Re: Where the heck are the Fluke?
The never-ending topic....heres my 3 cents:
I have 2 observations, neither of which is scientific in nature, but both are based on just, years on the never ending pursuit of fluke.
1. Many years ago, when I mated on an infamous charter boat out of the Point, I had amazing opportunities to work deck for some of the best Captains in the biz. This topic invariably came up whenever we had slow days chasing Flatties, and every single Captain I asked about it all told me, basically, the same thing: from all of their connections with draggers, and divers, and daily trips themselves, the Summer Fluke action depended entirely on the prior Winter, and whether or not the Draggers "found" the main stocks on their Wintering grounds. Their belief was some years the commercial guys could really zero in on the biomass, and they could basically wipe out a large portion of the stock before it ever made its way inshore to us. When that happened, the Summer was ALWAYS slower. (In their humble opinion). Nothing scientific about that, but these guys are well known here on the board, and without naming names, if I did mention them you would all see my point about this being legit. They also told me that the very best places to target these fish, REGARDLESS of the season, was on wrecks.
2. Those same folks told me, and SHOWED me, that the very best time to fish for the same stock, was when the fluke were once again assembling in mass to move offshore to their Winter grounds (early Fall/late Fall.) Personally, Ive never had a bad Fall fishing for fluke, even if I had to play catch and release just for the hell of it. Never. Had. A. Bad. Fall. (My personal best fluke was caught the day after Thanksgiving, on a mid-depth wreck, out of BI, when every pass resulted in non stop action for VERY large, quality, fish.)
So....in summary, I guess I feel that the perception of Summer action is predicated by the commercial activities of the prior Winter, and the fact that the best fishing is sadly.....out of our concept of "Summer", and we aren't allowed to fish for them during the peak of the action.
Oh and.....fish dem wrecks!!!!
Cheers!
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