Post your 2019-2024 Fluke Pix & Trip Reports Here!
- Thread starter Leprechaun
- Start date
hartattack
Angler
Pre-Hurricane Fluking
It seems that the fluke know it's coming and they've already gathered in their off-shore staging areas. I had 2 buddies on this NJ trip from yesterday, the Captain's write-up is below. I'm still catching them inshore but hope to get out to the deep this week, favorable conditions are forecast pre-Idalia ::
It seems that the fluke know it's coming and they've already gathered in their off-shore staging areas. I had 2 buddies on this NJ trip from yesterday, the Captain's write-up is below. I'm still catching them inshore but hope to get out to the deep this week, favorable conditions are forecast pre-Idalia ::
Sun 9/3 Another TRIPLE 12 Man Boat Limit +++ (orl) to 6lbs / Loads of C&R - Well as unbelievable as its been this one tops em all.... Incredible bite... Counting in hundreds again today with Dave D and crew. The Stats 10 anglers 130 keepers even ( a 43 man limit worth )(orl) and hundreds n hundreds of shorts. Highest total of the year... AGAIN!!! Prob the most bites and fluke we ever seen in a day... bc it about the most bites amd fluke u could possibly get in a day...Lock n load drop n reel fishing. Silly!!! Loads of nice keepers and insane amount of shorts. Bit like seabass...some spots we sat on for aslong as n hr getting bite within 10 sec of hitting the bottom for the whole time. Just unbelievable life... really was sick...I literally caught one with a bare 9/0 owner hook as a joke no bait no gulp didn't even need a wawa plastic bag strip ? just a hook( I have witnesses) Finished with 130 k total more than a triple boat limit n more than a quad limit avg pp... kept a boat limit n released a crazy amount of nice fish...bunch of guys between 15-20k and again today a bunch of guys with the best day of fishing they have ever seen. All the gulp is gone folks!!! Oh n Cant forget the bonus trigger n a nice show from a tiger shark ? this was special to b a part off... cant expect it to b like this again but I could hope! Tomorrow! Thanks guys!!
Saaaaweeeet!
Tough Day Offshore Fluking
Long story short, despite word from trusted sources that the fishing last weekend rebounded on Sunday (from a dismal Saturday), you'd not know it from our results today. Even thought we employed our best Captain/Crew efforts, George S., Westchester Steve and I were only able to scrape together three decent keepers for a full day's effort. My 5-lber was the biggie, but trust me the fishing was s-l-o-w. I dunno if its over, honestly the water temp hasn't changed all that much and there's still bait o'plenty on the machine, but the fishing has really tailed off.
Though the conditions looked good superficially, again we had zero drift early, then slight breeze against slight tide holding us in place, then later on when the breeze did finally align with the tide the bites were still few and far between. Uggh.
The Sun was particularly brutal today - maybe the worst its been all season, but it was no match for the black fly infestation that enveloped us. They would bite right thru the Deep Woods OFF! that we liberally applied to our legs and feet. However, I did have a "secret weapon" that Mark/Bassman909 talked me into buying at least five years ago - Capt. Ron's All Natural Bug Spray. I had never even thought about using it - in fact I sort of laughed it of. That is, until today. Holy Moses, not only did it work far better than the DEET-heavy OFF!, but it smelled darn nice as well! I highly recommend having it aboard - for those really rough days offshore.
Oh, and some decent fly swatters as well. Though my fish count was poor, I must have ended at least 75 of the little vampire bastids. No more birthdays for them!
Long story short, despite word from trusted sources that the fishing last weekend rebounded on Sunday (from a dismal Saturday), you'd not know it from our results today. Even thought we employed our best Captain/Crew efforts, George S., Westchester Steve and I were only able to scrape together three decent keepers for a full day's effort. My 5-lber was the biggie, but trust me the fishing was s-l-o-w. I dunno if its over, honestly the water temp hasn't changed all that much and there's still bait o'plenty on the machine, but the fishing has really tailed off.
Though the conditions looked good superficially, again we had zero drift early, then slight breeze against slight tide holding us in place, then later on when the breeze did finally align with the tide the bites were still few and far between. Uggh.
The Sun was particularly brutal today - maybe the worst its been all season, but it was no match for the black fly infestation that enveloped us. They would bite right thru the Deep Woods OFF! that we liberally applied to our legs and feet. However, I did have a "secret weapon" that Mark/Bassman909 talked me into buying at least five years ago - Capt. Ron's All Natural Bug Spray. I had never even thought about using it - in fact I sort of laughed it of. That is, until today. Holy Moses, not only did it work far better than the DEET-heavy OFF!, but it smelled darn nice as well! I highly recommend having it aboard - for those really rough days offshore.
