Post your 2019-2024 Fluke Pix & Trip Reports Here!

MOJOE said:

frank we live in melboune fla for the last 3 years,,,, boy do we miss jamaica bay fishing on the mojoe skiff,,,,,,,,,this day maureen went crazy,,,,,,,,,,,,, ><)))):>
><))):>

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Maureen has every right to " go crazy" after a catch like that. What a terrific feeling!!!
I love how she is making sure you don't risk dropping her prize overboard.

Leprechaun said:

Well, it was a S-ton of work, both mechanical and cosmetic. But she came out looking even better than recent Springs, because I polished before I waxed. I don't really like doing that on my 38-yr old gelcoat - there's only so much left on her, but the results came out excellent. Love me my Collinite products. Lifetime user and always recommend Collinite to my friends. So, she' ready to go, once Chris/HippyChic sets a date - probably next week. No real hurry, I hear the ocean water is pristine, but still pretty cold.

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Surface water temp was 52-53 on Monday. And anything making its way into the boat was COLD!

AFTERNOON DELIGHT: got out briefly today with my usual crew but based on conditions we fished the afternoon not the morning. Good call, we had 7 Ks up to 6 lbs. , I'm hopeful that the ocean bite this year resembles what we've caught in the river (fingers crossed)

One of the few remaining great pleasures of my life is having the boat run like a top on launching - especially after a tough Spring's prep.

LET THE GAMES BEGIN ! ! !

Leprechaun said:

One of the few remaining great pleasures of my life is having the boat run like a top on launching - especially after a tough Spring's prep.

LET THE GAMES BEGIN! ! !

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Watch out, Fluke, your nemesis is in the batter's box!!

Looks great Pete; have a terrific and safe season.

Put some effort in but the bay has been dirty and clogged with weeds. Was nice that the fan has stopped and hopefully the temperature and quality of water improves.

Ocean was actually 51° this morning. That is cold water!

Normally in the 60s this time of year.

Yesterday I went out of Huntington to try and get in on the sand eels that have been up there. Had to keep presentations small. One setup I had a 2oz bucktail and teaser, 2nd rod was 2 dropper loops each with a teaser and a sinker on the bottom. Then I took a page from @buddha162 playbook and used a 1/4oz jig head with a jerk shad. Non stop action picking through shorts all day, until the tide dropped out so did the bite. Ended up with 2 keepers. The rod that I was using the 1/4 oz jig head was a Daiwa Tatula XT 7'3" Medium Fast Spinning with a Ultegra 3000. 8lb braid, 12lb leader. What a fun little setup that was. I used it last year for Tog Jigging also with no issues. Good mental health day taken from work. I think I'll be having another one this Friday when I join Capt Mike for a day of fishing

Snapprhead27 said:

Yesterday I went out of Huntington to try and get in on the sand eels that have been up there. Had to keep presentations small. One setup I had a 2oz bucktail and teaser, 2nd rod was 2 dropper loops each with a teaser and a sinker on the bottom. Then I took a page from @buddha162 playbook and used a 1/4oz jig head with a jerk shad. Non stop action picking through shorts all day, until the tide dropped out so did the bite. Ended up with 2 keepers. The rod that I was using the 1/4 oz jig head was a Daiwa Tatula XT 7'3" Medium Fast Spinning with a Ultegra 3000. 8lb braid, 12lb leader. What a fun little setup that was. I used it last year for Tog Jigging also with no issues. Good mental health day taken from work. I think I'll be having another one this Friday when I join Capt Mike for a day of fishing

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Nice job brother! And I like the outfit.

Inaugural fluke trip a success!

Headed out with George, our site host for the first of hopefully many deep fluke trips this season. Had fish right away, a 19.5 and 22" for George, who was high-hook today. Made my usual drifts and we quickly put another two in the box to 23+". Then the tide dropped out, leaving us with not much drift. Out came the spinning rods for the "cast around" method. Very slow results during the slack, but when it finally turned George put another 22" fish in the box.

That got us to five - one short of the limit. I turned to George and told him "we'll limit today, no doubt." Yeah, well, making that happen took an additional nearly two hours - bad juju talking like that, for sure. You'd think by now I should know better, right? Anyway, I finally boxed the last fish of the day, another 23" beauty around 1:30, and that was that. Boat limited on the first trip of the season. Gotta love it!

