The new 20-1/2” minimum size limit has undoubtedly made it more difficult to bring home a few keeper fluke this year. Still, the season is off to a decent start with a fair number of legal fish reported. By now, most fluke fans know the basics for catching keepers: fish in 30- to 50 feet of water; use large baits like Peruvian spearing or six- to eight-inch strips of fillet cut from sea robin and bluefish; and choose a fishing outfit strong enough to work heavy sinkers. Following are few more tips worthy of consideration:
● Fish hard at the start or end of the tide, and during periods of slack water. Smaller fluke are generally aggressive right through the tide but larger doormats feed most intently as the current softens.
● Shorten your drifts to concentrate over the most productive water. Many boaters like long, easy drifts that allow for coverage of a lot of water. Big fluke, however, are often bunched tightly in small areas. Mark any spot that produces a keeper and return quickly to probe it again and again. My drifts often measure 100 yards or less. Sometimes, they measure less than 30 yards.
● When fishing inside a bay, harbor or inlet, try several drifts outside the main current. Look for eddy water, drop-offs and pools where a slowing current and greater depth allow baitfish to dive for the bottom. Big fluke often lie in wait at such ambush points. Try fishing down-current from a large bridge abutment, bulkhead or rocky point.
● Anchor near structure to tempt doormats. Those same rough spots that give up sea bass in summer and blackfish in the fall hold big fluke. Instead of drifting across structure, try anchoring slightly uptide and then slowly working a bait down-current to probe productive edges. Sometimes it helps to get your bait close to the structure and simply let it sit still for ten or fifteen minutes. Sea bass and blackfish are often found in the densest part of a wreck, rock pile or reef but large fluke prefer to settle five to ten yards from the structure’s edge.