Fluke Season 2026 Analysis

[hawk375]

We all would like to think just because we throw it back it will live but reality is a lot will die both rec and comm i would have to agree a dragger catch and release would kill more of the released fish my only problem is why do recs have to use most of there limit to catch and release mortality instead of smaller size where the fish would become food instead of bait

 

[MakoMatt]

We all would like to think just because we throw it back it will live but reality is a lot will die both rec and comm i would have to agree a dragger catch and release would kill more of the released fish my only problem is why do recs have to use most of there limit to catch and release mortality instead of smaller size where the fish would become food instead of bait

I think the larger size limit has to due with the shear numbers of recreational fishermen, and the impact we would have to the fishery.

It is estimated that there are over 2 million saltwater anglers just between NY and NJ.

There didn’t seem to be any problem this year catching undersized fish. Let’s say as an example these 2 million plus anglers went Fluke fishing only 3 times a year, and caught one, one pound fish to bring home each trip.

That’s 6 million pounds of Fluke removed from the biomass. Based on my example, (which is just an example to illustrate the impact we have)
NOAA has allotted 8.79 million pounds for the entire east coast, we would have used more than 2/3 of the entire east coast allocation.

And discard mortality would certainly still be a problem.

 

[Snapprhead27]

Do we think it's time to go to a slot for Fluke, similar to striped bass? The bigger fluke seem to be females. I remember years back going out of Captree and there was the RSA permit. Keeping fluke for a certain time frame at a different length.

 

[Matts]

Let me throw some more experiences out there.
I so not believe that there is a substantial fluke dragging industry in the central Sound, but maybe there is.
I don't know how much fluke travel from year to year, but I suspect it's not much. or maybe I'm wrong
For 2-3 years we had a month of lock and load fluke fishing for 15-18" fluke under sand eels in Smithtown bay.
Those fish did not come back bigger each successive year.
And this year, the bite never materialized (or you guys did a great job of keeping your mouths shut).
Maybe all the fluke go offshore in the winter and some opt to head to the sound in the spring, so maybe none of this means anything or maybe it adds to the confounding data?
I've tried asking the fluke, but they refuse to answer.

 

[longcast]

I think the larger size limit has to due with the shear numbers of recreational fishermen, and the impact we would have to the fishery.

It is estimated that there are over 2 million saltwater anglers just between NY and NJ.

There didn’t seem to be any problem this year catching undersized fish. Let’s say as an example these 2 million plus anglers went Fluke fishing only 3 times a year, and caught one, one pound fish to bring home each trip.

That’s 6 million pounds of Fluke removed from the biomass. Based on my example, (which is just an example to illustrate the impact we have)
NOAA has allotted 8.79 million pounds for the entire east coast, we would have used more than 2/3 of the entire east coast allocation.

And discard mortality would certainly still be a problem.

That’s 6 million pounds of Fluke removed from the biomass. Based on my example, (which is just an example to illustrate the impact we have)
NOAA has allotted 8.79 million pounds for the entire east coast, we would have used more than 2/3 of the entire east coast allocation.

Sounds good to me................