Had Chris George with sons Trevor and Zachary of Pompton Lakes, NJ out for a good morning of Fluke fishing at various locations in and around the Sandy Hook area.
We were dragging bait (Squid/Peruvian Smelt combo) as well as bucktailing Spro's tipped with Gulp Alive products to catch over 40 Fluke for our morning charter fishing trip. Although bucktailing did out-produce dragging bait by a wide margin, we did catch nice keepers to 2 lb's using both methods. Although the fish caught today were smaller than our Monday "Magic Hours" trip, there were enough fish to keep these 14 year old anglers busy for the morning.
We had a light N/NW breeze for most of the morning with an outgoing tide which had us on a perfect drift accounting for great conditions at most of our locations. Amazingly, the Sea Robbins have not been a problem this year, so far, but that could change at any time. Saw many "Bunker Boats" in Sandy Hook Bay which was disturbing, but they have to earn a living too so who am I to judge.
What I'm also surprised with was that even the undersized fish (throwbacks) were fat, plump beauties which bodes well for the health of the coming new year. Looks like 2012 could be a good year for the Fluke fisherman.
Tight Lines,
Capt. John