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

[Capt Richie]

 

[Capt Richie]

off the block on a CTS BJ701 Lite 8oz jig

 

[Leprechaun]

WTF? The fish are snappin' and I'm still down with a frigged-up ignition problem. Being your own marine mechanic is no fun, sometimes. . .

 

[Capt Richie]

hit the hot spot today ..lots of fog no wind or drift..started very slow with a bunch of quality BSB..and than it turned on could not net the fish fast enough ..went on for just over an hour..a dozen fat keepers to 7lbs ..

 

[MOJOE]

well done by everyone ,,, nice pics capt,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ><)))):>
><)))):>

 

[Leprechaun]

Boat issue resolved - ready to hit the grounds again!

Ignition fails can be tough to diagnose - especially when you've upgraded from stock - in order to bring some measure of performance increase to bear. My usually dead-nuts reliable Ford 351 H.O. would run great for a bit and then randomly begin to miss badly - dropping a cylinder here and one there. Last trip we were lucky to make it back to the dock. Horrible.

Without an automotive oscilloscope, (which I am fully qualified to use, having sold them for years as a Snap-on dealer), it was just not possible to isolate the issue up front. So, this puts me in my own personally-hated category of becoming a glorified parts changer, which method I regularly deride. Its too "googan-ish" for my diagnostic tastes - just goes against my hard-acquired hot rodding/boat repair skill set. Forced to go this route, the logical progression of parts-changing is to begin with the least expensive (or aggravating to change) part(s), and work up toward the pricier components.

New Spark Plugs - nope, no change. New MSD Wires - also nope. New MSD coil - not it. Check timing, change to my spare Hall-effect distributor electronic module, no change, still awful. Re-did all the grounds at the engine block and the such - still horrible. Only two components left - the MSD box and the distributor. Pulled my Prestolite distributor and found it had no measurable main shaft side-to-side play and not much up and down nonsense at all, so it HAD to be the MSD.

Ran to SK-Speed in South Farmingdale for the third time in a week for a new one - $274 later, on the way back to the boat. Spent Sat morning wiring in the new box - while simultaneously on the lookout for a broken or corroded solder joint - none found, of course. Rough wired the new box, and went forward to twist the key - with fingers and toes crossed - BINGO! Started right up, no miss and ran great. Took her for a good long spin this morning and she's purring like a kitten. Whew, saved the best part of the fluke season.

24-yr old veteran finally gave up the ghost - a tough to diagnosis problem, but it DID live a looong life:

New Box wired in, harness well secured:

Now where are those J.I. fluke? We shall see on Wednesday.

 

[Flukinit]

Glad you were able to solve the issue Pete. Good luck the rest of the fluke season.

 

[Chinacat]

Glad you were able to solve the issue Pete. Good luck the rest of the fluke season.

Hoping to see some some pics of you Flukinit, holding up some nice flatties soon!!

 

[Leprechaun]

You mean like this - from a few seasons back?

 

[Chinacat]

You mean like this - from a few seasons back?

View attachment 23574

Yes exactly!!!!

 

[Capt Richie]

hit the fluke grounds today..AM ride out way snotty..some sets of 4' 3 seconds apart on bow..had to slow down to 19kts ..

started of ok with a keeper first drift and than two more & dead...fish are there just not biting had a couple of big hits ..headed to an inshore spot for 4 more keepers ..7 for the day ..should be better tomorrow once the ocean lays down

 

[HighHook4Hire]

Made my first trek up to Hyannis a few weeks back. Dragging 28oz for fluke at new moon is not advisable. Lots of "NJ throwbacks" and not too many doormats. My buddy's brother was fortunate enough to win the pool ,back to back on a 2 day trip with 9# fish, but there was not many fish caught over 5# on either day. Good thing we stopped in Narragansett on the way home and I was fortunate enough to tie into a new PB. 27.5" - 8.5# on the spinner.

 

[Leprechaun]

Extra Effort On A Rainy Wednesday Paid Off.

Forecast was "partly cloudy with a slight chance of a shower. NE Wind 3-9 mph." Yeah, ummm nope.

Left the dock at 0600 with Capt. Mike Bady and KenScot, for an easy steam to the deep drops. The sky to the West did look a bit ominous, but the "report" was not bad. Got there in short order (boat running great with the previously mentioned repairs). Had to shift around a bit, but did get on them - with two quality keepers on the 2nd drift.

Between the New Moon tide (5-6oz needed), the dropping barometer and the dead-easterly breeze, there was a definite lack of an aggressive bite. Got one here and one there, and then the rain started. Up came the breeze, down came the "occasional" rain - that was pretty darn steady through the morning, right into the early afternoon. Not my favorite Summertime fishing conditions, for sure.

Despite all that, we did hang in there, with it ending up being just us in my little boat and Capt. Rick on his charter boat Miss Beryl making our drifts. No one else stayed out there - with the Wx talking about rain squalls with winds to 40mph passing south of us, and the possibility of freakin' rain spouts(!), can't say I blame the more intelligent captains for heading back to the inlet.

We however are not that smart, and so we stayed and fished through the crummy conditions. Even with having to deal with all the drama, by the time we said "enough," eleven keepers to 5.5lbs had made it into the box - with a very nice average size, I might add.

So, once again it was the old "Lemonade out of Lemons" scenario. We worked hard, jigged our @sses off on a much less than perfect day, and when all was said and done, we just missed a boat limit, by one fish. Darn. Still, I am well satisfied in both our effort and the results.

