# Morning report for 07/16/04



## cocoflea (Aug 1, 2002)

The bait was still around but the only thing I could catch was a harbor blue( about 2#s) and of course Sea Robins I'm hoping the weekend will be the break out


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## Manayunk Jake (Oct 3, 2001)

Greetings David!

I think you need some new spots.... or maybe a new approach. If the sea robins are there, fluke should be there (they like the same habitat, coditions, prey.) Try tossing some squid strips around, or a small bucktail (1/2 oz) with a small plastic trailer (4 inch). You can sweeten the bucktail with a squid strip, or try some belly meat from a sea robin. You might just get a doormat....


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## cocoflea (Aug 1, 2002)

Thanks for the info Jake I've never targeted Fluke from a pier so I think I give it a Try


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## Manayunk Jake (Oct 3, 2001)

Greetings David!

The worse that could happen is you will catch more sea robins and blues!


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## johnnyleo11 (Dec 17, 2003)

Wait, you fish in the LI Sound and haven't gone after fluke? That's where the big ones live compared to down in Virginia! Cousin pulled in a 24" fluke a little before July 4 at Mt. Sinai jettys. Only flatties I've pulled in in Virginia have been throwbacks. I went fishing for half an hour at sunset just east of PJ Harbor and pulled in a pretty 3-4lb blue on a black/silver Yo-Zuri Z Minnow. I wish I had more time to fish, but I was there on vacation and forgot to pack a jacket with me and it got pretty cold when the sun was going down. The water temp was still in the lower 60's which is awesome for fishing. How do I wish it would get a little cooler down in Va again.


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## Manayunk Jake (Oct 3, 2001)

Greetings johnnyleo11!

You're right! Tagging has shown that larger fluke tend toward moving northward as they do their west-east migration in the Spring. Larger fluke can tolerate cool water, but they avoid warm water. (I've maid this point a couple of times on the NJ board.) 

The sound stays relatively cool because it is closer to the Labrador Current than the Gulf Stream. I know I always managed some nice fluke on sandworms while fishing the Black Hall River in Olde Lyme CT. The guy at the B&T didn't know fluke were in there. I also saw a nice fluke caught from the Connecticut River at Old Saybrooke on a mackeral chunk.

Fishermen in CT are like their counterparts in MD -- they are heavily striper-oriented. Many Chesapeake charter captains would rather chum little "rockfish" than drift for fluke. CT Long Island boats used to fish for tog all summer until the size/possession limits made it hard to find patrons. A lot of the boats now concentrate on porgies, another cool water species. Recent changes in porgy limits already have captains complaining. The Fisheries Board was hoping that weakies (squeteague up north) would come back and fill the void, but weakfish stocks have plummeted. Blues are plentiful, but paying to fish for bluefish seems to be a Jersey/NYC sort of thing (and usually involves more drinking than fishing!) It will be interesting to see what is in store for the boats on the CT side (probably nature cruises!)


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## cocoflea (Aug 1, 2002)

Jake your right it's going to get real interesting being that both states are complaining about how the data is collected on setting the size and number of fish limit and believe me it going to get ugly before it gets better.


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## Manayunk Jake (Oct 3, 2001)

Greetings David!

Yeah, the three fish limit on fluke has been a boom for the North Jersey boats (where the limit is still eight fish.) Lots of New Yorkers lining those rails....


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