What is wrong???

[Capt John]

Originally Posted by Capt John

Fluke fishing here in NJ has been terrible this year. Want to catch some real slobs??? fish boats going out to Nantucket. KIlling them out there. Why...? Who knows. Cleaner water, colder water it's anyone's guess but they sure as hell aren't here. Friend of mine fished for two days (15th and 16th) and hammered the fish. Throwing back 5-6 lb. fish. Pool winner was 14 lbs. His srew caught fish 9-12 lbs.....NJ fluke fishing su***!

Allow me to clarify my previous post.....first off, are there fluke way back in Raritan Bay? Yes. Sandy Hook Bay?....yes a few. All of Raritan Bay...yes, if you can find some very small pods of barely legal fish.

Question then.....what the hell happened to the lights out "Raritan Reach" fishing of last year? Gone.

From what I'm reading and hearing, some boats are finding fish ocean side somewhat offshore (ling and black sea bass in their catches) speaks volumes. That's a hell of a ride in a small boat for 3 fish per man.

Good for them, but for the small boat owner, the rivers, bays and near shore fishing is what most can accomplish safely and good fluke fishing in those areas is just not happening this year "with any consistency"....remember those last three words please.

I got an email a few days ago from one of the best tournament winning fluke anglers I know and he's echoed the same evaluation as I....tough, tough fluke fishing and nothing to scream about with the spring Striper fishing either, so I'm not alone on this.

Something is wrong here. I can accept a drop off to a degree, but what I've seen has been a 360 degree turnaround from last year in our rivers, bays and the NY Bight area in general. I hate to use extreme adjectives, but collapse is not too far away for our area......very sad.

Remember the word "consistency".....sorry not this year.

As I stated in my previous post, my friends who drove "north" for a two day fluke fishing trip absolutely HAMMERED big fish. 9's, 10's and a 12 in the cooler and throwbacks were 5's and 6's....unreal fishing. Where the hell is that for our NJ fisherman?