Savvy18
Angler
Not sure if this is a debate, a discussion or just a few guys that are expressing their opinions on the state of our local fluke fishery and how they personally intend to move forward in their pursuit of a certain species given the fact that there has been a significant "shift" in the migration pattern, OR, a reduction in their numbers. Once again, an unknown & unanswered conundrum...Which is the most frustrating aspect. We all have our own ideas about how to "handle" or address this problem. And like most difficult situations, we have differing opinions about the solutions.
I remember the days when I could go up to Port Jeff and fish on Big Joe's (flukinit) Maycraft skiff with Lep and we'd hammer on nice 17-23" fish all day in less than 25 feet of water. It was a terrific fishery up there and I looked forward to it because it suited my preferences for targeting fluke in shallow water with a very high success rate. However, in the last 10 years that fishery has dried up and become almost non-existent. It simply doesn't happen anymore and none of us knows why. So, we no longer go up there to target fluke. Why would we? It would be a waste of time.
A similar thing (not completely) has happened in my neck of the woods. It seems bottom that had been productive for decades, is no longer holding fish. Did Sandy contribute to this problem? I would say yes. Especially to the more shallow (50 feet or less) hard bottom areas that I would assume have been sanded over for the most part making it less desirable for congregating bodies of fluke. Areas that were once very reliable for quality fish (countless over 10 lbs.) are now practically barren. Why? Once again, we don't know. I'm not talking about 1 or 2 areas. I'm saying it's much more wide ranging. Inside Jamaica Bay and outside as well. Are there still quality fluke to be caught? Absolutely. Just not with the same regularity or frequency as we are used to.
Which leads us to the fun part...What do YOU do? It's a very personal decision that each one of us makes and might not always be agreed upon with the masses. I certainly don't think all my friends are going to take the same route I have chosen to take. I've weighed a number of contributing factors that lead me to the decision to target fluke less often. And it's not only fluke. The decline of our bass fishing in Jamaica Bay has me less interested in the coming of spring when we traditionally had awesome bass bites. Those days are also a distant memory. Then we get to my real passion, TOG. 2020 was not a banner year for tautog either. Not even close. A shell of what we are used to. From mid-October straight through till late December, we had one of the worst tautog seasons I can recall. Yes, there was the occasional great day - but in the big picture, the fishery seems to be in a decline. I don't think any of our resident hardcore tog hunters will disagree. That's why so many guys are running hundreds of miles north in search of tog AND fluke.
Getting back to our topic, fluke. The reason why I'm scaling back is simple. I don't find the same joy in catching these fish deeper. With beefier tackle. With more lead. More lost jigs. Stronger currents. More conditions. More travel time. Bigger investment of time. More fuel consumption. Constantly worrying about weather because we are making MUCH longer trips to AB, Cholera, Hempstead Reef, the tankers....Now that I'm getting older I have less desire to make fishing more of a chore than it used to be. I recall the days when I was the 1st guy to the boat at 2am to make a weekend tuna trip to the canyon. Or I was catching blue-dicks all day prior to a sharking trip. Or heading up to Massachusetts to cod fish in 6-10 foot seas. Or heading out to fish in all sorts of terrible weather because tog fishing was insane! Combined with the fact that our local fishery has seen better days - The math is not hard to do. Sadly, I don't think I'm alone in this thought process.
Don't get me wrong, I still greatly enjoy a day of fishing with my buddies, ripping each other and telling war stories while we search for BIG fish. To me, trophy hunting is what still keeps me going. That 10 lb. fluke on my ultra light tackle is an accomplishment that has long-since eluded me - and it haunts me. I came close with a 9.5 lb. fish - but it's not good enough! Catching a 15+ tog on my custom ultra light rods & Leppified Abu's is another achievement I haven't attained. So, there's no doubt I'm still going to pursue those goals - the desire to make that happen is ever-present. Only now I plan to do it less often and when the forecast is extremely favorable.
I remember the days when I could go up to Port Jeff and fish on Big Joe's (flukinit) Maycraft skiff with Lep and we'd hammer on nice 17-23" fish all day in less than 25 feet of water. It was a terrific fishery up there and I looked forward to it because it suited my preferences for targeting fluke in shallow water with a very high success rate. However, in the last 10 years that fishery has dried up and become almost non-existent. It simply doesn't happen anymore and none of us knows why. So, we no longer go up there to target fluke. Why would we? It would be a waste of time.
A similar thing (not completely) has happened in my neck of the woods. It seems bottom that had been productive for decades, is no longer holding fish. Did Sandy contribute to this problem? I would say yes. Especially to the more shallow (50 feet or less) hard bottom areas that I would assume have been sanded over for the most part making it less desirable for congregating bodies of fluke. Areas that were once very reliable for quality fish (countless over 10 lbs.) are now practically barren. Why? Once again, we don't know. I'm not talking about 1 or 2 areas. I'm saying it's much more wide ranging. Inside Jamaica Bay and outside as well. Are there still quality fluke to be caught? Absolutely. Just not with the same regularity or frequency as we are used to.
Which leads us to the fun part...What do YOU do? It's a very personal decision that each one of us makes and might not always be agreed upon with the masses. I certainly don't think all my friends are going to take the same route I have chosen to take. I've weighed a number of contributing factors that lead me to the decision to target fluke less often. And it's not only fluke. The decline of our bass fishing in Jamaica Bay has me less interested in the coming of spring when we traditionally had awesome bass bites. Those days are also a distant memory. Then we get to my real passion, TOG. 2020 was not a banner year for tautog either. Not even close. A shell of what we are used to. From mid-October straight through till late December, we had one of the worst tautog seasons I can recall. Yes, there was the occasional great day - but in the big picture, the fishery seems to be in a decline. I don't think any of our resident hardcore tog hunters will disagree. That's why so many guys are running hundreds of miles north in search of tog AND fluke.
Getting back to our topic, fluke. The reason why I'm scaling back is simple. I don't find the same joy in catching these fish deeper. With beefier tackle. With more lead. More lost jigs. Stronger currents. More conditions. More travel time. Bigger investment of time. More fuel consumption. Constantly worrying about weather because we are making MUCH longer trips to AB, Cholera, Hempstead Reef, the tankers....Now that I'm getting older I have less desire to make fishing more of a chore than it used to be. I recall the days when I was the 1st guy to the boat at 2am to make a weekend tuna trip to the canyon. Or I was catching blue-dicks all day prior to a sharking trip. Or heading up to Massachusetts to cod fish in 6-10 foot seas. Or heading out to fish in all sorts of terrible weather because tog fishing was insane! Combined with the fact that our local fishery has seen better days - The math is not hard to do. Sadly, I don't think I'm alone in this thought process.
Don't get me wrong, I still greatly enjoy a day of fishing with my buddies, ripping each other and telling war stories while we search for BIG fish. To me, trophy hunting is what still keeps me going. That 10 lb. fluke on my ultra light tackle is an accomplishment that has long-since eluded me - and it haunts me. I came close with a 9.5 lb. fish - but it's not good enough! Catching a 15+ tog on my custom ultra light rods & Leppified Abu's is another achievement I haven't attained. So, there's no doubt I'm still going to pursue those goals - the desire to make that happen is ever-present. Only now I plan to do it less often and when the forecast is extremely favorable.
