With the fluke season behind us, did you do better or worse than last year.

[captmike28]

The photo of Nappi raises at least 2 questions in my mind. First, why is he using what we might consider to be "shark tackle" today for Fluke?

Second, how many hours was that poor fish drying out in the sun before the photo was taken? It probably would have weighed even more if it was better preserved!

No questions about his choice of pants... most of us dressed pretty strangely in those times!!

 

[poorrichard]

I did notice that as well. Seems like pretty heavy gear (rod and reel) for fluke fishing. Most of the gear back then was heavier than what we use now but that seems like really heavy tackle

 

[Savvy18]

Fluke fishing on Long Island (north, south, east & west) has been on a steady decline for several seasons now. The most frustrating part of it is, nobody knows why. I fish out of Jamaica Bay and up until about 2012, we had a healthy fluke population from May through late August. Yes, there were highs & lows throughout the season, but overall it was as steady as anywhere on Long Island. Now, it's like a ghost town as far as fluke are concerned. Even my buddy who has been tagging and compiling research on fluke for over 15 years has told me of a drastic decline of our fluke numbers. It's very disconcerting to say the least.

It's been so bad the last 4-5 years that I have curtailed my fishing excursions by about 50% I just don't have the desire to fluke fish anymore. I guess you could say the thrill is gone. I mean how many times can you go out just to be disappointed and continue doing it? It's not a cheap endeavor. It's an investment of time & money that hasn't been worth the effort for quite a few seasons now.

I wish I had a better story to tell but I'd be lying if I said I'm hopeful going forward. I have no idea what the cause is. I have no idea what the solution is. All I know is whatever I could do as a recreational fisherman to help make fluke fishing what it once was, I'd be happy to do.

 

[FredAZaiter]

Due to health problems(no Coronavirus Thanks God) I only have the chance to fish 4 times, First time I went out was in the Super Hawk with Capt Steve I did very well, my limited and won the pool, the second was at the Capt.Lou With Capt.Anthony also did good one times winning one pool and limited out... the second time 3 keeper and the last two trips was at the Captree Pride with Capt Higan, incredible fishing in the Bay due to the Hurrican, the first trip I had 6 keepers and the last trip had 5 keepers, keeping my limited.

 

[Pangaroo]

There don't seem to be any large bodies of fluke anymore where you think the bottom is paved with fluke. It was a pick everytime I went out in and around Jones Inlet this past summer. Same the last couple of years. You wonder what effect those out of state draggers are having on the local Fluke populations ? They can take 4000 pounds and the local guys can only take 200 pounds ?