Thoughts on bay/river/creek fluke fishing

[Duffman]

Originally Posted by bulletbob

When you write about the bite dying off, do you mean larger keeper size fish, or total numbers?... For years and years when I lived on the bay, and even after I moved up here and drove down to fish in NJ, there were always tons and tons of small fluke in the bay to the point of being ridiculous.. You could catch a hundred a day if you wanted all summer, but a 15 incher was a big one. I used to bounce old style hair jigs with a small strip of squid alongside a dead stick on the gunnel and the amount of fish was astounding, but even in those days, as summer progressed the fish seemed to get smaller. Also the 1 to 2 pound Blues were sometimes more abundant than Fluke and you had to watch your dead stick as many disappeared overboard, before you could even react... I imagine the Blues aren't there in those type of numbers these days in the Raritan/Sandy Hook complex.. Kind of a shame, as when we talked of going fishing back then [80's] we didn't say "we are going for fluke".. It was always- "We are going for fluke and blues".. You never caught one without catching a lot of the other .. As you went further into the Shrewsbury Navesink, fluke were always there all summer but numbers dwindled as summer progressed, and blues became less of a "problem" although they would still come charging through on certain days.. Sometimes without warning BIG blues would come charging into the rivers as well, and it was fun watching a kid with a Zebco hook a big Bluefish.. Not sure that happens anymore..

Both. I fish a particular hole very close to my dock. From the start of May until first week June it is loaded with 18-22” fish. By middle of June when water temps creep up its shuts off like a light. If we get heavy rains it’ll turn off even sooner.
Raritan and SHB have changed drastically since Sandy. Pieces that used to hold fish no longer do and vice versa. Back in the 80’s 90’s and early 2000’s catching a smooth dog was not exactly rare but seldom saw them. This year I have yet to see a sea robin but have put close to, if not over 100 dogs this year on deck. Same with cow noses. Can’t remember them at all as a kid and this past weekend I saw thousands.

[bulletbob]

Yes, we would see smooth dogs only very occasionally.. I moved out of NJ in 1991 and had never caught a cownose. I had been spooled by huge unseen unstoppable fish while fluking though that I now attribute to a huge ray.
Then when we would come down and fish several times a year, especially after around 2000 cownose rays seemed to be everywhere, As a kid, right until i moved from the jersey shore at the age of 37years, they were unknown in the bay.. I imagine they were there, but not in the kind of numbers we are seeing today. Interesting... Its very hard for me to even imagine fluke fishing in raritan bay without catching dozens of those big dark red sea robins.. I remember guys would murder every one they caught, but i always released them, as they gave a pretty good account on light tackle.. Like many others, I realized they actually were pretty good to eat, and started keeping a few.. Maybe someone realized they were good to eat raw and thinly sliced with wasabi and soy sauce, and they are now a sought after commercial fish.. Never saw a lack of sea robins at any time in my life.... bob.

[tautog]

Pressure has a lot to do with the bay and river fishery. I was at the Heroes on the Water event at the Sandy Hook Coast Guard Station on Saturday and numerous keepers up to 27 ins were caught on all sorts of baits. Anyone who knew how to fish and stayed out at least 2 hours had a limit or better. We had several keepers right off the beach while waiting to help kayakers in. Almost all the keepers were caught in the restricted zone. Those who paddled to the tip of the hook didn't do well even though it was deeper and had better current. Lack of fishing pressure was the game changer. Also I would like to thank Cancun Pete for his donated gear, water, and ice.

[Gerry Zagorski]

Originally Posted by tautog

Pressure has a lot to do with the bay and river fishery. I was at the Heroes on the Water event at the Sandy Hook Coast Guard Station on Saturday and numerous keepers up to 27 ins were caught on all sorts of baits. Anyone who knew how to fish and stayed out at least 2 hours had a limit or better. We had several keepers right off the beach while waiting to help kayakers in. Almost all the keepers were caught in the restricted zone. Those who paddled to the tip of the hook didn't do well even though it was deeper and had better current. Lack of fishing pressure was the game changer. Also I would like to thank Cancun Pete for his donated gear, water, and ice.

Well there you go and thanks to Pete from Atlantic Bait and Tackle https://atlanticbaitandtackle.com/ and Heroes on the water https://heroesonthewater.org/chapters/new-jersey/ and all others who support their cause.

Nice to see good things happening for good people...