Fluke fishing came alive at Montauk on Saturday with a solid shot of keepers, plus fast action with shorts, bringing out smiles. Mixed with the fluke were plenty of bluefish to 7 pounds, plus some big sea robins.
“Our morning trip saw very good action along the south side in 50 to 60 feet of water,” said Mike Vegessi, captain of the Montauk open boat, Lazy Bones (www.montauksportfishing.com/lazybones.html). There seems to be a nice body of fish stretching from the lighthouse west to Montauk Village. Most of the fleet was in on the fun today.”
Considering the heavy shot of wind and rain that cut across the East End on Friday night, the Montauk scores are very encouraging. Often, it takes fluke a day or two to settle back into their feeding pattern following nasty weather. Vegessi's morning fares tallied a dozen keepers to 7 pounds while his afternoon trip produced saeveral more. Fluke bullets tipped with squid and spearing were clearly the best offering.
Anglers setting out from North Fork ports found a pick of keepers to 7 pounds off Greenport and at the Greenlawns. Some fluke fans managed three or even four keepers while others missed out completely, save for shorts. Squid strips were the top bait in this area. A bit east, action continued strong around Gardiners Island with most anglers taking home a keeper or two in the 4- to 5-pound class. White fluke bullets tipped with spearing scored well, as did six-inch strips of bluefish fillet.
On the North Shore, Friday’s half-day trip aboard Port Jefferson’s Celtic Quest (celticquestfishing.com) witnessed a baker’s dozen of keeper fluke to 7 pounds for four fares. Plenty of shorts added to the fun in 20 to 25 feet of water between buoys 9 and 11. Bucktails tipped with white spearing were the most productive offering on the half-day trip.
On the western Long Island Sound, Captain Chris Cullen of the Island Current Fleet (www.islandcurrent.com,) was thinking about targeting fluke today. The City Island skipper never got to the flatfish because the bluefish were so ferocious. “The choppers have just been evil the past few days,” explained Cullen. "It has been wild fishing for blues - and we've had stripers to 25 pounds also slamming our bunker chunks. The best action has been in 40 to 50 feet of water at mid-Sound, between Rye and Hempstead Harbor."
Private boaters working in 20- to 25-foot depths have been scoring with short fluke, plus a few keepers, from Hempstead Harbor east to Smithtown Bay. Green bucktail teasers tipped with spearing have worked well when positioned about six inches above a chartreuse or rainbow Spro bucktail. The entire western Sound, from Oyster Bay to Flax Pond, is packed with small sand eels and many anglers have noted that fluke are stuffed to the gills with the small baitfish. A few more warm days and this area should ignite.