Fluke fishing hits its peak

Fish On

Fluke fishing is in full peak in the Garden State. Anglers are working very hard to land a few keepers for the dinner table. With plenty of shorts to throw back, there are still some big ones for the taking if you are willing to put in the time.

Ambrose Channel remains red hot for deep-water doormats. Ambrose is a tough, deep drift, but has produced fish up to 11 pounds this week.

Perth Amboy: Capt. Mike aboard the Sea Hawk is drifting hard and picking through shorts for a few keepers. High Hook this week had five keepers with fish up to 5 pounds. Anglers have been taking an average of two to three keepers per trip.

Sea Bright light tackle specialist Capt. John aboard Reel Fun Sport Fishing Charters had the Tom Tanacredi party from Aberdeen out for a fluke trip. Capt. John hit Ambrose Channel armed with every fluke bait possible and worked a tight drift.

The crew landed fish from 3 to 5.4l pounds on the first three drifts and continued the day with plenty of shorts and a few dogfish. Capt. John is certain there is plenty of big fish in Ambrose Channel and it should produce big fish in the coming weeks.

Point Pleasant: Capt. Jim aboard the Cock Robin hit a steady pick of blues for all to fight. The crew also landed four bonito to add to the chaos.

The Cock Robin needs no introduction and sails seven days a week. Capt. Jim and the crew are the best in the business and family friendly. For photos of Bonito go to www.cockrobin.com.

Shark River: Capt. Joe aboard Irish Ayes had enough of fluke fishing and decided to call an audible. Capt. Joe had Johnny Oz and Bob G for a planned fluke trip, but due to a perfect weather report, they decided to head off to the Mud Hole and fish "Monster Ledge" for sharks.

Within a few minutes of setting up the chum slick, they had two run-offs but no visuals.

This was enough to get the crew excited for bigger things to come, but shark fishing is a waiting game and they did just that.

After a long wait, one of the lines began to scream. After a brief fight, a five-foot brown shark released. Lines went back in immediately as several hammerhead sharks patrolled the boat for a good part of the day, adding to the excitement, but they were just visiting.

Capt. Joe did manage to fight another brown shark and ended the day releasing two browns, and had plenty of visitors including whales, a huge sea turtle and learning why they call it "Monster Ledge."

Did you know?

Fishing Lake Martin, Ala., junior angler Ashley Cooper, of Elberta, Ala., guided by Ricky Walman, landed a striped bass (landlocked) on April 11. She used a gizzard shad for bait and after a 10-minute struggle, brought it to the scales to weigh in at 34 pounds, 4 ounces. The current IGFA record for a female small-fry catching a striped bass is 30 pounds. For more world-record catches, go to www.igfa.org.

Fish on!