The single most sought after fish in our region is finally in its season’s first full month. Fat flatties are being caught and dropped in a hot pan instead of being embroiled in a hot debate, and in the opinion of this columnist, it’s about flukin’ time.

   Now the real controversy begins - to GULP, or not to GULP. Last season, my buddy Carmen and I went toe to toe to settle the Gulp debate. He fished a GULP on a bucktail and I went with a shedder scented squid strip and plastic combo. We fished back in one of the super secret spots that everybody in a 20-mile radius knows about. Here are the slightly less than scientific results. GULP will catch more sea robins than real bait at least 2:1, but in a fluke-shootout, it is a dead heat. Bottom line is that if you don’t have GULP on board, you are definitely missing something, so go ahead, bite the bullet, and pay the price for the plastic-bagged, hybrid wonder bait. The penny shrimp GULP seemed to be the best, but all of the ones we fished throughout the season did the job. If minnows were available for the contest, I believe the outcome may have been slightly different, but they were so scarce and so expensive last June that they were economically eliminated as a bait choice.

   Flukin’ in June is all about the tides. The last couple hours before the top and bottom of a tide always seems to out-produce times when the current is really ripping. Power trolling, the art of running the engine to modify a drift speed or direction, is an effective strategy when ones timing does not match up with the tide table or when the wind is messing with the drift. There are times when an angler’s favorite spot is a waste of time due to wind-against-current conditions that will hold a boat dead still in the water, or have it moving at blinding speed. Spending a few bucks on expensive fuel to get the right drift pace going will make the difference between fresh fillets for dinner or a call to the pizza shop.

   Back bay or out at the reef, fluke are ravenous predators that favor areas down current of slight bottom depressions, drop-offs or structure that allows them to ambush their drifting prey with a lightning fast strike. Since fluke are notorious “short” hitters, grabbing the very back of the bait and not the hook, many fluke-masters prefer a conventional reel that lets them do a quick thumb release drop-back of the bait when first detecting the bite. Striking on first contact will have one walking back to the dugout instead of trotting around the bases.

   Shore and surf anglers don’t have to take a backseat in the flukin’ action this month. Casting up current and letting the offering drift across in a wide arc will give them the same action on their baits as the boat anglers have and the results can be just as good. Keeping the bait moving is the key, whether one is on a sod bank, a street end bulkhead or on the beach. Tossing a squid-tipped, or GULP-tipped, lead head or bucktail in the wash or across a mudflat can make for great fun and a great meal. Fly haulers catch lots of fluke on shallow flats and in the wash by tossing Clouser minnows. Sometimes these skinny-water strikes are downright explosive, not to mention that a keeper fluke is a ton of fun to catch on a 6-weight fly rod. Remember, it is eight fish at 18 inches this year.

 

 

   In addition to being the first full month of fluke season, fluke anglers will attest to June as being the opening of greenhead fly season, with no bag limit and no minimum size. Of course a whole, live human being is the best bait, and the greenheads will feed on it ravenously, chunk at a time.

   A high DEET concentration repellant, such as Greenhead or Deep Woods OFF, is one’s best line of defense. These repellents deter the flesh munching little son-of-a-bugs and seem to last longest on the skin. Dark clothes attract them too, so lighten up when it comes to fishing apparel.

 

 

   Outside the inlet one’s first priority is to find the bunker schools. These floating, all-u-can-eat game fish buffets are the targets of everything, swimming and finding them is easy if the conditions permit. When schooled up, they will flip on the surface as they move along, creating “nervous” water, even if they are “happy” bunker. The real goal, however, is to find nervous bunker. A school being harassed will flush as the game fish move through them and will look like they are being attacked from above with waves of machine gun fire. Find flushing bunker and one will find action.

   The most likely fish causing these attacks are smaller bluefish, but don’t let that stop the big game adrenaline from flowing. This captain truly believes that an angler’s best chance of catching a monster bass on a bunker school is in June. They lurk around the edges ready to pick off any stragglers or a livie that an astute angler has snagged and dragged off the school. Some of the real big girls hang back behind the schools slurping up the pieces of bluefish chopped bunker that drift down to the bottom. Both situations create amazing catching opportunities.

   Closer to the shore than any swimmer or lifeguard would like to admit; these schools of bunker also attract some very big toothy critters. Thresher sharks are seen and caught all the time by regular bunker school students and if the water is warm enough, other varieties of shark will be drawn inshore as well. Last year I had a small mako put on an amazing aerial show for a few minutes before cutting me off, just outside the shadows of the AC casinos.

   I might prefer taking a swim with the threshers than a school of the big chopper blues that would take a chunk out of anything that moves in the water. Just in case, be prepared for big and nasty bluefish when you leave the dock.

 

 

   Reef riders and wrecker rockers are locked out on tautog until July 15, but the sea bassin’ and flukin’ around these structures is still great. Although I go with a lead head or bucktail in the back bay, fluke and sea bass in snag infested waters get a kahle-wire hook on a 30-pound fluorocarbon leader connected a 3-way swivel. The dropper to the lead gets 20-pound monofilament so if it gets hung up, one can get their good-looking, multi-colored hoochies or teasers that they adorn their hooks with, back. When drifting over flatter bottom with these rigs the drop to the weight should be tied shorter and the leader to the hook should be tied longer to keep the bait close to the bottom. This author is a traditional squid ‘n minnow guy, unless I have salted herring strips or live peanuts on board.

 

 

   June’s offshore opportunities consist of a mixed bag of monsters, with the tuna bite getting underway and the sharking in full swing. Last year, early June success on yellowfin seemed to have a direct connection to how many rainbow spreader bars a boat could drag. We did very well out near the Baltimore canyon on yellowfin, much better in the mornings than midday or afternoon, and will be looking for the same 70-degree, blue-water temperature breaks when we look at the satellite maps this year. Big bluefish chomped the heck out of our bars last year and it was a good thing we ordered lots of replacement squids early as they got both scarce and expensive later in the season. (Hint hint!) Even though the 4th of July weekend is the unofficial start of bluefin season, there were still lots of 60-pound-class fish around in June hammering baits for anglers in the more southern bluefin locations.

   If anglers are sharking this month, the odds are that they are in one of the many tournaments that have quite a few of my “free” tuna rides all tied up for the month.

   Best bet this month, keep all eyes peeled for “Unhappy” bunker out front and take a shot at the striper of a lifetime!