What is wrong???

[joetheplumber]

Went out on the OE yesterday. Caught this nice fluke!! However, there were about 40 people on board and only about 10 keepers!! Something is going on with the fluke.. Any ideas???

[Gerry Zagorski]

Fluke fishing hasn't been the best this year but this recent cold snap and 3 days of NE winds probably didn't help much either...

[Capt John]

Fluke fishing here in NJ has been terrible this year. Want to catch some real slobs??? fish boats going out to Nantucket. KIlling them out there. Why...? Who knows. Cleaner water, colder water it's anyone's guess but they sure as hell aren't here. Friend of mine fished for two days (15th and 16th) and hammered the fish. Throwing back 5-6 lb. fish. Pool winner was 14 lbs. His srew caught fish 9-12 lbs.....NJ fluke fishing su***!

[Mike K]

An acquaintance fished on a charter boat this week out of Point, well known to everyone on this board. 14 guys, 42 keepers. Go figure. Fishing's like that.

[Bass_Appeal]

i think this is what happens when new york keeps spewing out filthy sewage into the rivers and getting away with it !! seems like we are the only state that gets our beaches shut down for bacteria !

[FISHGERE]

capt john your right fluking sucks

[Blackfish Bobby]

Hey Joe.... Stop using blackfish rigs for fluke and you will catch more.
The other reason is the fish are right in your back yard in Raritan Bay.
With a 3 fish limit I need more guys in the boat !!!! Send me your number and maybe we can hook up for some light tackle fun. Leave those pool cue sticks home !!:eek:

[hammer4reel]

Fish are here .and have been for months .
Draggers never had to go 5 miles from Port for their daily limit .and actually did so good they filled their quota early and had their season shut down until September .

SE heave has kept the bottom water way colder than it should be .
Heave came in the second week of may and is still here the end of July .

Even the fish we are catching aren't fighting like they should .
Coming up like a wet dish towel

.

[Fishin Polski]

Isn't the water cold in Nantucket?

[swcody13]

Isn't the water cold in Nantucket?

Yes and they are in the deep 100 feet is very common...but those fish behave so much differently up there... they are fatter given their size, they are not shy like the fluke can be sometimes down here. Once you find the biomass up there it is absolutely lights out. Unlike anything I have experienced. There must be so much competition down there to eat that they are much more willing to commit.

[Capt John]

Fluke fishing here in NJ has been terrible this year. Want to catch some real slobs??? fish boats going out to Nantucket. KIlling them out there. Why...? Who knows. Cleaner water, colder water it's anyone's guess but they sure as hell aren't here. Friend of mine fished for two days (15th and 16th) and hammered the fish. Throwing back 5-6 lb. fish. Pool winner was 14 lbs. His srew caught fish 9-12 lbs.....NJ fluke fishing su***!

Allow me to clarify my previous post.....first off, are there fluke way back in Raritan Bay? Yes. Sandy Hook Bay?....yes a few. All of Raritan Bay...yes, if you can find some very small pods of barely legal fish.

Question then.....what the hell happened to the lights out "Raritan Reach" fishing of last year? Gone.

From what I'm reading and hearing, some boats are finding fish ocean side somewhat offshore (ling and black sea bass in their catches) speaks volumes. That's a hell of a ride in a small boat for 3 fish per man.

Good for them, but for the small boat owner, the rivers, bays and near shore fishing is what most can accomplish safely and good fluke fishing in those areas is just not happening this year "with any consistency"....remember those last three words please.

I got an email a few days ago from one of the best tournament winning fluke anglers I know and he's echoed the same evaluation as I....tough, tough fluke fishing and nothing to scream about with the spring Striper fishing either, so I'm not alone on this.

Something is wrong here. I can accept a drop off to a degree, but what I've seen has been a 360 degree turnaround from last year in our rivers, bays and the NY Bight area in general. I hate to use extreme adjectives, but collapse is not too far away for our area......very sad.

Remember the word "consistency".....sorry not this year.

As I stated in my previous post, my friends who drove "north" for a two day fluke fishing trip absolutely HAMMERED big fish. 9's, 10's and a 12 in the cooler and throwbacks were 5's and 6's....unreal fishing. Where the hell is that for our NJ fisherman?

[Detour66]

It could be the constant rain storms we have been getting has affected the salinity and water quality and this is keeping the Fluke out. I really doubt that there is a shortage or over fished. Or maybe it's just a bad year! It does happen.

[thefishermanmechanic]

My biggest fluke this year was hooked at the mud hole!

