change. Just because the fish are not here doesn't mean there is a problem and guess what they might not even make it here , that is fishing!!! Migration patterns do change every year ???

It is like me being a fat kid saying why would I want to leave the buffet when I have everything here in front of me. Why would you leave that especially in nature when you can get an easy meal?

IMHO the biggest issue here are the regulations and taking of the bigger larger breeding females and increased size every year that are just making things worse by there own statistics

Regardless of opinions and there are many on this subject at least we can post them here and discuss them in this forum. Thank you Jerry and NJ Fishing for making it possible

GDubs-:cool:

[Honger]

Drawing conclusion from couple of posts on the internet. Brilliant

[Capt Sal]

NJ is overfished. Too many people killing way too many fish. All species. There is not an infinite number of fish out there, and people act like there is. My opinion.

Many trips people get skunked. Many days are lost to the weather. People posting"Limited out" is a joke with a three fish total on fluke. People post "Limited with unders".That means one striper per person! We are taking way less fish these days and there is much more catch and release on stripers.

[Abrasion]

From the best in the biz...

All of my customers who know me and for the new customers who have become regulars, you know I pull no punches with my reports, I don't sugar coat anything. I will always give you a 110% effort, the best crew on the dock for service, a good clean boat, A customer friendly atmosphere, everything to make your day a good one. The only thing I can't control is the fishing and fishing this season has been horrible! A few trips have produced and did OK, nothing like the fishing last year at this time by any means. Doesn't keep us from coming to the boat everyday looking to bust ass. With that being said....

[ruds55]

I'm not going to agree or disagree with this post as of yet! Just came back in from a morning fluke trip and as long as you put the work in the fluke are here. Maybe the volume of bites is a little lower (which can be the water temps compared to last year) but no problem finding some door mats. This one is from this morning. Naturally not going to share the location but a little birdie may tell you somewhere near the Manasquan inlet. 28 in / 8 pounds

Happy hunting.

[makosnax]

That's not a doormat, a doormat is 10#

[ruds55]

Early season I'll take it! Let's call it a closet runner.

[stevelikes2fish]

Based off the reports I've been reading and from my own experience this season, it seems like the feds were right to lower the quota and increase size limits.

I think anyone that has been fluking this season would find it difficult to disagree....

I believe NOAA has some open positions.......

[reason162]

Something is seriously wrong with the fluking in RB this year. Maybe it will break wide open, maybe not...but this is by far the slowest June in the last decade.

[Capt Sal]

Something is seriously wrong with the fluking in RB this year. Maybe it will break wide open, maybe not...but this is by far the slowest June in the last decade.
No bait no fluke. Grass shrimp and the Triangle and Red Bank Reach get hot as does the Arthur Kill.

[henro]

This thread has gone much smoother than I would've guessed through 5 pages so far...

[Togfather2530]

No bait no fluke. Grass shrimp and the Triangle and Red Bank Reach get hot as does the Arthur Kill.
__________________

The navesink and shrewsberry this year for me has produced a pretty decent keeper to short ratio but not a lot of fish. Most seemed to be keepers or just under but 3 guys fishing and maybe 4 keepers. Another time myself I had 2 keepers. They were loaded with grass shrimp. Fishing wasn't hot by any means. Haven't been there for about 2 weeks to try again

[reason162]

No bait no fluke. Grass shrimp and the Triangle and Red Bank Reach get hot as does the Arthur Kill.

Yes, there are pockets of fluke here and there, I know of a couple areas that are holding but...the main fluke highways and byways are devoid of life.

Last year's silly early season channel bite was an anomaly as well, but I prefer that kind of anomaly lol