Fluke Opener 2014

Summer flounder, fluke, flatties, flounder, whatever you call them, welcome to the 2014 season!

I hit a local back bay hotspot today at first light with fellow Googan "Bobby Drama". Bob's original nickname is "scrapes" but he will now be know as Bobby Drama. Bob is a dramatic fellow and give him a new Daiwa Triforce Shorty Rod and the drama will certainly unfold and hilarity will ensue! 

We headed out at dawn even with the foggy conditions. The taste of fresh fluke fillets teased my taste buds. We headed right to one of our most productive spots last season and soon the fish were on. I was rigged up with a 1 1/2oz S&S Rattletail in the chartreuse and white flavor tipped with a Nuclear Chicken 6" Grub. Bob hooked up first and put a fat 24" fluke in the boat released her unharmed. 

Bobby Drama hooked up with a nice flattie - 24" to be exact.

A few minutes later my rod doubled over and I followed with a 24 incher of my own. Mine went on the stringer headed for the dinner table. We made several more drifts with a few bumps and taps and moved to another nice hole. We picked away a few more fish here and there but the bite was slow. I lost two keeper sized fish at the size of the boat and caught a few shorts as well. After a while with nothing we headed back to the original spot, close to the launch.  I managed another flattie measuring out at 21 1/2" and more fillets for the freezer. 

I had to head to work early but Bob stayed a little later and he managed 17 fish total with some keeper size. All in all it was a pretty good day with great conditions and good company and even some fish cooperated!

Moral of the story
"Never leave fish to find fish"

A Whole New World

Last week I headed to "a whole new world" to do something things that really haven't been on a kayak yet in a place unfamiliar to me. That world was Jamaica Bay in Brooklyn, NY and my goal was to trolling bunker spoons from a kayak and catch striped bass. Many said can't be done, but I think I proved them wrong and many fellow yakkers are now adding a bunker spoon to their arsenal.

THE TRIP:
Chris "foot" Fuller and I loaded up the trailer and gear around 9am and after a few mishaps (including the trailer falling off the truck on the GSP, swapping trailers, forgetting my mirage drive and cart, the list goes on), we arrived at Floyd Bennett Field around 1pm. The trip should have taken around 2 hours but turned into 4 hours. We laughed, cried, and learned a few new tricks along the way. Bob "scrapes" Stempek and Dennis "Homer" Reinknecht were already setup at  the campsite, right on the famous tarmac where Amelia Earhart and Howard Hughes made their famous takeoffs from. JBay is a huge wildlife refuge that is part of Gateway National Recreation Area and I would recommend taking a visit there to fish, bird watch, or just to check out the plane museum in the park. We unpacked, rigged up, and headed for the water wasting no
time.

Our camp all set up

Headed to the launch

I've never been to Jamaica Bay or JBay as many call it. It was a brand new area to me, but I went in with confidence and used the same tactics as back in Jersey. We trolled around some channel edges near the launch and fished a bridge close by with little to show. As we got closer to dinner time I finally put the first bass in the kayak near the bridge.

We trolled a little more trying to find some good cuts. Most of the areas we were fishing were around 5-7' or water and the fluke were arresive hitting our plugs. I managed to tag and release two flatties before we found deeper water. 

I was in only a few feet of water when Scrapes yells "there is deeper water over here". I peddled over and let some line out when I saw the drop and BAM, fish on and put a fat 30"er in the yak that hit a Rapala Xrap in the glass ghost color.

Scrapes and I worked the spot and called the rest of the guys in. We picked away at more fish into the dark on the plugs. Right was we were headed in I had another hit and thankfully it was a solid bluefish that gave the trifecta I was looking for. 

Homer on the troll

Scrapes hooked up

Foot with a nice fattie

Over the next day and a half we fished several more spots and did well at all of them. We all caught fish and slimed up our boats and had a great time doing it with some good people. In total we fished over 20+ hours and traveled over 30+ miles each. We had a  great time and eat and drank well each night. All fish were released to swim off and hopefully make more stripers.

As for my goal of trolling bunker spoons on a kayak, that will require it's own post, but I'll leave a pic...

Can't beat good fishing with some good friends!

Thanks Bob, Dennis, & Chris

"Weak" in Review

I fished five times over the past week or so with not much to show. Trying to get out in between the hard east wind and rain was difficult, but I managed a few fish and a some surprises. My usual spots have been more crowded than usual due to the weather, late start of bass in the ocean and blues in the bay, and word of mouth. I feel mugged to say the least...

I've been picking up schoolie bass here and there on bubblegum Zoom's Super Flukes and white ice Paddletail Zoom's. Most have been 17-20" but the trend seems to be they are getting smaller as the season progresses. The outgoing seems to be producing better but I've caught fish at all tide stages so far this year.

My smallest schoolie of 2014 - 13" caught on May 2nd

 One eyed bass tagged and released, hopefully I get a return on this guy

Night fishing has been prodcuing some fish as well and finding the right lights have been paying off. My buddy Captain Jim finally slimed his new Slayer, the other night.

Some other supirses over the past week were to return of some decent sized weakfish to Barnegat Bay. Guys have been picking them up near the Sod Banks by the Inlet on pink Fin-S. We have been regularly getting into them each trip with the biggest so far close to 26". Should be picking up as the water warms up.