Fluke remains the most sought-after fish in the Garden State, and anglers are kicking it up a notch in search of doormats. The bigger the bait, the bigger the fish, and it keeps the shorts away — sometimes.
Raritan Bay: Capt. Ron Sr. aboard the Island Girl III worked the deep water in Ambrose Channel with tons of action on fluke strips for bait. Capt. Ron Sr. landed over 30 fish to a pool-winning 9.5-pound doormat.
Brielle: Capt. Wayne aboard the Fish Monger remains steady all week hitting fluke limits. Capt. Wayne had Bill Lavbob, Matt Avid, Brian and friends busy pulling fish all week with double-digit keepers. Matt has now been on the boat three times and limited out every time, with six fish being over 5 pounds. With a fiveman crew, the Fish Monger has been boxing up to 30 keepers per trip.
Sea Bright: Reel Fun Sport Fishing Charters with Capt. John had Dr. Mike Goldberg out and headed right to Ambrose Channel for some fluke fishing. With plenty of life, they picked through lots of shorts, sea robins, dogfish and a few sea bass. Capt, John managed to hit his limits and boxed fish from 2 to 6l pounds to end a perfect fluke trip.
Highlands: Capt. Carl from Wet Dreams Charters headed out with David Shepelsky and sons Josh and Matt in search of sea bass and porgy action. Josh had the hot pole in the morning, boxing keeper bass right away.
To mix it up, Capt. Carl landed a 5-pound fluke, followed by a monster 10-pound, 2- ounce 29-inch doormat.
Barnegat Bay is on fire with every species possible showing up on the boards. Capt. Birch from Fish Guts Charter claims the fishing has been as good as the weather. Barnegat Bay fluking has exploded with amazing numbers of fish. Sea bass has held up just as well in the last few weeks. Capt. Birch reported double-digit catches all week from fluke, blackfish, sea bass, bluefish and even a 15-pound mahi-mahi making a brief appearance.
Capt. Steve Purul of Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters, Barnegat, also landed a few tropical triggerfish, bluefish, blackfish, fluke and large hand-size porgies, which has made up most of the catch this week. Capt. Steve tells me that weakfish, on the other hand, have remained missing in action for the most part. Are we on yet another downward cycle for our beloved sea trout? Only time will tell, and be sure Capt. Steve will let us know.
Did You Know?
Blue sharks are the most commonly harvested shark species, representing 56 percent of the pelagic shark catch (45,087 tons).
Threshers are the second most harvested pelagic shark and represent 24 percent of the pelagic shark catch (19,197 tons).
For more facts, log on to www.igfa.org. Fish On!