Oh, and some decent fly swatters as well. Though my fish count was poor, I must have ended at least 75 of the little vampire bastids. No more birthdays for them!
Nothing like heading out on a morning like this!
Pete is right, that Capt Ron's stuff works. I had more bites from flies than fish until Pete broke out the Rons.
I'd like to add to Petes report that there were a few boats around us picking away at Albies and a bunch of dolphins around us for a while. I'm only in my third year of fishing these grounds, so I could never be sure if they left. And Pete is not sold that they are. But it seems to me, that they might be gone. My thought is that the Supermoon combined with the hurricane that came up the coast put them in gear. Although I hope not, and I'll be on the next trip to see if they're still around.
Dispite everything, the flies, the heat, the 10 pounds of tackle we lost, I still had a great day. Not to mention there's nothing like a fresh fluke dinner! Thanks for another adventurous day Mr. Lep!
Last edited:
hartattack
Angler
Finally made it to out the NJ/NY Deep for some Sept fluking. I was hoping to go on my buddy's Parker but he blew his Flywheel and he's now out-of-the-water. I hopped on a popular Atlantic Highland headboat and we fished Mud Buoy, 90' deep in most places. There were several NY and NJ headboats out there in the heat with those annoying black flies. Action was steady but seems like everyone caught more out-of-season seabass than fluke; seabass season in NJ is closed during September 
, NY boats must've enjoyed keeping the ones we had to toss. Even though I was one of the few to get my limit up to 26", I was disappointed that this known staging area wasn't stacked 
. Maybe that bodes well for inshore action until the NJ fluke season ends in 2 weeks. Hope the conditions cooperate until then . . .
, NY boats must've enjoyed keeping the ones we had to toss. Even though I was one of the few to get my limit up to 26", I was disappointed that this known staging area wasn't stacked . Maybe that bodes well for inshore action until the NJ fluke season ends in 2 weeks. Hope the conditions cooperate until then . . .Attachments
Acting on some excellent intel, Capt. Mike and Kevin joined me to give the deep fluke another shot. Word was that big schools of squid had moved into the area we fish and that certainly proved correct. In fact my buddy put a 9.2 in his boat Saturday, along with a bunch of other quality, so we went straight to the numbers he was kind enough to provide. Got there early to a very slow drift and had fish immediately, as long as we stayed tight to the squid. Put three in the box, with a keeper ratio of approx. 13:1 during the mid/late outgoing, and we looked forward to really whaling them when the tide turned. But it was not to be.
As the storm system approached with some truly impressive cloud action and the Wx report got increasingly worse, we looked around and saw we were the last boat out there. Because there were repeated warnings to watch for lightning strikes, and being we were the highest point for many miles, I made the call, time to go. Had we taken a strike that fried my electronics and/or ignition system, there was no one to come to our aid. I really doubt the 6-gauge-wired "earth ground" system I put in the boat would be capable of handling THAT kind of electrical surge. Very dubious, indeed. Not to mention, having nearly 100 gallons of high-test gas in the tanks, was another consideration that came to mind.
Watching the storm cells forming on radar and advance directly over us, the winds swung S to NW at a solid 20-25mph with bands of very heavy rain, and some truly rotten 4' confused wave action. So we steamed back to JI at a stately 13mph thru the nasty stuff - arriving safely just as the all-clear was given. I would have considered shooting back out to the HR had the weather improved just a bit more, but enough is enough, the 2023 fluke season is now over for us.
I would have preferred staying out there today, as the fish were certainly snapping, but yeah, um, no - as Kevin said at the time, "Safety first." Anyway, on to the East End monster biscuit fishing with Capt. Mike next weekend. Looking forward to it, actually.
As the storm system approached with some truly impressive cloud action and the Wx report got increasingly worse, we looked around and saw we were the last boat out there. Because there were repeated warnings to watch for lightning strikes, and being we were the highest point for many miles, I made the call, time to go. Had we taken a strike that fried my electronics and/or ignition system, there was no one to come to our aid. I really doubt the 6-gauge-wired "earth ground" system I put in the boat would be capable of handling THAT kind of electrical surge. Very dubious, indeed. Not to mention, having nearly 100 gallons of high-test gas in the tanks, was another consideration that came to mind.
