Serious fluke fishng is fun

• One of the most popular species in our marine waters is fluke (Paralicthys dentatus), that sharp-toothed aggressive squid eating summer flounder. They are a fun, relatively easy species to catch on rod and reel that are excellent eating and worth a bundle in the markets. This combination of favorable traits is a triple whammy that a couple decades ago drove this species to the brink of disaster because of overharvesting.
  
• Conservation measures since the early 1990s have restored the species to fishable -- though not historically high -- levels.
• When fluke first began filtering into the region from their wintering grounds in May, local anglers were wondering how the fishing would be this season, because they were faced with a mish-mosh of different regulations in the tri-state area. These regulations, in my opinion, will most likely kill more fluke because of hook mortality than they will ever save. Like it or not, all we can do as anglers is follow the rules and hope next time regulations come up for change someone adds a dash of common sense to the mathematical matrices that govern the management of this species.
• By now, anglers are used to the larger length limits and, to my surprise, not many anglers are crying at this point in the season. In fact, reports from all the fishing areas from Rhode Island, the south side of Fishers Island and eastern Long Island Sound all indicate there's a pretty good crop of fish around with a good percentage of fluke in the 4- to 8-pound range being caught throughout the region. It sounds like fishermen are catching these fish at a rate of about one keeper to every three to five throwbacks. That's a keeper-to-short ratio that is far better than the ratio many anglers were reporting by this time during the 2006 season.
• The reason is fluke are a fast-growing species, so those 17-inchers that survived the gamut of hooks and trawl nets over the last year are back as 19- to 20-inchers this season. Fluke fishing is a much more laid back and easy-going style of fishing than pounding your guts out in the Race for stripers and blues that may be 100 or ;more feet below the bottom of the boat or slinging eels along rocky, propeller-eating shorelines after dark. You can go fluking during bankers' hours and still expect to catch a few decent fish.
• Serious fluke fishers throughout the region are usually up and on the water, drifting in their favorite locations as the sun rises. Generally speaking, regardless of the tide the early morning bite always seems to be better for fluke than later in the day. However, many successful fluke fishermen rely on playing the tides and wind drift than the time of day for their successes.
• In my opinion, there are two major factors that determine how successful or unsuccessful a fluke fishing trip will be -- drift and presentation of baits. The fresher the better. Of these two factors, the most important is the drift.
• Fluke are an active predator that do not take stationary baits as readily as other bottom species such as winter flounder, porgies or blackfish. They are as aggressive as any top predator. I've seen them chasing bait on the surface in 25 to 30 feet of water and caught fluke of 4 pounds on a fast-moving "Rattl' Trap" crank bait that had been cast to working birds, assuming they were overstriped bass or blues.
• Plan ahead: The secret to consistent fluke fishing success is planning the when and where to fish for these summertime flatfish, based on the tide and the prevailing wind.
• Shore-based fishermen will do best in most areas to fish around the top of the flood tide and through the ebb by casting baited jigs in breachways, off-points and into channels wherever possible. Along the beaches, find small bait, either sand eels or peanut bunker and cast small jigs baited with a strip of squid and a minnow of some sort beneath the schools, providing you can get them below the bass and blues to the bottom.
• Boat fishermen have to plan their fishing based on two factors -- the direction the water will be moving with the tide and how it orients with the prevailing winds. Ideally, you should try to fish an area when the wind and tides move in the same direction. Bring a drift sock to slow boat speed in cases where the wind is so strong it becomes difficult to hold and drag bottom.
• Ideally, fishing lines should be at a 30- to 45-degree angle and spread out to cover as wide a swath of bottom as possible. I use an electric trolling motor to keep the boat perpendicular to the current. Otherwise, experiment by orienting the position of the boat and angle of the motor to keep the boat drifting as close to perpendicular to the drift direction as possible.
• A brisk, fast drift of a couple miles per hour is far better and much more productive most of the time over a slow one, when lines are straight down to the bottom with little or no movement. A fast current seems to stimulate all fish with fluke being no different. When the tide is pulling bait past them, they don't have as much time to check things out and often, like more popular predators, can be teased into making a reaction strike as a moving hook passes by.
• When there's little or no drift and all you're doing is feeding crabs and skate, try turning on the motor and kicking the boat along slowly in order to keep baits moving along the bottom.
• An ideal fluke fishing setup is a light stiff 6- to 7-foot rod spooled with some sort of no-stretch super line. I prefer Fireline on spinning rods and Power Pro, Whiplash, or Diawa's new Saltiga Braid on bait casting tackle. Keep lines light, a 10- to 20-pound test is plenty.
• The light stiff rod provides a degree of sensitivity that will help any angler catch more fish. With this kind of a fishing rig, it is possible to feel the bottom type and distinguish bumps from rocks with the slightest tug from a fish. With practice, experienced anglers can distinguish the tap of a fluke and the ratta-tat-tat of porgies or small seabass from the sloppy, slow pull of a squid. Plus, it's possible to feel the difference in weight and drag on baits when a piece of junk fouls the hook, making it useless.
• Fluke are not a difficult fish to catch if you plan trips around the tides and prevailing winds, use time-tested rigs that reach and hold bottom in the right area. (Bob Sampson Jr., Norwich Bulletin)
  
• Check out Bob Sampson's podcast.