Fluke Options Poll

[hammer4reel]

can anyone here ever remember catching a quanity of fluke in April ?? not saying maybe they were not here but tradionally we were all winter flounder fishing

IM talking someones fishing log showing that , not just thinking it might have happened

early May had always been just that EARLY except for some of the mud flats, channel fishing usually got good the 3-4th week in may .

Sure the water is warmer this year , but the fish have still moved out, not like they stopped at the mud hole.they still need to make their trek back .

[SaltyAngler]

My only concern with starting later in May and Ending later in October would be NJ's tumultuous weather patterns in early fall. With a winter this mild, I can only imagine what mother nature has in store for us come that sometimes busy hurricane season. I can honestly say I'm one of the people on this board that never limited (8) out on Fluke, though I would have had the size minimum had been 17.5. Can't say I ever picked up my doormat either, and I did give it a hell of a shot last season, with my largest at 22" and 3.5lbs. At this rate, I'd be happy with a mid April to mid October 6 fish limit @ 17.5, and I'm sure the PB captains would agree.

[Reel Class]

Originally Posted by hammer4reel

can anyone here ever remember catching a quanity of fluke in April ?? not saying maybe they were not here but tradionally we were all winter flounder fishing

IM talking someones fishing log showing that , not just thinking it might have happened

early May had always been just that EARLY except for some of the mud flats, channel fishing usually got good the 3-4th week in may .

Sure the water is warmer this year , but the fish have still moved out, not like they stopped at the mud hole.they still need to make their trek back .

We have caught fluke in late April on many occasions while flounder fishing, especially in the river when we had an "open" season on fluke (open all year with no closure). There are times when we caught more fluke than flounder, and have caught plenty of keeper sized fluke while doing this. Log books show this in certain years in the 90's and early 00's - nothing as recent as 07' though. In the 80's, for whatever reason, the earliest I have EVER catching a fluke was early May with many flounder entries INTO the month of June.

Usually the boats in the Highlands have that quick shot of fish out at the CG station and the bug light and that usually happens from the last week of April into the second week or so in May - its traditional and its pretty dependable as every year that seems to go on.

For our ocean fluke fishing, we really haven't seen a good bite prior to Memorial Day in my memory or in the log book.

In fact, up until the early or even mid 90's, alot of the "fluke boats" that sail out of our inlet bottom fished up until the 15th or so of June, then started fluking. This mind you, was when we had no or little restrictions on tog and seabass, and had ling and whiting inshore in the spring.

[SaltyJim]

i voted for number 2.. this is a nice long season and with the higher bag limit.. If we give up the 8 fish bag limit we will never get it back.. Ever!.. 8 fish at 18in is the way to go.. Id rather have to catch larger fish.. I know last year my father and I would at least put 6 to 7 fish in the cooler each.. The bite isnt all ways that hot but it i don't feel that going down in the bag limit will help us.. half an inch for 3 fish doesn't add up in my book.

[JOHN D]

i like option 3 the best for a longer season but the bag limit is a little much. do we really NEED to keep 8 18 inch fluke?

[SaltyJim]

Originally Posted by JOHN D

i like option 3 the best for a longer season but the bag limit is a little much. do we really NEED to keep 8 18 inch fluke?

yes.. because they taste sooo good!

[CadiShackFishing]

Keep them at 18, all those 17.5s may be good eating but if everyone keeps even five you will deplete the stock and next year it will go to 19 able to keep 3.

[irishc]

I have it on good authority that we WILL have Sea Bass to fish for in Oct in federal waters and Tog opens back up on 10/18.... As long as we have something else to fish for in Oct. I don't mind the shorter fluke season / smaller bag limit and definitly like the smaller size to increase keeper ratio.

[JerseyHooker.Com]

8 fish @ 18 inches May 5 – Oct 21