[Joey Dah Fish]

Well considering Mass NY and now NJ commercial fluke fishing is closed because of already reaching their quota I can't say there's a shortage off fish. Perhaps just their location has changed

[Ice Cream Bill]

Capt. John,

Your friend that fished up in MA last week is also my friend. I saw their pics and heard the same report as you. Insane fishing! One of the biggest reasons for the difference in the size of fluke between MA and NJ is the sheer numbers of boats/anglers out everyday in Raritan Bay versus Hyannis/Marshfield, MA.

I fished the PP Elks tournament last weekend in a NS boat out of the Neptune area. We had 13 keepers up to 5.7 lbs--not good enough for any money but still a "banner day" in 2017 for fluke fishing in NJ.

Bill

[SNAPS]

Well considering Mass NY and now NJ commercial fluke fishing is closed because of already reaching their quota I can't say there's a shortage off fish. Perhaps just their location has changed

aa) comms got to em before we did, fish stayed deep, bc of cold water inshore, sponsors boat went deep had a couple good days for jersey.
bb) Majority of Biomass landed up north, my buddy and his 2 sons marthas vineyard, yes read the reports from up there.
cc) LOL yea fishery is in trouble, for us not the comms, they cleaned up huh on 14" fish eff.

[dakota560]

cc) LOL yea fishery is in trouble, for us not the comms, they cleaned up huh on 14" fish eff.[/QUOTE]

Check their offloads, they aren't made up of 14" fish. The 14" fish were tossed back....DEAD. The size fish being brought to market are primarily all large females. Fish staged because of the cold water this year, highly concentrated and easy target for commercials.

Commercials are closed until September when their season reopens, just when fluke are once again highly concentrated migrating off shore and in the prime of their spawn. And fisheries management stands by and allows it to happen while the stock by their own admission is in trouble and recruitment tanking. Absolute absurdity.

[Capt Sal]

Well considering Mass NY and now NJ commercial fluke fishing is closed because of already reaching their quota I can't say there's a shortage off fish. Perhaps just their location has changed

Exactly.If there are grass shrimp in Raritan the fluke will come in.When the Reach is hot the fluke spit up balls of grass shrimp when they hit the deck.spearing are also a major part of a flukes diet. No bait no fish along with other things.When the commercials are shut down for reaqching there quota i have seen the fluking turn around big time in the bay.

[Ocean Explorer]

https://www.oceanexplorerbelmar.com/july-2017.html


really?

[Waresthefish]

Fished last Thursday and Friday for a total of about 10 hours at Axel Carlson. Caught plenty of sea robins, dogfish and skates. Moved around a number of times and could only manage two short fluke.

[SaltLife1980]

The Draggers in LBI are getting their quota for the day in 4 pulls..

[Treebeard63]

I don't really think there's anything wrong.. I agree the fishing in RB has been way off this year.. but I believe that has been more related to the conditions than the fishery... too much fresh/muddy water perhaps(the streams up here are still at levels I normally see in May) , late warm up, etc..Also, it seems while bunker seem scarce, there has been an influx of sand eels in many areas.. which I feel could be causing a bit of a shift in feeding patterns from what we may be used to..but at any rate... surprisingly, after a few decades of fishing I still have enough remaining brain cells to remember other seasons... where things seemed bleak for certain species.. only to have the fishing bounce back in a big way later on in the season.. I think a look at reports from the past couple weeks will bear that out.. After 10-12 fluke trips on various PBs and charters for me so far this year, I'd call my results slightly below average.. 1 skunk.. a couple limits, but mostly at least a keeper or 2.. last week's trip was best so far, and I'm betting this week will be even better ;)

[1captainron]

I don't really think there's anything wrong.. I agree the fishing in RB has been way off this year.. but I believe that has been more related to the conditions than the fishery... too much fresh/muddy water perhaps(the streams up here are still at levels I normally see in May) , late warm up, etc..Also, it seems while bunker seem scarce, there has been an influx of sand eels in many areas.. which I feel could be causing a bit of a shift in feeding patterns from what we may be used to..but at any rate... surprisingly, after a few decades of fishing I still have enough remaining brain cells to remember other seasons... where things seemed bleak for certain species.. only to have the fishing bounce back in a big way later on in the season.. I think a look at reports from the past couple weeks will bear that out.. After 10-12 fluke trips on various PBs and charters for me so far this year, I'd call my results slightly below average.. 1 skunk.. a couple limits, but mostly at least a keeper or 2.. last week's trip was best so far, and I'm betting this week will be even better ;)

Yes my Friend, someone else who actually "Gets it"!