Drifting for Fluke Tips

[Gerry Zagorski]

If you want to improve your odds of catching Fluke and are new to this fishery, the most important thing to understand is how to adjust to the conditions you are presented with so you have the best drift which gives your bait or buck tail the most natural presentation…

The Basics

Fluke generally lay on the bottom pointed into the current and lay in wait for the tide to wash food to them… If you want to increase your catch, you need to present your bait the way they are expecting to see it. In order to do that you need to position your boat in a place where your baits are moving in the same direction as the tide or current.

Drift speed is important as well. The optimal speed is between .5 to 1.5 knots. Any slower and you are not moving enough and any faster it will be difficult to hold bottom without using very heavy weights. Slack tides are to be avoided since fish like moving water and the worst possible conditions are in areas where the winds are blowing your boat and baits against the direction of the tide or current…

If you get the speed and direction right, if the fish are there, your chances of catching them just went up by a factor of 10…

Adjusting to Conditions

The problem most of us have is we’re forced to fish when time allows and many times it’s when conditions aren’t favorable. This is where you need to observe what’s happening and make adjustments to location or use tactics to get your baits moving the way they you want them to… Making these adjustments it what separates fishing from catching so let’s talk more about conditions and tactics to overcome them…

On days with light or no wind it’s pretty easy… When it’s light, the wind is not going to dictate your drift, the current or tide will so you need to find a spot where you have between a .5 and 1.5 knot drift. If not, move around until you can find a spot where you have a good drift speed. If you are not moving fast enough you need to move to an area with more water movement. Too slow you move to an area with less water movement.

In the bays it’s all about the tides and that means moving to areas where the water is restricted or influenced by land or structure. A perfect example might be the tip of Sandy Hook where the water generally moves faster than out in the middle of the bay where the water moves slower. It could be the Ambrose channel where the water is rushing into or out of the Verrazano narrows through the Ambrose channel. Or perhaps Romer Shoal where the water moves faster over the shallows. Those are the areas I’d go if looking if my drift was too slow, if too fast those are the areas I’d avoid.

On the ocean it all about the currents which usually runs north or south. The current typically moves faster tighter into the beach so depending on if you want to move faster or slower, you’d move closer to or further out from the beach.

There are however ways to overcome too slow or fast drift conditions in a specific area you know there are fish. You can power drift by bumping your engines in and out of gear to influence your direction and speed…. If you’re buck tailing rather than bounce your buck tail right underneath the boat as you drift, you can cast out and retrieve it giving your bait the correct movement.

OK now let’s deal wind. If it’s 10 knots or more it will also influence the speed and direction of your drift. If it’s blowing with the tide direction you might be going too fast, if against the tide too slow or worse yet against the tide.

In the bays the tide runs in a direction to either fill or empty a body of water… Depending on where you are the tide will run in different directions. Out in the middle of the Raritan Bay the incoming tide runs west and the outgoing east. On the bay side of Sandy Hook it runs south on the incoming to fill Sandy Hook bay and rivers and north to empty it. In the area of the Verrazano and Ambrose the tide is working to either fill or empty upper NY bay so there, the incoming tide runs north and the outgoing south.

Like we said above, the worst possible conditions are when the wind overtakes the direction of your drift so it would stand to reason that you would not want to be fishing an area with opposing tide and wind direction. To carry the example above a step further, you probably don’t want to be fishing out in the middle of the bay with outgoing tide and a strong east wind or and incoming tide and strong west winds… That would put you in wind against tide conditions. You’d want to move to an area where the tide is moving in the same or the cross direction of the wind…

Here again if you know there are fish in a specific area but the conditions aren’t right, there are ways to counteract the direction the wind will influence your drift…. One way is to use a drift sock… When the drift sock is deployed, it fills up with water and will make your boat drift more with the current to help you overcome the wind direction…. You could power drift to force your boat in a certain direction or during slack tide give you some movement… You could also move closer to land which buffets you from the wind. And once again, if you’re buck tailing you could cast and retrieve your buck tail to give it the desired direction you want….

Application

There are a few things you need to know and or have on board to help you apply these tips…. A GPS which allows you to take note of the speed of your drift. A tide chart to know the tide times and some common sense to apply them to the conditions you are encountering at any given point in time.

Summary

We haven’t covered all the conditions you could possibly encounter but I hope you get my drift (pun intended). Bottom line is you want to be in an area where your boat will be drifting with the tide or current and between .5 and 1.5 knots. If not, you need to move or use the tactics above to force your drift or cast a buck tail to move in a more favorable speed or direction.

Happy Fluking and hope this helps some of you who are new to the sport put more fish on the deck.

[Rocky]

Good informative read thanks for sharing.

[Capt. Debbie]

Great post Gerry. Also as in ALL fishing, use the lightest weight/bucktail that will stay on the bottom.

[PeteyHD]

Nice post Gerry.

Thanks!

[Gerry Zagorski]

Originally Posted by Capt. Frank

Great post Gerry. Also as in ALL fishing, use the lightest weight/bucktail that will stay on the bottom.

Exactly - The lighter the buck tail the better.... Helps you feel the bite better and has a more natural movement.

I'm a big fan of braid when bait or buck tail fishing... The smaller line diameter cuts through the water better which allows you to use less weight then mono. The sensitivity is much better and this is especially important when you're fishing deeper areas where its harder to feel bites.

[Bigdaddyhockey]

Great information. I used braid for fluking for the first time this weekend. Although I managed only shorts and sea bass (and 1 Ling), I agree that braid is the way to go, I should have started years ago.

[Treebeard63]

Fantastic post Gerry.. great info! I would add a word about using your GPS.. Don't forget to have your chart plotter lines turned on... The plotter lines are invaluable in viewing exactly how the boat is drifting.. and help you set up subsequent drifts that allow you to carefully pick apart a piece of structure, repeat a hot drift, or avoid repeating a crappy drift.. .. also, they will be your first clue when the drift starts to change...making it easier to adjust your starting points accordingly.. in addition, most units allow you to save your plotter trails.. so you can go back an hit productive drifts years later..

[Gerry Zagorski]

Originally Posted by Treebeard63

Fantastic post Gerry.. great info! I would add a word about using your GPS.. Don't forget to have your chart plotter lines turned on... The plotter lines are invaluable in viewing exactly how the boat is drifting.. and help you set up subsequent drifts that allow you to carefully pick apart a piece of structure, repeat a hot drift, or avoid repeating a crappy drift.. .. also, they will be your first clue when the drift starts to change...making it easier to adjust your starting points accordingly..

Yes great tip Treebeard! We use our tracks all the time to repeat or adjust our drifts as conditions change.

[Mike K]

Speaking of bucktail weights, here's an observation. 2 ounce used to be my go to size for fishing in the ocean which i typically do around the artificial reefs in 60 - 70'. Last year I switched to a lighter rod/reel with 10lb. braid and found that most days I could fish a 1.5 ounce well. Caught as many fish as the 2 ounce, but lost a lot less jigs in the rubble. That extra half ounce of lead makes a difference.

[FISHGERE]

best tip Costco wild caught pacific flounder 2 lb bag 9.99, fileted no bones no smell, good stuff.