Oh, and as soon as we hit the dock the Sun came out and semi-roasted us as we washed the boat and cut the fish. Of course it did. That's just how it works!

 

[Capt Richie]

strike when the iron is hot...nasty ocean this AM fished the inshore drops & the bite was on..first drift three fat keepers ..ended the day with a flat ocean & a three man limit of fluke..

we fished phenix & CTS all day ..and tried out SST jigs ..the prof is in the pudding boat limit on SST jigs

 

[Capt Richie]

and the beat goes on

 

[Leprechaun]

Today we went hunting for a biggie. So we stayed inshore and fished through the snags for 8 NICE fish to a fat 8lbs8oz bruiser for our humble host, George "the Boss." His friend Steve also got in his licks. Sometimes a plan DOES come together.

Not a single measure-job in the box today. Quality, Quality, Quality.

 

[WhatKnot]

Nice fish.

 

[Dx life Rx fishing]

Not a single measure-job in the box today. Quality, Quality, Quality.

Now that makes for a great day.

 

[captmike28]

Sunday found a patchwork crew of my regulars looking for another shot at Montauk Fluking. Sal, Frank C, Frank G. and Chef Nader made up my all-star team for the day. First hour near the end of the ebb at the Elbow gives up just 3 small keeper Fluke before the tide dies and the birds took over.

So, off to my pet drops on the south side looking for the real quality fish I know live there. First 20 minutes were slow with a few shorts, but as the tide picked up steam the bite began to build to a nice steady pick. No real blitzes but plenty of action with the healthy shorts and a nice keeper or two on every drift.

First a few 3-4# fish find the box, then the big boys came out to play. Frank G., who had the hot hand with 6 keepers for the day himself, gets things started a solid 5 # fish. Normally I fish very little on a charter as my first responsibility is always my clients. But with a very experienced crew, I had a chance to slip my line over the side a couple of times and one was particularly exciting. I got that nice solid thump form a big Fluke and as I am about half way up realize it is a real quality fish. Nader volunteers to take care of the net job but he reaches for my smaller net. As the fish nears the surface, he makes an attempt to stuff the fish in the small opening and it’s obvious it won’t work. The Fluke dives, stirps off another 30’ of line and I tell Nader to grab the big net for the next attempt. This time the fish skillfully swims right over the top of the big net opening and again makes another dive for its freedom. On the third attempt this Fluke did something I have never seen before, it actually launched itself like a rocket, straight up into the sky, so high it actually cleared my gunnel! Sal, who was fishing on the opposite side of the boat, said he saw the fish clear the rail!! Thankfully, Nader was perfectly positioned this time and makes a “Willie Mays style basket catch” on the fish’s descent. I have seen some interesting netting challenges over my lifetime but that was really wild! The fish tipped the scales at 7.75# and wound up being the top Fluke of the today.

After all that excitement we went back to work and the quality of the next several keepers was very consistent with most falling between the 5-6# range. Close to the end of the trip Frank G., with his fancy “Fluke Flashing Blade” style rig, lands a 7.2# beauty for the second largest fish of the day. End of the day tally found us just one fish shy of a limit on Fluke with half of the keepers between 5-7.75# and 10 nice Sea Bass to top off the box. Overall, this wound up being our best trip to Montauk so far this season.

Capt. Mike

 

[george]

Sunday found a patchwork crew of my regulars looking for another shot at Montauk Fluking. Sal, Frank C, Frank G. and Chef Nader made up my all-star team for the day. First hour near the end of the ebb at the Elbow gives up just 3 small keeper Fluke before the tide dies and the birds took over.

So, off to my pet drops on the south side looking for the real quality fish I know live there. First 20 minutes were slow with a few shorts, but as the tide picked up steam the bite began to build to a nice steady pick. No real blitzes but plenty of action with the healthy shorts and a nice keeper or two on every drift.

First a few 3-4# fish find the box, then the big boys came out to play. Frank G., who had the hot hand with 6 keepers for the day himself, gets things started a solid 5 # fish. Normally I fish very little on a charter as my first responsibility is always my clients. But with a very experienced crew, I had a chance to slip my line over the side a couple of times and one was particularly exciting. I got that nice solid thump form a big Fluke and as I am about half way up realize it is a real quality fish. Nader volunteers to take care of the net job but he reaches for my smaller net. As the fish nears the surface, he makes an attempt to stuff the fish in the small opening and it’s obvious it won’t work. The Fluke dives, stirps off another 30’ of line and I tell Nader to grab the big net for the next attempt. This time the fish skillfully swims right over the top of the big net opening and again makes another dive for its freedom. On the third attempt this Fluke did something I have never seen before, it actually launched itself like a rocket, straight up into the sky, so high it actually cleared my gunnel! Sal, who was fishing on the opposite side of the boat, said he saw the fish clear the rail!! Thankfully, Nader was perfectly positioned this time and makes a “Willie Mays style basket catch” on the fish’s descent. I have seen some interesting netting challenges over my lifetime but that was really wild! The fish tipped the scales at 7.75# and wound up being the top Fluke of the today.

After all that excitement we went back to work and the quality of the next several keepers was very consistent with most falling between the 5-6# range. Close to the end of the trip Frank G., with his fancy “Fluke Flashing Blade” style rig, lands a 7.2# beauty for the second largest fish of the day. End of the day tally found us just one fish shy of a limit on Fluke with half of the keepers between 5-7.75# and 10 nice Sea Bass to top off the box. Overall, this wound up being our best trip to Montauk so far this season.

Capt. Mike

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Great day guys. And a great net story!