# Margate Fluke



## Manayunk Jake (Oct 3, 2001)

Greetings All!

Saturday was cold and there was plenty of rain, but the weatherman promised clearing skies for Sunday afternoon. Since there was an outgoing tide at 1:00 PM, Carol and I decided to give the Fish-N-Fun jackpot another try (hey, $5600.00 is a lot of incentive!)

Well, the sun never came out, and it didn't climb much above 60 degrees. It felt strange wearing a sweatshirt plus a jacket in June. Carol picked off a "postage stamp" sized fluke at the first spot, and followed that up with a 20 inch striper. The stripers tail was covered in cysts, and it was bleeding pretty bad from the sores. We don't usually see diseased fish like this in Jersey, so I snapped a photo (that I will forward to the D.E.P.) before releasing the fish.

The captain moved, and I had a good hit on a piece of mackeral. At first I thought I had a blue, but it turned out to be another schoolie striper (my first of the year.) This fish was healthy and quickly released. There was a slow pick of throwback fluke and skates while the captain gradually made his way back an arm of the bay. I was hoping he'd head farther back, but he was skittish about getting stuck in the receeding water.

I was alternating between a killie/squid sandwich and a bucktail with mackeral. A blue hit the killie/squid combo and cut the 20# test leader with no problem. I tried to follow up with the bucktail but the drift was too fast. One half hour to go and no pool fish between 20 fishermen.

Last stop was a beautiful eddy at the tip of a sod island. The captain hit the eddy right on the nose on the first drift, and a dozen shorts came over the rail. I was anxious for the next drift, which would have given us "long" side and more room to manuever. Unfortunately, the secong drift wasn't as accurate, but one fellow did nail a 16.5 inch keeper to end the day.

When the only keeper/pool winner was filleted, the only thing in its belly was a small crab. Either the fish aren't eating, or the water is t-o-o c-o-l-d. Five days of 90 degree weather should cure that... Carol and I will be back!


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## davehunt (Mar 27, 2003)

Greetings Manayunk Jake!

Thanks for the report, I had family commitments all weekend so Saturday and Sunday were out (not that I missed much with the weather).

I did manage to get in about six hours of fishing the beach on Staten Island on Friday night (from about 8PM to 2AM). Nice night but not much doing. I managed a coctail early on and then a nice 7.5 pounder around midnight.

I should be down in Wildwood Crest this weekend, I sure hope the warm weather gets the fluke in the mood!


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## Manayunk Jake (Oct 3, 2001)

Greetings davehunt!

I'm betting on the mini heatwave to make the fluke more active. I'll be heading back to Margate Friday courtesy of the late President Reagan. I guess you could say this jackpot fluke has become my own mini-obsession. Hey, call me Ishmael!


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## davehunt (Mar 27, 2003)

Manayunk Jake,

Knock'em dead.

As it stands right now my client will be closing early (3PM) for the Presidential Bereavement day however my kids still have school on Friday.

I'll have the minivan packed and should be on the road by 4 or 4:30. Barring any massive amounts of traffic I should be in Wildwood by 7:30 or 8. With any luck I can fish the bottom of the outgoing tide.

If, on the other hand, the education department decides to cancel a scheduled day off on Thursday (Brooklyn Day) and instead close school on Friday, then I will take the day and head down on Thursday evening


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