Bob & Mag

Maggie and I have gotten out a few times in the past two weeks fluking.
What a difference a year makes?
Water temps in the mid-sixties.
Bait ranged from whole squid, squid strips with mummies(kellies) and fluke belly strips with mummies on our own fluke rigs.
Fished Madison, Clinton and Westbrook areas in depths from 8' to 75'.

Ratio of shorts has been unreal for us (approx. 1 keeper vs. 12 shorts)
Last year on the same waypoints, we regularly caught fish from 3lbs to 8 1/2lbs. Biggest we got in the last couple weeks was 4 1/2 lbs. (boga)

Still trying to figure out if they've moved to other routes to the CT shore or just not nearly as many big fish this season.
Have been studying the charts and have a couple new spots picked out to try.
Will post results.

Tight Lines,
Bob

74Formula233

Thanks for the report Bob....

Up this way (RI south shore), the draggers have been hitting the usual fluke spots very hard....and in close....

This has to have a lot to do with it. Dead bycatch, nets that let only the smaller ones thru......

They have been simply relentless with their dragging....back & forth.... :x

Bruce Kraemer

Fluked the whole incomming tide out of Westbrook on 7\30. Nothing at Crane's, 1 short off Duck Island in 50 Feet 2 Robbins, 1 Short and a Robbin off Hammo in 65 Feet. I am totaly frustrated with flukeing this year. Gave it an honest try have about 16 to 20 hours into flukeing in 5 trips dedicated to flukeing and only 1 22" keeper. Any help would be very appreciated. On the bright side this has been the best year ever (over 30 years) for Bass over 40 inches. :lol:

Bob & Mag

We hit hard a very good spot from last season....fished it four hours without a tap. Also hit surrounding water from 70' to 18' with same results.
Took it out on a bunch of blues on light spinning gear.

We've hit areas from Long Sand Shoal 8' to 60', Duck Island 15' to 45', Six Mile Reef 50' and farther west towards Falkners. Many shorts and only a few keepers.
Hard to understand the difference from past seasons.
Were going to try old haunts around Hens and Chickens and east. Maggie's largest 10 lbs. came from a 45' deep drift between h & c and cornfield reef a few years back. Nothing much happening in our neighborhood.
Planning to hit it again Saturday and will post how it goes.

Capt Neil Faulkner

Hi Folks,

Last night I was right in the middle of typing a post to respond when the power was lost till midnight.

To introduce myself. For 8 years I worked on the Port Jeff Prowler party boat. Then I did 7 years on the Shinnecock Star. Then last year I needed time away from pb's, a vacation. This year I am doing trips on the PJ Prowlwer/Ace, again, and very happy to be chasing fish on LI Sound. My passion besides putting fares on fish is to find fluke where no one else usually fishes.

This season, early, Mt Misery Shoal, C11, had a fantastic run of fluke, better than ever. PJ is not known as having a yearly great run of fluke. But, nice fluke are always caught but not in the numbers they had this year. 4-6# fluke were common. Of course I did not get into the action till it was over. Oh well! It seems most years the larger body of fluke comtinue on till they reach Huntington. Why, I wish I knew.

Bruce,

I enjoyed reading your post about fishing Cranes and finding nothing. I did the same thing a few days before you tried there. I only had 2 fares and a couple crew members so I sailed telling everyone that it was a trip to explore and look for big fluke. That we did. The fares went home with dinner. I know, big deal, 4 fluke is not much to talk about. I did spend time at Cranes with a good drift etc. Could not believe that not even a short fluke was caught, just pin (very small) porgys. I drifted in 20'-50' of water. Zippo! The day before I did find a few bigger fish north of Old Field Pt in 65' working the rocks to 6#, nice fish.

I do know some fluke have been taken near Strafford Shoal while fares were porgy fishing. Every season while jigging blues some fluke hit the AVA 47 type jigs and they are in the 5-9# class range. The problem is that there are not a lot of them, so it seems. I hope to do some deep water fluke trips this month if I have fares that are willing and can work amongst the rocks and structure. I will even drift porgys on one side of the boat and fluke on the other side. Heck, why not! Some very big porgys on the east side and a bit south of the light house right now.

For those of you across from Rocky Point/Sound beach, C9 area holds fluke and does not get hit as hard as C11 does. If I ran a faster boat or had my own boat up there I would run to C9 and even C7 looking for fluke. Any point of land jutting out into the Sound can hold fluke.

Well, just some info from the south side of the Sound. I wish I knew more about the north side of the Sound in regards to fluking. Yes, many times I have chased blues all the way to Bridgeport.

Take care and have fun fishing.

Capt Neil

__________________
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Home of The Long Islander Series of rods
Sayville, Long Island, New York

(631) 567-8049

Bob & Mag

Update:
We got out this morning and fished the entire outgoing tide.
Started out a Long Sand Shoals, 15' to 55', and nada, not even a tap from a bluefish.
Seeing we were close we headed for deeper water at East Rip area 60'-70' with the same results.
Decided to hit some waypoints around Hens and Chickens and Cranes, 20' to 45', where Maggie got her 10 pounder. Very slow with 3 shorts and a couple bluefish to show for it.

It was a beautiful day out there.
Hopefully will be getting out tomorrow or later during the week....you could about walk across the boats on the reefs today. :shock: :lol:

Bruce Kraemer

Fished Hens and ckickens, LSS and Duck Island 25 to 65 feet. Fished 3 hours. Nothing but 5 shorts and a large skate. Bulefish belly with just a hook and no rig caught all but 1 of the fish. Used 1 rod with a spiner rig squid and spearing and 1 with just a hook and fresh blue belly.