Fishing Report for Barnegat Bay to Delaware Bay
Fluke Season Opens!
I have this funny, not quite nervous but building excitement going on in my bones. Let me think… New Year’s Eve? Nope. My Birthday? Nah. Tax Refund? No. Kentucky Derby? No. Cocktail specials at Tomatoes for Cinco de Mayo? No, but close. Hmmm, what could it be?
May 5th. Fluke season. 17.5 inches. 5 fish. Bingo!
Sure, if I catch a big tuna I get to show pictures to everyone and brag, white marlin always get the blood boiling, and any picture of a mako jumping or smiling at you from boatside is a crazy-cool conversation piece, so why does this ugly, beady-eyed, bucktail-attacking flatfish drive me over the edge? I don’t know! I must be from New Jersey.
Before launching into the shop reports, I just want to remind all of you guys that may have forgotten some of the basic rules of catching more fluke than the guy at the dock next to you.
First, go buy some Berkley Gulp. Listen, I am not on their payroll, I am not on their Pro Staff, I am not plugging these baits for any reason except that they just plain crush summer flounder. My favorite flavor is the 4-inch chartreuse swimming mullet. It goes on the lightest white bucktail I can use that still gets me down to the bottom. The hook on the bucktail is needle sharp after a touch-up with my file (you would be surprised how many hooks are dull right out of the package), and a strip of salted mackerel fillet tips it off. You get jiggy with this in a summer flounder’s general vicinity, and it is on.
It cracks me up to watch guys around me trying to cross a flounder’s eyes (since they are already basically crossed) with a massive, tarpon like first strike as soon as they feel anything touch their bait. You gotta let the fluke eat. I use a simple baitcasting reel with nothing but thumb pressure holding the spool in free spool. Feel the pickup, release the thumb a little, let them eat for about a three count, clamp down my thumb, then stick it to them. If I am using spinning gear, I drop back by simply pointing the rod tip right down to the surface of the water, which slacks the line just enough to let the fluke munch their way up the strip bait to the hook. Then they are mine.
Let’s not forget the tide. Moving water is a must, but slower-moving water is the best. An hour or two around the change is prime time, but that does not mean that you cannot back troll with a little heavier gear if you are going to shoot the whole day out there. People, for some reason like to make really long drifts for fluke. I don’t. If I find them, I set up and hammer the fish with short drifts. Fill the box first, sightsee later.
Just one more after-the-fact reminder. Nothing is worse than catching a nice fluke and then hacking the heck out of it on the table because you forgot to sharpen your fillet knife or pick up a new one. This holds a mandatory position on my pre-season to-do list.
OK, now that you have got the “how,” let’s get to the “where.”
Up in Manahawkin, Matt and Andy at Tony’s Bait & Tackle are stocking the shelves with all the white bucktails you will ever need. The Gulp rack is full, as are the minnow tanks and the freezers. They are ready if you are. Striper fishing has slowed with the weather this past week, but working the beach between Ship Bottom and Brant Beach with a bait rod staked up and tossing plugs in the wash is always worth the effort.
Dave at Absecon Bay Sportsman’s Center has done his wind dance and it looks like it is going to work. The wind is forecasted to turn around north on Saturday and not top 10 knots, so the back bay should be fine to fish with mid 70’s forecasted on the thermometer. Looks like perfect weather for Dave’s free Customer Appreciation Tourney that he runs on opening day weekend. Gift certificates for the top three biggest Fluke, Striper, Bluefish and Black Drum are up for grabs. There is plenty of prime real estate for you to cover back there from the edges of Absecon Bay all the way over to Little Panama and behind Brigantine. When I had my boat over in Atlantic City, we always did real well between the 176 and 178 in the Broad Creek area.
Lots of anticipation from the fanatics at Fin-Atics in Ocean City. Not only was a 40-inch bass taken on bait on the beach this past week, but live squid have showed up both out front and in the back. John has a cooler full of fresh ones for those guys gearing up for opening day. Scouting reports from behind Ocean City have flatties in the 20-inch range being caught and released in decent numbers. Full bait coolers, great intel, and all the last minute items you need are waiting for you if you are in their zone.
Team Tackle Direct left the monster new showroom on Tilton Rd. in Egg Harbor Township last weekend to cash in on the end of tog season. Cash in they did with individual Pro Team members banging upwards of 30 fish each off the Ocean City Reef. It was almost too easy to limit out, but the guys only kept the 4-plus-pounders that came over the rail. It seems totally criminal for the season to end right now.
Things down at Off The Hook in Cape may are not quite off the hook yet, but Chuck reports things are getting stronger. The bass bite is moving back down the bay with guys not having to run quite so far. There are rumblings of the beginning of the drum bite over on the Delaware side (don’t forget your Delaware license!). Early scouts are out for opening day of fluke and they are totally dialed in. Stop by over at OTH for fresh intel on your way out.
Fishing Forecast for South Jersey:
Best bet for the weekend is to go flukin’ nuts! Take the info from above, find a smart spot where there is decent water flow, and a good sloping flats structure near the intersection of a couple creeks or channels, and start twitching that tip. I’m so convinced you are going to crush them this weekend, that I am going to post my favorite recipe next week!
Stay Tuna-ed!
Questions and comments to Capt. Ed at FmTuna@aol.com