Fluke faliure

[FlukeFisher]

Hi I'm new to this site and I like it alot. I'm a fluke fisherman who fishes LBI and catches nothing (and I do mean nothing not even a sea robin) :( . This would be ok to me if this was my first year but it isn't, it is my 3rd year of not catching a thing. I fish off harvey cedars in the summer (mid july-early august). I know I'm jumping the gun a little bit but I just want to know what I can do to make my next fishing trip a bit better. :confused:

[vincec]

FlukeFisher

welcome abooard!!

you didn't say if you fish from land or boat. i predominantly fish from jetties in the wildwood area. i would do a couple things to improve my chances:
1) head to one of the local tackle shops where you fish and let them know what you plan on fishing for and they will usually be more than happy to let you know what is biting in the area and on what type of bait, etc.
2) scope out some fishing spots before your trip. i usually take a walk along the jetties during low tide to see if i can pinpoint some areas that may have holes or structure where fish may be waiting for baitfish to swim by.
3) i usually fish the same areas of wildwood each summer and have made a few friends by hitting the same spots each week. strike up some conversation with some of the fisherman and exchange info. i've found over the years that once another fisherman sees you're a diehard like they are and you're both willing to share some valuable information and not just get info from them, most people will open up and help you out.
4) when you head out, have a couple different baits, rigs, artificials for the type of fishing you plan on doing. if one method doesn't work, make some changes and see what happens.

hope this helps and best of luck!!

vince

[ 03-30-2003, 12:39 PM: Message edited by: vincec ]

[FlukeFisher]

Oh yeah sorry about that I fish from land.

[sparse grey]

Hey fluk Welcome to the board & I look forward to some great reports concerning you catching this summer. What vincec esp. #2. Again welcome. Ron

[Chtrugs]

Welcome..and hope ya have a great year!

[jc]

Fluke, I think your problem is that you are Flounder fishing from land? Basically you have to hit the flounder on the head to catch it? If you are going to continue flounder fishing from shore I would suggest you fish with a light bucktail of somekind and just bump it off the bottom as you slowly reel it back it in or target different fish.

[CapeMayRay]

Flukefisher When it gets down to fishing. I always had good luck using a bank sinker. You can use a three foot leader with squid minnow combination. Cast it out and slowly wind it in. This acts like a slow drift. You cover more area and catch other fish in the process. Always worked good around inlets and off the surf.

[surfrat]

welcome to the barn.
i fish the beaches of LBI and do well w/ all kinds of fish from the beach. CM Ray is correct in that you have to keep the bait moving, if not the crabs will find it. when im not looking for stripers or fishing during the day i put a hi-lo rig and a 2oz bank sinker. cast out and slowly retrieve it. bait of choice is usually squid strips. i didnt have as many fluke last year as the year before, i did get into croakers A LOT. i have heard that schools of croakers are aggressive and will push other species out of an area. i just wish croakers would get as big as stripers b/c that would be a decent fight :D
hope this helps. an more ?'s just holler.

[BUCKTAIL WILLIE]

Flukefisher--- if fishing from land ,find mouths of small creeks emptying into deeper water. Fish top of tide down. Go just light enough to get bait down and let it drift out mouth of small creeks. A high low rig with 1/4 jig on bottom with a piece of cut bait on jig and a minnow on top hook.
Keep bait moving ,you can also cast out and slowly bring it back to mouth of creek but I have found more success drifting it out. I fish from boat but catch a lot of fluke casting into the mouth so it should work from land.
good luck

[FlukeFisher]

Thank you all for the info and welcoming me to the site. I do have another question though. Wouldn't I catch a fluke if I just left it out there for say 10 min and reel it in alittle then let it sit because I tried that method where you reel it in slowly and it didn't work. And I used this method even with the bank sinker and hi-lo rig.

