You can bring fluke strips out the next day . Or can you?

[george]

All these years I thought I couldn't save fluke from the day before for bait. It turns out I was wrong about that. I rarely use any type of bait, there were a few days where it clearly outproduced. Below is a part of the transcript from my recent podcast

Lt. Sean Reilly:
Well, the way the regulations read, you can't filet the brown side of a fluke while you're underway. You can the white side off if you want to use that for bait, but it doesn't actually prohibit you from bringing older pieces back. And then it becomes a judgment issue if the officer believes you, that you possess mutilated fluke from that day or from another day, and often it's obvious when the guy pulls out the Ziploc bag and you can tell that it's strips that have been frozen, that this is not something they caught today. But it does get into an area where it could be off the discretion of possessing mutilated fluke, that we don't have a body to measure for, to know it was a legal five fish.

So is it OK? The last sentence says it all. I for one trust that an ECO could easily tell the difference between a fresh strip and a one to two-day-old one.

 

[Leprechaun]

I for one don't trust anyone else's judgement one bit - especially these days, with NYS being so friggin' money-hungry. As you know, I do use fillet edge strips (and greatly prefer them over all other jig-sweeteners) - but never from the current trip. Let's just leave it at that . . .

 

[Roccus7]

Ah but what if you have brined and baking soda'd the strips prior to freezing? They may not be so "obviously" previously frozen. I'm with Lep on this one, do you really want to challenge the judgement of an ECO??

 

[BennyV]

I just LOLd at this. Now we have to rely on judgement of Eco Officers in the field? I had an officer once tell me that what I was catching wasn’t porgies because they were too big to be porgies.

Let’s take the guess work out of it. Either you can use it or you can’t. I’m not relying on some guys mood to decide if what I’m doing is right or wrong on the spot.

PS I rarely if ever use fluke belly.

 

[live bait]

Ah but what if you have brined and baking soda'd the strips prior to freezing? They may not be so "obviously" previously frozen. I'm with Lep on this one, do you really want to challenge the judgement of an ECO??

With all due respect NO!........John

 

[Capt Richie]

I fish fluke belly its the best bait,, will out fish gulp & squid most days.. Never had a problem with Sean ..never wrote me a ticket for fluke belly or anything else...

in fact he was a help when I was commercial fishing ..

 

[holty]

So I will occasionally dead stick a rig with fluke, bluefish or robin belly. Am I correct in thinking that it is OK to fish the belly strip while on a bucktail with a J hook but not on a three-way rig with a plain baitholder hook? Must the three-way use a circle?

regards Holty

 

[george]

So I will occasionally dead stick a rig with fluke, bluefish or robin belly. Am I correct in thinking that it is OK to fish the belly strip while on a bucktail with a J hook but not on a three-way rig with a plain baitholder hook? Must the three-way use a circle?

regards Holty

Circle how are only needed when fishing for stripped bass.

 

[pequa1]

which brings me back to my question on another thread. While some guys anchor or power drift a 1/2 mile away from me catching schoolies on bellies, I will be targeting fluke and weaks (and the occasional marauding bluefish) off my yak, rarely using bait unless some kind boater drops off a couple of peanuts for my troll bucket, and usually using leadheads with a plastic skirt or deer hair and tipped with Gulp. I have yet to get a striper in my usual haunts, even when using peanuts or later in the season, small snappers. Is it up to me to convince the LEO that I am NOT targeting stripers ?

 

[Leprechaun]

Circle hooks not required on bucktails.

Tell the LEO to pound salt if he hassles you.

 

[Fishinatik]

I for one don’t care for the use of short fluke for strip bait and cringe when it’s done , but surely I will take frozen strips from any of my fine fillet jobs of legal fluke with me any day there after nothing better for large strip bait or the ripple for a teaser sweetener
?

 

[Capt Richie]

I for one don’t care for the use of short fluke for strip bait and cringe when it’s done , but surely I will take frozen strips from any of my fine fillet jobs of legal fluke with me any day there after nothing better for large strip bait or the ripple for a teaser sweetener
?

if that makes you sick ..you should see what get shoveled off a scallop boat dead

 

[Leprechaun]

True dat.

 

[Fishinatik]

if that makes you sick ..you should see what get shoveled off a scallop boat dead

Not at all what I was getting at , obviously the bs from the commercial sector you speak of is aweful. I said to do it for bait makes me cringe that’s all. Believe it or not I agree with you haha
Never waste fish overboard that are dead but the law makes them do it or face fines

 

[Fishinatik]

True dat.

Agreed the thread was more about taking strips back out the next day. Wasnt heading for A bycatch discussion. It was just my principles on short fish not anything else
The wastefulness and stupidity in our regs is rediculous and we could discuss til the moon and sun are gone. Commercials should keep what they get not throw back dead and somehow count that towards their limits. That would make some sense. But let’s face it there has t been sense uses in our region ever it seems ?

 

[Leprechaun]

True dat, too.

 

[johnachak]

All these years I thought I couldn't save fluke from the day before for bait. It turns out I was wrong about that. I rarely use any type of bait, there were a few days where it clearly outproduced. Below is a part of the transcript from my recent podcast

Lt. Sean Reilly:
Well, the way the regulations read, you can't filet the brown side of a fluke while you're underway. You can the white side off if you want to use that for bait, but it doesn't actually prohibit you from bringing older pieces back. And then it becomes a judgment issue if the officer believes you, that you possess mutilated fluke from that day or from another day, and often it's obvious when the guy pulls out the Ziploc bag and you can tell that it's strips that have been frozen, that this is not something they caught today. But it does get into an area where it could be off the discretion of possessing mutilated fluke, that we don't have a body to measure for, to know it was a legal five fish.

So is it OK? The last sentence says it all. I for one trust that an ECO could easily tell the difference between a fresh strip and a one to two-day-old one.

I was pulled over by the Bay Constable to check for short fish and they made me dump my Fluke strips. They said I need to have the carcass to show it was a keeper Fluke or they don't know if the strips were from a legal Fluke. They also said they have no way of knowing if I just caught a short and mutilated it for the strips. I showed them it was in the same bag with a couple of freezer burnt strips. They reiterated that you can only use the white strips of a keeper Fluke and you must produce the carcass. They didn't cite me but let me go with a warning.
Johnachak

 

[george]

I was pulled over by the Bay Constable to check for short fish and they made me dump my Fluke strips. They said I need to have the carcass to show it was a keeper Fluke or they don't know if the strips were from a legal Fluke. They also said they have no way of knowing if I just caught a short and mutilated it for the strips. I showed them it was in the same bag with a couple of freezer burnt strips. They reiterated that you can only use the white strips of a keeper Fluke and you must produce the carcass. They didn't cite me but let me go with a warning.
Johnachak

Thanks for posting this. It reinforces much of what's written in this thread.

 

[johnachak]

Thanks for posting this. It reinforces much of what's written in this thread.

You are very welcome!