# Fluke Jack Pot Still Growing



## Manayunk Jake (Oct 3, 2001)

Greetings All!

Carol and I headed out on the Fish-N-Fun Sunday (07/25) for the PM trip. Fishing incoming tide (not my favorite) but just had to get out.

The captain made an unexplainable run through the inlet to the Ocean City side which produced a single four inch eel pout (first one I've ever seen alive -- seen plenty of partially digested specimens in fluke bellies.) Another run back across the inlet put us in the channel in longport where a couple of shorts and skates were caught. I was frantically trying to telepathically implant going back in the grass into the captain's head. Low and behold he did make a beeline for a smaller channel farther into the back bay where the first two keepers were caught. A lot of shorts (10 - 12 inches) were coming over the rail.

The captain worked his way closer to a smaller channel and finally turned in. There was a fluke explosion -- two and three fluke on at a time, larger fish with two more keepers caught. The captain then (again, unexplainably) moved to the opposite shoreline for three drifts that produced an easy thirty shorts. I caught my fourth throwback, a fat 16 incher on the final drift, followed by Carol's 12th fluke of the day, a 15.75 incher. Carol also caught a small shark, and I had a blue slam my rod and disappear.

Hopefully this trip proved to the captain that fluke are back bay critters (at least this time of year.) The little pool winner ($90.00) missed the jack pot weight by 3/100s of a pound. The jack pot is $6700.00 and rising -- and will probably fall this weekend (if the @#%&* captain ever gets back in the grass!)


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## cocoflea (Aug 1, 2002)

Jake

It looks like it was a mixed emotion day for you the good thing is you still in the running for the jackpot hopefully the captain will do the right thing next time.


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## Manayunk Jake (Oct 3, 2001)

Greetings David!

It was a bit frustrating to say the least. We basically wasted two hours "exploring" when common sense dictates that with the rising water you go as far back in the sod banks as you can get.

I was using "supersized" baits in an effort to avoid the shorts and concentrate on keeper fluke. Most drifts I added a large strip of mackeral inbetween my squid strip and big killie (probably why I've been getting a lot of slams from bluefish.) Carol used the standard squid/killie combo. During the "fluke explosion" she caught four shorts on four drops, all in about ten minutes time. 

There was a young fellow from Israel next to her that was frantically trying to catch a fluke. When he finally did, he was hartbroken to find out the short had to be returned. Unfortunately he had no camera to take a picture of his first fluke (if I had known it at the time, I would have took the photo for him and mailed it to him.)

Again, a very frustrating trip, but hopefully the captain is learming where the fluke are under these conditions. My biggest fear is that once the summer heats the water in the back bay beyond fluke tolerance, he'll be wasting time in the grass when he should be fishing the kinds of spots he starts off at now!


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## davehunt (Mar 27, 2003)

Manayunk Jake,

Did you have any luck with the owners? It's in their best interest (and the Captains) to address this issue.


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## cocoflea (Aug 1, 2002)

Jake 

I feel you pain last year I was on a Porgy boat that decided the first part of the trip he would go to some old hot spots that had cooled off whe the rest of the fleet was going to the Hot Spot even though the fish were bigger no one had caught their limit and the other boats most of the people had limited out I was VERY angry.


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## Manayunk Jake (Oct 3, 2001)

Greetings davehunt!

Even Carol noticed that we got a "lukewarm" welcome when we stopped in for our tickets. The co-owner stated that she received the email, and that everybody was having a slow start and that she wasn't worried about the competition. The morning trip came in with no keepers - they had to refund everyones pool money. Amazingly, the second boat had gone out and managed two keepers (supposedly at the end of the outgoing tide.)

Fluke fishing is not an exact science, but there are some behaviors that are pretty standard and reliable. Like almost all fish, fluke will seek a comfortable temperature, and try to avoid sudden temperature changes. The warmer water of the back bay is very attractive this time of year. In addition, colder (and more dense) incoming water will "push" the remaining warm water farther back into the bay, channels, and creeks (the same tide is pushing the bait, too.)

Fluke are comfortable in two feet of water, and will explore flats looking for food. (This active hunting has been documented on film by Mike Laptew.) Once the back bay warms above 80 degrees, most of the larger fluke will seek the cooler water of the inlet (which by mid-summer is filled with spearing.) The smaller fluke will remain behind and feed on smaller prey (plus avoid predators that frequent inlets, including larger fluke.) This cycle is repeated up and down the coast. The guys at Cape Henlopen DE often wade the flats targeting fluke, and I'm sure they would agree that as the summer wears on, the throwback to keeper ratio gets higher and higher (anything over 10 to 1 can be very frustrating...)

I'll be down there three days in a row this weekend (outgoing tides in the AM, incoming in the PM.) The inlet and main channels will be very busy with boat traffic, and hopefully this will force the captain to fish back in the grass. I just need to bring lots of OFF for the greenheads....


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## Manayunk Jake (Oct 3, 2001)

Greetings David!

We had a similar experience last Fall on a sea bass trip. The captain stopped at his usual spot, and it was tough culling keeper (12 inch) sea bass from the hordes of smaller fish. He finally hit a second wreck, where we immediately started catching quality fish. We thought the captain was repositioning, but instead he left the new hotspot and proceeded to a third wreck where we resumed culling 12 inch fish (as far as I know, he might have even returned to the original wreck!)

Its tough, but your a captive once you pay your fare. If the captain burns you too often, you try another boat. My theory is that the loaded boat could have "fished out" the second stop, and the captain didn't want to risk that. His selective harvest guaranteed everyone got some quality fish, plus had a shot at a slow pick limit. Maybe your captain was similarly motivated. Or maybe he just wanted to save fuel... You never really know. Some boats thrive on repeat business, and some boats thrive on tourists. It takes a lifetime to sort it all out....


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## Bassplug (Jun 18, 2004)

Hope the fluke are still there week after next so I can get a few big ones too. Sounds like you had a good trip.


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## Manayunk Jake (Oct 3, 2001)

Greetings Bassplug!

Nobody hit the pool this weekend -- all four of the fluke caught on Sunday were heavier than the 2.06 weight (they started moving the weight "up" again after it hit two punds even.) See my 07/05 post for details of Sunday's trips.


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## Manayunk Jake (Oct 3, 2001)

Greetings Bassplug!

Let me know the dates you'll be there -- maybe we can try to put an end to the madness and claim that pool!


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