2020 Fluking in Sandy Hook/Raritan Bay/Ocean

[fish4fun]

How do you rate this years fishing to past seasons and what bait worked best for you? We know shorts were everywhere but what areas produced the most keepers?

[Jigman13]

I had a stellar fluke season in the back of the bay. Nothing over 20" this year but several trips with 2 keepers or my limit. Some days the short life was prolific. Others were great with a 3 or 4 to 1 ratio shorts to keepers.

All of my fish were taken on 3/8 or 1/2 oz jigheads and white gulp mullets only. I use no other colors.

This was all on shore beating the banks.

[Fun King]

First season I did not get one keeper.

[tjd24]

000-1
I had to follow NY Regs.

[Blind Archer]

Had a great year, despite cancer, radiation treatments and hiding from Covid. Shared many trips with my sometimes unwilling wife. Caught a couple of 4's and a couple of 5# and all the shorts(many 17 1/2 +)you could ever want. All in the backwaters on The Wonder Rig. Thanks for sharing Doc.

[Cape Cod]

Up to 25” from kayak inshore this year so it was pretty good

[Detour66]

On a 1-10 scale i would give this years Fluke fishing for me a 7. The Sea Bass/Ling bite was so good I didn't really target them till the end of June when the ocean bite started. Most trips we caught plenty of shorts and I always came back with at least 2 keepers or my limit. My biggest fish of the season was 6 lbs with a few 4's and 5's also. The end of July into August was real steady with some days the fishing being hot! All in all no complaints! Can't wait till next year. Tight lines!

[Grateful Dad]

Early in the season was quite good, it slowed down for me the last few weeks of the season. While I usually concentrate on the back of Raritan bay, Triangle, etc. it seemed I had to head out towards Chapel Hill, and outside the Hook to find them more often than not.
We never got skunked, lots of shorts, and typically got a few keepers every trip. I used the Wonder Rig exclusively, never lets me down.

[Duffman]

Like Detour I’d give it a 7.

Shitty at the start with all the that rust colored water. Got better as spring went on. Found fish everywhere from the Triangle to Officers row.

Shallow was better than deep. More fish on the humps rather than the holes. No monsters at all as our biggest in the bay went 4 lbs. But def a solid pick and keepers almost every trip.

Rather catch shorts and some 20”+ fish in 10 FOW on light gear than bigger fish in 60 ft. But that’s just me.

Was shocked by how dead the bay was on our last ride 10/24. Just dead gray water with no life at all. Big big change from earlier this year.

[hammer4reel]

Fished Oceanside whole season .
Fishing was VERY GOOD from start to finish .
Lots of quality fish