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 When it comes to fluke fishing New Jersey waters, the back
bay areas are tough to beat. In this episode, the Angler crew
fishes a small, shallow bay behind Wildwood know as Grassy Sound.
This bay, situated just south and west of Hereford Inlet, is
a popular summertime fluking spot, and happens to be the very
place where co-host Bill Donovan cut his angling teeth as a
child. To this day, Donovan spends a significant amount of time
on these waters, pursuing striped bass, weakfish, and blues,
in addition to fluke.
In the back bays of South Jersey, the summer of 2005 was marked
by good numbers of fluke, but finding sizeable fish was a real
challenge on most days. The fishery was most certainly a numbers
game, and putting a decent number of keepers in the cooler meant
sifting through many, many smaller specimens. This particular
outing was no exception, as Bill and Darren fished through nearly
50 short fluke on the morning tide to find a few fish for the
table.
In this show, viewers will learn the basics of shallow water
fluking, with segments on rigs, bait selection, and bucktailing.
The most important aspect of this method of fishing, however,
and something that is discussed in detail on this episode is
boat control and positioning. Using the boat and motor to keeping
baits moving in the right direction and in the “strike
zone” is the real secret to putting up big numbers of
fluke, and viewers will see first hand how it’s done.
There are three primary back bay structures that hold fluke
on a regular basis. These are channel edges, the down-tide edges
of tidal flats, and deep holes. On this particular day, we found
good numbers of fish on all three types of structure. Most of
the fish were taken on the edges of the primary navigation channel,
in depths between 12 and 15 feet. Throughout most of the morning,
a wind-against-tide situation made boat control absolutely critical,
and we used our 4-stroke Yamaha outboard to make constant adjustments
as needed to keep our baits in the proper depth and moving with
the tide.
We also found lots of fish along the downtide edge of an expansive
tidal flat. Here, we employed bucktail/squid combos to pick
up a few larger fish, including some keepers for the table.
The rhythmic rising and falling of the tides is just another
amazing thing that occurs in the natural world. From a fishing
standpoint these tides dictate the optimal times to fish. In
Grassy Sound, the outgoing tide is usually the best tide to
fish for fluke. Falling tides in a back bay situation pull the
small baitfish, crabs and grass shrimp off the shallow flats
and out of the creeks, and into the deeper areas, creating ideal
ambush situations for fluke.
While tide is a very important factor, so is boat traffic.
In such a shallow area with only a single defined channel, boat
traffic can be a real problem and can turn a fluke bite off.
As such, it’s usually best to fish during
the early morning and again at dusk, especially if these times coincide with
an outgoing tide.
These shallow estuarine waters are best fished with very light
tackle. Not only does the light gear provide better sport on
smaller fish, but it facilitates a more effective presentation
with small baits and light lures. For bottom fishing with bait
(killies), rarely will 2 ounces of lead be required. In fact,
an ounce or less in plenty on most days. Therefore, small spinning
setups and light baitcasting outfits are the way to go. For
bait fishing and bucktailing, a Penn international 965 baitcasting
reel coupled with a Penn International Shallow Water Series
rod is perfect. This rod is light and sensitive, yet possesses
plenty of guts to pull a larger fluke off the bottom. These
outfits are topped off with 20-pound Power Pro braided line.
The braid is actually the most important part of the outfit.
It offers unmatched sensitivity, zero stretch for solid hooksets,
and better depth penetration, which allows us to get away with
using lighter weights and smaller jigs. With this line, it is
possible to feel the tailbeat of your killie and it struggles
to avoid a pursuing fluke! If you aren’t fishing a braided
line like Power Pro, then you’re fishing blind.
Fluke are ambush predators, and usually lay in wait for prey
to swim by. Then, they rear up and strike their prey tail first.
Unfortunately for us anglers, we usually hook our baits through
the lips. This makes the “drop back” method an important
element in the fluke fishing equation. When a strike is felt
(usually just a bump followed by some extra weight on the line)
the reel is disengaged and the bait and sinker are allowed to
sit motionless. This gives an unsuspecting fluke a chance to
work its way up the bait and get the hook inside its mouth.
While not foolproof, this technique does increase the hookup
ratio substantially, and it is amply demonstrated on this episode.
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