Watching the storm cells forming on radar and advance directly over us, the winds swung S to NW at a solid 20-25mph with bands of very heavy rain, and some truly rotten 4' confused wave action. So we steamed back to JI at a stately 13mph thru the nasty stuff - arriving safely just as the all-clear was given. I would have considered shooting back out to the HR had the weather improved just a bit more, but enough is enough, the 2023 fluke season is now over for us.
I would have preferred staying out there today, as the fish were certainly snapping, but yeah, um, no - as Kevin said at the time, "Safety first." Anyway, on to the East End monster biscuit fishing with Capt. Mike next weekend. Looking forward to it, actually.
Bucktail II
Angler
Late report from Saturday 9-9-23
Spent the day bouncing around the ocean hitting some old and new soft bottom locations looking for those fish that had moved off the hard stuff from the week and a half of swells. Found the kindergarten grounds to the east in 64' of water. Constantly had 2-3 fish on all 12-14".....nothing bigger. Checked another location in 72' of water for just a couple of robins and no bait in the area. Tried some gravel bottom south of my favorite off shore location with plenty of bait and a steady bite of fish to almost 27" boxing 5 for the day. We'll see what happens with this next set of swells and how long they last.
Spent the day bouncing around the ocean hitting some old and new soft bottom locations looking for those fish that had moved off the hard stuff from the week and a half of swells. Found the kindergarten grounds to the east in 64' of water. Constantly had 2-3 fish on all 12-14".....nothing bigger. Checked another location in 72' of water for just a couple of robins and no bait in the area. Tried some gravel bottom south of my favorite off shore location with plenty of bait and a steady bite of fish to almost 27" boxing 5 for the day. We'll see what happens with this next set of swells and how long they last.
Attachments
Nice job Bucktail
Bucktail II
Angler
T
Thanks George
longcast
Well-Known Angler
Beautiful fish!!
Snapprhead27
Well-Known Angler
You had a good run! Now time to get ready for the Tog!
Always looking on the bright side
hartattack
Angler
Had to give it one last try after the blow. Just a few flatties for us yesterday b4 we turned to other species. Blackfish is open in NJ for a ONE fish limit so we made quick work of those. They were voracious, at times hitting my crab on a jig b4 it hit bottom. Got 2 nice triggers on the crabs too. We then started tossing diamond jigs retrieved quickly to get a few Spanish Mackeral. After I caught about half the fish in the attached pic (group of 8) captain says "Larry - I got 2 words for you - Power Ball". So I stopped for tickets on the way home; you know how that ended 
It was a GREAT fluke year for me (despite throwing back many NJ overs to find the keepable smaller slot fish) but I'm sad to say it's over
Now it's time for our fine fall fishery fun 
It was a GREAT fluke year for me (despite throwing back many NJ overs to find the keepable smaller slot fish) but I'm sad to say it's over
Now it's time for our fine fall fishery fun Attachments
So that's a wrap for the good ship Leprechaun's 2023 fluking adventures. Overall, it was a fine season - about as good as one can expect anyway, given the heavy pressure my home grounds receive, once the fishing really gets rolling.
The top three fish for our year were:
First place - my good friend Mark M., Bassman909 here on NYAngler at 7lbs 9oz:
Second place - My fish at 7lbs 6oz:
And in third place, my regular crew-dude, expert fluke jigger KenScot, a.k.a.: "The Chef" at 7lbs 2oz:
Honorable mention was a tie, by Kevin/Longcast and Capt. Mike Bady - both at 6lbs 8oz:
Thanks to all that fished with me this season - you guys all fished hard and the results showed it!
Now, on to the BLACKFISHING!
The top three fish for our year were:
First place - my good friend Mark M., Bassman909 here on NYAngler at 7lbs 9oz:
Second place - My fish at 7lbs 6oz:
And in third place, my regular crew-dude, expert fluke jigger KenScot, a.k.a.: "The Chef" at 7lbs 2oz:
Honorable mention was a tie, by Kevin/Longcast and Capt. Mike Bady - both at 6lbs 8oz:
Thanks to all that fished with me this season - you guys all fished hard and the results showed it!
Now, on to the BLACKFISHING!
captmike28
Well-Known Angler
My hearty congratulations to the guys on the top of their game!
I guess I am "Honored to be Mentioned" among these very skilled Fluke fishermen. Thanks for a number of great trips, Pete.
