The short of it!

[Detour66]

Headed out this morning to some really nice weather. We ran down the beach and hit some #'s. Tons of short fluke pretty much the whole trip with plenty of 17.5" mixed in but not one keeper. It really didn't matter. The weather was beautiful and my freezer is already full. Caught most fish in 40 ft of water and 6" pink shine gulp grub's did it's magic once again! Tight lines all!

[Duffman]

Nice report!

Did the same today but ran East. Same shit you had. Cold water and lockjaw. Strange year shaping up for sure.

[Broad Bill]

I have to laugh at these reports about cold water year after year as it relates to global warming. Is there global warming, yes. Is is impacting certain aspects of fisheries movement and habitat, probably. To what extent, no one really knows.

Winds and currents, as we've been seeing for so many years, influences local water temperatures more than GW. If there weren't as many South winds and upwelling, fish would be staging in deeper depths. But since those depths are ice cold, fish are seeking warmer shallower depths. Eventually that dynamic will switch as more fish flood in on full moon tides, South winds subside and inshore waters heat up. Same pattern we see every year. It's most likely the reason, no pun intended, we're seeing so many keeper fish being caught in a few feet of water because that's where the warm water and bait is. It's not rocket science

Biggest issue is the powers to be have once again adopted policy decision so that commercials have pretty much exclusive harvest rights for most fluke at 17.99" and under. I guarantee you as crazy as the ludicrous razor thin slot was last year, a lot of anglers, party boats and charter operators wish the 17" - 18" slot was still in place. Selective harvest of larger fish commercially coupled with the mandated harvest of larger fish recreationally combined with killing millions of juveniles in the process of both will eventually catch up and kill this fishery. It's a certainty and just a matter of time.

Just remember, global warming and ice cold baits coming up and the 4th of July is right around the corner. And in two and a half months when the stock schools up and heads offshore, once again the spawn will be annihilated by commercial netting. This fishery has been managed as bad as any fishery under management and if the politicians and bureaucrats don't wake up, they'll destroy one of the most important fisheries to the Mid-Atlantic coastal states.

[Detour66]

Originally Posted by Duffman

Nice report!

Did the same today but ran East. Same shit you had. Cold water and lockjaw. Strange year shaping up for sure.

It certainly is a strange fishing season so far. caught 20"+ Fluke in 50 ft of water a few weeks ago and now lockjaw out in the deeper waters and nothing but shorts in the inshore waters. I think once the water warms up the fishing is going to get real good! Fingers crossed! Tight Lines!

[frugalfisherman]

Look at Windguru. South winds most all of next 2 weeks with ALL south wave roll. Water ain't gonna warm for a while.

[Detour66]

Originally Posted by frugalfisherman

Look at Windguru. South winds most all of next 2 weeks with ALL south wave roll. Water ain't gonna warm for a while.

Not what we are hoping for!