Other species included about 6-7 REALLY nice Sea Bass, which we did put back, season not open until Tuesday. Pretty much killed me, but I don't need the headaches should I get stopped coming back to the dock. Also some ding-a-lings and George's first Silver Eel, a monster at around 10lbs - which had George thinking DD flattie - whelp, not this time, LOL!

Also got a real good look at the monstrous double crane-barge that looked to be right around the 3-Sisters area - and when I say monster, I really mean it! Also saw that they've already put 4 tall white pylons (best as I can describe them) equally spaced, about two miles S of my home grounds. I guess its inevitable now. Very disappointed in the President, I must say.

Anyway, here are the pix:

Nicer job guys on the maiden voyage for this year.

Some fine fishing there!! Glad you got on them! How was the enhanced Palmarius?

The new modded-handle spinner? Awesome!

Leprechaun said:

Inaugural fluke trip a big success!

Headed out with George, our site host for the first of hopefully many deep fluke trips this season. Had fish right away, a 19.5 and 22" for George, who was high-hook today. Made my usual drifts and we quickly put another two in the box to 23+". Then the tide dropped out, leaving us with not much drift. Out came the spinning rods for the "cast around" method. Very slow results during the slack, but when it finally turned George put another 22" fish in the box.

That got us to five - one short of the limit. I turned to George and told him "we'll limit today, no doubt." Yeah, well, making that happen took nearly an additional two hours - bad juju talking like that, for sure. Anyway, I finally boxed the last fish of the day, another 23" beauty around 1:30, and that was that. Boat limited on the first trip of the season. Gotta love it!

Other species included about 6-7 REALLY nice Sea Bass, which we did put back, season not open until Tuesday. Pretty much killed me, but I don't need the headaches should I get stopped coming back to the dock. Also some ding-a-lings and George's first Silver Eel, a monster at around 10lbs - which had George thinking DD flattie - whelp, not this time, LOL!

Also got a real good look at the monstrous double crane-barge that looked to be right around the 3-Sisters area - and when I say monster, I really mean it! Also saw that they've already put 4 tall white pylons (best as I can describe them) equally spaced, about two miles S of my home grounds. I guess its inevitable now. Very disappointed in the President, I must say.

Anyway, here are the pix:

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The "Fluke Meister" is back!!
Nice job!

Well done guys!

It is a shame that you couldn't round out your catch with some Sea Bass.

Leprechaun said:

The new modded-handle spinner? Awesome!

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Great to hear!!!

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One of those days that is going to stick for a while. Just had a weird feel to it. The ocean is changing, no question. The pic up top is deceiving. That thing was over 1,300 feet tall. Every time I looked at it, I felt a bit sad. More on that another time.

Fishing started strong. Two bites, two keepers right away, and that pretty much set the tone. If not for the snags, I would not have burned through so much Gulp. Every fish was over 18 inches. Not a ton of them, but good size. Five out of six keepers were over 20 inches, four pushing 23. Fish were full of sand eels.

Hooked into a big silver eel. First one for me, but disappointing at the same time. That eel took off like a doormat fluke. Thought I had a monster, but up comes this strange looking critter.

One letdown was the sea bass. Beautiful fish. If the season had been open, we would have brought some home. Plenty of knot head keepers too.

All in all, a great trip I will not forget. First run of the season, smooth seas, limited out by 1 pm. Pete and I had a blast with some big fish. Though I will say, I am feeling it today.

A buddy rolled by the Windmill barge yesterday. Much higher res shots.

Here in NJ river fluking continues to be better than ocean fluking. And with today's strong NE blow it was our only alternative. Had gr8 action today using Salmon bellies from Wegman's. They're only $3 per pound, look in fresh salmon case for pkgs marked "trim". Bougey Bait works...

Headed deep yesterday with Kevin/Longcast and KenScot on a truly gorgeous ocean. Arrived to find next to no drift. The light breeze and weak tide were in direct opposition, holding us essentially in near-zero drift conditions. This continued throughout the day, even once the tide changed, as the light breeze shifted, again killing the drift. I can't recall a trip in which we didn't have a drift for the entire day. Usually if that condition happens early, the breeze freshens on the later tide, creating the boat drift that we look for.

Though it was no bonanza we did put 5 quality keepers in the box to Kevin's 23" fishie. PLENTY of "pick-ups and drops," and a couple of good fish lost, due to light hook-ups, I guess. Seems the quantity is down so far this season, but the quality is up. A half dozen ling rounded out the box and strangely enough exactly zero keeper sea bass, though we had some good ones last week, with the season being closed - of course.