[Nostra]

Oh the memories. I remember the first time last year when I caught a croaker and had no idea what it was. I just started striper fishin this year, but fished all my life. I picked it up to get the hook out and the damn thing started vibrating and made some odd noises. Well, it scared the be-jesus outta me. Never forget that and neither will my 3 friends who laughed for about 20 minutes. I also use the same setup as Capemay and SurfRat but instead of cracking the reel, what i do is just pull the weight very slowly, then retrieve the excess and keep up that method. Has worked very well for me, and is very similar to surfs and capemays method, just figured I'd share. Better luck and more fish are in your future FlukeFisher.
Tight Lines smile.gif
-Nostra

[Eric G]

Fluke "Trolling" is the way to go!!. I use what is called a terminator rig. Basically a red/white bucktail with crystal flash hair on the bottom (bucktail acts as the weight) with a teaser in the same color up top. Same rig as a true teaser set-up found at all tackle shops. Tip the bucktail with Pro-cut squid. The teaser is left alone.

Cast out near structure (along the jetty particulary good), let it sink, count to 20, reelthe handle a few times with a couple of tugs to make the rig jump and let it sit again. Repeat till the rig hits the rod tip. If they are there, they will find it.

I've caught fluke this way with bathers not 20 feet away. Key is to find the structure on the beach.

The one disappointment is the surf fluke I've caught come no where near the bigger fluke in the back bay.

Springtime/Early summer I've had some success with Kalin's Evil eel flip out and fluke trolled also.

[FlukeFisher]

So the jettys are a good place to go for fluke?

[surfrat]

flukefisher,
if you let the bait sit for 10 minutes a crab will find it in about 3 minutes. i think initially fluke hunt by sight and then scent where crabs rely on there ability to smell and locate food. Nostra is right on the money about dragging the bait and reeling in the excess line but keep some tension(contact) with your bait. look for funnels, rips, cuts, etc. anything where the baitfish and small crabs get washed around and confused. you can also throw artificials in these sreas also. plastics, bucktails, plugs, metals are all effective in those areas. and once you do find some good water go back at 3 am and im sure that area will hold weakfish and stripers! and when yo do find them you need to let me know ASAP!! :D

[njfisher]

Try using this.

Put a egg sinker on your main line (weight of sinker depends on your rod/reel, then tie the main line to a swivel big enough that it will not go inside of the egg sinker. To the swivel attach a 24" leader and a gold fluke hook that will have your killie on it.

cast out and reel in slowly or sporadically.

The egg sinker will roll with the waves and tide, allowing your killie to cover more area. the egg sinker will also work as a fish finder rig, allowing the line to pull through the sinker and directly pulling on your rod without the fish having to pickup the weight.

[Barnegat Light Mike]

Flukefisher -- the jetties are a great place to go, but as mentioned above, keep that bait moving. If you're interested in really catching some fluke, drop me an e-mail, I'll take you out on my boat and we'll catch 'em up.

[FlukeFisher]

Thanks again everyone! I do have another question though. What time of the day is the absoulute best time to go fishing for fluke?

[FlukeFisher]

Oh and I forgot to ask, does it matter if your on shore when you fish for fluke in the bay or do you have to be out on a boat?

[ShoeB]

The two tricks I use for fluke from the jetty are 1) floating bloods a few inches off the bottom and 2) "Hand drifting" squid/mini combos as Ray suggested above. You'll be hard pressed to land the doormats that can be found in the back bays or reefs, but you'll land quality fish this way if they're around.

Good point (forgot who mentioned it) about the crabs... can't leave a bait sitting on still on the bottom for long, unless you have a hankering for skates, crabs, and brown helmets.

You can do quite well from the sand/jetties in the bay.

If you ever make it down to Cape May, I'd be happy to help out.

[ 03-31-2003, 04:12 PM: Message edited by: ShoeB ]

[Eric G]

As this is the Surf Fishing Forum, it is assumed your stalking fluke from the surf, jetties and inlets.

IMHO, I've had better luck nailling fluke in daylight hours. However, under the bridges at night w/ lights fluke like them tasty plastics too. Moving tide is best. Slack water is time to eat a sandwich.

As to the boat/shore question, if you have access to a boat, go for it. You'll be able to cover more "water," less time traveling spot to spot. Again, struture is the key for all types of shore fishing.

For CMC, lifeguards will restrict you to fishing close to the jetties when they come on duty. Before 10am, generally speaking, the beach is unrestricted.

[ 04-01-2003, 08:39 AM: Message edited by: Eric G ]

[FlukeFisher]

I have another question. What is slack water? And the life gaurds don't care as long as I'm not on the jetties.

