The Fluke are Coming!
They have about 100 miles to go. I just received another tag return from the American Littoral Society's tagging director, Jeff Dement. A fluke that I tagged and released at the end of August in Manasquan Inlet was recaptured four weeks ago by a commercial fishing boat in 55 fathoms near Hudson Canyon. The fluke was 15" when I tagged it. It was 15.3" and 1 lb 4 oz. when the tag was returned. The information was forwarded by the North Carolina Dept. of Natural Resources from a catch that was unloaded in Beaufort. They must monitor the commercial catch coming into that port.
So, if the fluke season in N.J. opens this weekend, and fluke are already being caught, how long will it take for the fish that are still out near the Hudson Canyon to get near the beaches? When you come across one of those dry spells when you just can't seem to put a good catch together, consider that there are more fish coming in from offshore. You just have to find them and wait them out. It also makes me wonder about rough bottom spots to check out far offshore that so far have gone undetected and unexplored. Maybe this year, we'll check out some 100' spots.
|