Although we had a few individual fish just a bit larger out east, you are still "Mr. Consistency" when it comes to putting limit catches in the box. Especially tough during a season where most of us struggled to scrape together just a decent catch on most days.
Kudos to Capt. Lep.
Let's Go 2024!
Today was the first day I dedicated to Spring prep. I knew that there was play in the prop shaft at the skeg, and it did look as though it was new Shaft/Flange/Cutlass Bearing time, for sure. I've been stressing all Winter over this. Not only is it an easy $2K+ in parts, but a couple of weekends of miserable work as well. And I ain't gettin' any younger, and neither are my beat-up knees.
So anyway, today I got under the boat and gave a good strong wiggle on the prop. Sure enough, a decent amount of play, maybe a bit less than 1/8". Not so good, but way better than I thought. Ideally, it should be zero, with even wear all around the front and rear of the cutlass bearing, indicating that the engine and shaft are in alignment. Well, a close inspection of the old cutlass bearing showed no unusual wear pattern, perfectly worn all the way around, at both ends. That is a good thing.
After a cup of coffee and some heavy consideration of the situation, I decided to just pull the prop and change out the cutlass bearing - taking a shot that it would be enough, sparing me the rest of the drama and expense of the much, MUCH bigger job. I'm no gambler when it comes to boat maintenance, nearly always opting for the "safe and steady" course of boat repairs.
But this time my dice roll paid off. Sure enough, after I completed the bearing install using my home-made hand-dandy cutlass bearing press, there is now nearly zero play in the shaft - maybe 1/32" at worst. Whew! All that stressing all Winter long and it turned out to be a not so bad job after all. A grand total of $79 for the bearing, a bit of 5-minute Devcon epoxy and good to go! Here's the completed job, with me trying to induce some side and vertical play in the shaft.
I didn't realize I was grunting while leaning on it, geesh I AM getting old!
Now, what to do with the $2K I just saved? Hmmm, maybe 10 more Palmarius rods? I'm sure Dan would give me the "Show Special" pricing for 10 rods!
Nah, but I really would like another Garmin GPSMAP up on my dash, the 9" version this time, with the full relief shading, bottom obstruction viewing software upgrade. That would be very nice indeed! We shall see. Meantime, there's lots of lesser Spring jobs that I have to get on before I can seriously contemplate that new Garmin.
Today was the first day I dedicated to Spring prep. I knew that there was play in the prop shaft at the skeg, and it did look as though it was new Shaft/Flange/Cutlass Bearing time, for sure. I've been stressing all Winter over this. Not only is it an easy $2K+ in parts, but a couple of weekends of miserable work as well. And I ain't gettin' any younger, and neither are my beat-up knees.
So anyway, today I got under the boat and gave a good strong wiggle on the prop. Sure enough, a decent amount of play, maybe a bit less than 1/8". Not so good, but way better than I thought. Ideally, it should be zero, with even wear all around the front and rear of the cutlass bearing, indicating that the engine and shaft are in alignment. Well, a close inspection of the old cutlass bearing showed no unusual wear pattern, perfectly worn all the way around, at both ends. That is a good thing.
After a cup of coffee and some heavy consideration of the situation, I decided to just pull the prop and change out the cutlass bearing - taking a shot that it would be enough, sparing me the rest of the drama and expense of the much, MUCH bigger job. I'm no gambler when it comes to boat maintenance, nearly always opting for the "safe and steady" course of boat repairs.
But this time my dice roll paid off. Sure enough, after I completed the bearing install using my home-made hand-dandy cutlass bearing press, there is now nearly zero play in the shaft - maybe 1/32" at worst. Whew! All that stressing all Winter long and it turned out to be a not so bad job after all. A grand total of $79 for the bearing, a bit of 5-minute Devcon epoxy and good to go! Here's the completed job, with me trying to induce some side and vertical play in the shaft.
I didn't realize I was grunting while leaning on it, geesh I AM getting old!
Now, what to do with the $2K I just saved? Hmmm, maybe 10 more Palmarius rods? I'm sure Dan would give me the "Show Special" pricing for 10 rods!
Nah, but I really would like another Garmin GPSMAP up on my dash, the 9" version this time, with the full relief shading, bottom obstruction viewing software upgrade. That would be very nice indeed! We shall see. Meantime, there's lots of lesser Spring jobs that I have to get on before I can seriously contemplate that new Garmin.
Bucktail II
Angler
Go buy a lottery ticket Pete.....
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