[Eric G]

Slack water is the general term describing the time between flooding tides (going towards high tide) and ebbing tides (going towards low tide) and vice versa. Time where tides are almost and/or at a stand still. smile.gif

[clamchucker]

Most excellent info from all above.
Some days there is zip biteing, could go on for a "spell" as well.
Use what you have learned & "move" a little or a lot (location wise) after 20 mins or so of no bites. More than not you will find a "spot" where the fluke are stacked & biteing. Enjoy it & note the location, tide, time of day, winds & bait taken. Many variables but your notes should put you back on them for a few days at least. Bite shuts off.....do the "move" thing all over.
Hope helps.

[FlukeFisher]

So basically slack tide is the time in between high tide and low tide? It isn't either of them, its in the middle?

[clamchucker]

Oops! (nevermind)

[ShoeB]

Fluke, think of slack as the very top of the high and bottom of the low. It's the "change-over" where the water "pauses" before it starts rushing in or out.

For example, if High is at noon amd Low is at 6:13, "slack" will occur right around noon and right around 6:13, not at 3:07. 3:07 is when the tide will be hauling butt!

Some fish will absolutely BLITZ at the slack, others will shut off completely. I've had fantastic fishing for weakies 20 minutes on either side of the slack, whereas fluke turn off. This will also vary with location and many many other factors. Local knowledge can be critical.

[ 04-01-2003, 06:36 PM: Message edited by: ShoeB ]

[FlukeFisher]

Oh ok so the good time to go out is in the middle.

[Tacklenut]

When small blue fish are in the surf try catching one with a small spoon(Hopkins,Stingsilver or Kastmaster).Using a fishfinder rig hook the 5" to 7" bluefish thru the lips and try to lob it out along side of the jetty.Work the bait very slowly back to shore with a series of lifts and turns of your reel.You might be surprised when you land a doormat.The trolling rig that Eric G talks about also works great on fluke.I substitute the teaser with a small 1/16 ounce jig with smoke colored crappie tube on it.I think that the fluke think that it is a small shrimp or minnow

[Fly Ty R]

If you're fishing the bay, I've noticed that most of the fluke are near the channels. If you can hit the channel from the land, do it, then work your bait or lure slowly back to you. From the beach, look for places like bars and troughs to throw your bait or lure into. They will hang in the backwash (whitewater area after a wave) and pick off confused baitfish. I've seen them wash up onto the dry beach with the waves, so they can be right at your feet. Also, fluke hang around the jetty rocks a lot. And, coincidentally, these are the places that you'll also catch stripers, blues, and many other fish. Unlike what most people think, fluke are viscious predators, not lazy scavengers. I've seen many hit lures on the surface, and they will strike jigs or subsurface flies with power. Try to land a 24" fluke on a fly rod, and you'll see what I mean smile.gif .

[beachblitz]

One of my favorites. Surf fluking. Fluke are ambush feeders so they don't much go looking for food. Hence the need to move the bait to them. Likewise, they prefer moving water to bring food to them so fishing the moving tide is best. They tend to move into shallower water on the rising tide and move out on the falling tide. Before and after the high tide they will be right at your feet. Where the surf washes back from the beach turning up the little critters. I have "caught" keeper fluke that swam right onto the beach. Near the low tide they'll be in the holes or cuts in the sandbars where the water flows out from the beach. Bright days, calm surf, and/or clean water are usually better. I use a 1oz. bank sinker on a slide, 24" leader, fluke hook and live killie. A short cast and slow retreive. A few times with nothing then walk 50' and a few more casts. When you find one there is likely to be several in the general area. If I start catching sea robins, it's a good spot and the fluke will start to bite there soon. Great way to spend a bright, warm summer afternoon. Never failed to being home a meal this way. You can't catch them by pitching a bait and setting the rod in a holder on the beach. Oh, avoid the 'northern stargazer'.

[FlukeFisher]

Thank you guys so much. Out of all the sites I asked, you gave me the most responces! Yeah I heard about those northern stargazers and how they can shock you. I wanted to also know if it is possible to paint the sinker to add more flash to the bait and mabee have them notice the bait even more.

[FlukeFisher]

Oh I forgot to ask, what is a teaser? Also is squid strips good because alot of you are saying to use killes and I really don't want to deal with live fish so would a squid strip work. Thanks again! smile.gif smile.gif smile.gif

[surfrat]

FF,
a teaser can be a few different things. basically its a lure ahead of your bait that may be more appealing to the fish then yor actual bait. examples are Fly's(from fly fishing) such as deceivers, surf candies, clousers, jiggy's, etc. could also be small plastics such as 2" Fin S, eels, mister twister grubs, shad bodies, etc. i dont use killies from the beach b/c i dont want to try and keep them alive, i use strip baits..squid, pro cut, etc. keep the questions coming bro!! thats what makes EVERYONE a better fisherman.

[Bassmasterson]

Flukefisher, these guys will put you into fish :D

[Chtrugs]

Awesome post and replys....every guy here gave you great info..even I picked up some pointers..got my heart pounding..nice! Good luck to everyone and be safe this season!!!

[beachblitz]

Many different baits will work for fluke. Strip baits (squid, sea robin belly, fluke belly, ect.) I've even caught one on a popper. I prefer killies because the crabs have trouble getting them and fluke love them.

[FlukeFisher]

Speaking of sea robin and fluke belly strips do they work better than squid for fluke?

[one eye willy]

Originally posted by Bassmasterson:
Flukefisher, these guys will put you into fish :D If those tips don't work you could aways try a half stick of dinomite and net it worked well for Crockadile Dunde! :D :D :D

[Bassmasterson]

Procut squid strips are really good also :D

[Eric G]

Careful using fluke belly strips. Fishing regulations are very specific on this. I suggest you read the regulations very carefully and understand them less having a talk with a NJ C/O officer.

To be quite honest, I not quite sure about using fluke belly strips. :confused:

There is a little confusion in the fishing world on how the fishing regulations "define" multilation of a fish vs. keeping the rack of a legal fish. Contact an enforcement office for the straight scoop 856-629-0555 (southern enforcement office)

Anybody ever seen a 4-spot flounder? :D

[ 04-07-2003, 09:39 AM: Message edited by: Eric G ]

[FlukeFisher]

I have pro cut squid strips and they have a sent on them too but I'm not sure what it is. Yeah I heard about that how you would need something like a ribbon(I think) and since I don't want to deal with that would a sea robin belly strip work too. And if squid is still better than a sea robin strip forget it. The reason that I'm asking is because I caught my biggest fluke(it was from a party boat) with a fluke belly strip.

[Brian E. Mullaney]

I fish LBI - usually Surf City and north. I've caught a fair share of fluke on pinkies and 1/4 oz. jig head.

[FishBuzz]

FlukeFisher
Don't rule out finger mullet as a Fluke killer bait. Butterflied, I have taken a 9.5 lb'er off the beach in Elberon, my largest to date. Welcome and "Fish 'Em Up....

[FlukeFisher]

I was just reading something and I don't get what it is saying "keep you bait moving with the incoming tide" and "let the bait drift in with the incoming tide". What are they talking about? Thanks.

[logic186]

Flukefisher

I don't want to overload you, as you really got some great responses. I fish the backbay areas for fluke alot. If you look at the shallow flats during dead low tide, you will likely see a series of sand bars (either sticking out of the water or just barely covered with water) separated by a couple of troughs that still have water. I like to wade the sand bars just after high tide and fish these deeper troughs. Just keep moving until you find fish. Good luck.

[henrybasstardo]

Flukfisher,
Get a 1/2-3/4 ounce White Spro Bucktail,(whatever weight works best with your rod) put a strip of pink pro cut squid on the bucktail and cast out and slowly retreive, cast out, retreive. You can put a live minnow on the bucktail too, through the mouth out the gill, will keep it alive.
Work one area for about 10 minutes then move down the beach twenty yards, repeat.
Like Clamchucker said if you find one you'll find many. We got lucky last summer and found a spot on the beach that had many fish. It was the best flounder fishing We've ever had. We never limit out on the boat and we could have limited out for three straight days.

Other than that I usually catch a a few flounder each year off the surf but not consistanty.

If you want to catch fish off the beach buy a Corkeys "Sabiki" rig with four hooks and put a little piece of blood worm on each hook. You can get kingfish, spot, blowfish and even flounder on that rig and six years ago my uncle landed Stripers on a sabiki from the surf, funny thing, we didn't know what kind of fish they were. Now my 4 year old knows what a Striper is. He had to bend the hooks back to keep fishing. ;)

[ 05-13-2003, 12:24 PM: Message edited by: henrybasstardo ]

[fishwrangler]

Go to any inlet and use the method that njfisher has talked about. I use the same rig and I try to go as small as possible with my egg sinker, as long as you can cast far with it. I use a 36" leader, but I wouldnt go any shorter than 24". I hook a killie through its mouth and out of the gill. This way when you are dragging it back to you it is swimming in the proper direction. Alot of times they will not "bang" it. you may even feel like a slight snag. What they do is mouth it and sit back down on it. The biggest killie will produce the bigger flounder. I love this type of fishing. a day at the beach catching flounder around all the bathers.

[FlukeFisher]

So all those people swimming in the ocean wouln't scare the fish away?

[henrybasstardo]

:D :D :D

You can only swim in designated areas, The rest of the beach is yours to fish. ;)
Get up before the swimmers or go after for the best success anyway but go when you can go.

I hope you report back after you get out.
Just don't try to do all these things at once and you'll do fine.

[FlukeFisher]

I'll be going deep sea fishing on Friday but I don't know if the weather will hold up or what species but if we get out you can bet that I'll post. As for surf fishing we don't go untill the summer and I'll be gone for three weeks so as soon as I get back I'll fill you guys in.

[FlukeFisher]

Sorry to say but my trip was cancled so I wouln't be able to give you guys a report for it. :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :(

[FlukeFisher]

Well its almost that time again to head down to LBI for 3 strait weeks, so I just wanted to know if I needed to know anything else to make me successful for fishing for fluke on the surf. Thanks.

[henrybasstardo]

Put in your time.
Bucktails tipped with just about anything are producing in the back and will work in the surf.
Guys are using spearing, mackeral strips, pro-cut strips, minnows(If you can find them), bluefish strips, and BACON! :eek: attached to the bucktail.
Cast out and retreive, try all differet retreives (fast, slow, moderate), good luck I hope you land a bunch!

Oh, and listen to those voices in your head, they may know something you don't. lol! ;)

[ 07-04-2003, 11:08 AM: Message edited by: henrybasstardo ]

[FlukeFisher]

Oh and one more question, maybe ;) , I'm pretty confused about the teasers general setup is this a teaser (for fluke)

http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/images/flukerig.gif

[Cardshop]

Hi Fluke,

this past weekend I fished the north jetty at IBSP. I caught tons of seabass on small hooks and clam pieces. If you get skunked in the surf, you may want to try the south jetty some. Bring plenty of weights and hooks.

Good luck

[FlukeFisher]

Hello, sorry to bring this topic back from the dead but I have another question. When I was surf fishing I noticed that when I casted out my line straight it started to move the side because of the waves and the current. I was using 4 ounces of weight and the waves wheren't rough and the current wasn't rought either beause it was only like an hour after low tide started. Also when I was kingfish fishing, I tried to keep the bait from not moving but it moved and it was low tide and it had 3 ounces on it. Now whenever I see someone stillfishing the line isn't moving so I know that when the line moved (when I was kingfish fishing) it wasn't supposed to do that. My question is that when fluke fishing how do I get the line to come straight back to me and not start moving to the side and when stillfishing how do I get my bait to stay in one place and not move to the side? Thanks.

P.S- I didn't catch anything last summer because I gave up because that the line kept moving.

[leedz49]

I'll say that when the current is running, long-shore drift can be a problem and there is not much you can do about that. A 4 oz. pyramid should do the trick. Perhaps setting the rod higher in the spike will keep it up out of the waves. As for catching fluke from the beach, no need to cast a mile, the fish are in close to the wash. Cast out and reel s l o w l y.

[Teaserfish]

I live on lbi and the little fluke fishing that i do..(due to over population of tourists) is with the dragging method...the fluke are almost always in the first trough or just inside of the shore line...they hang there and feed on the churned up godies

[Teaserfish]

when bottom fishing i use nothing less than a 5oz. sinker ...usually 6oz. min then again i dont fish on bright sunny days when the surf is calm