Scales and Tales

With the bluefish hitting fast and furious last weekend aboard the Captain Bob V out of Mattituck (captbobfishingfleet.com,) there were plenty of fishing tips to go around. A few of my favorites:

Captain Bob Ceglowski: "Diamond jigging for bluefish is a team effort. When a party boat passes through a school of choppers, all the jigs in the water appear to be a large school of baitfish. The harder everyone works to keep thier jigs active, the better the fish stay with the boat. When we get a good, hard-working group at the rail, the fish actually follow the boat as we drift. Even if you don't have a fish on, keep working hard. It's all the flashing in the water that gets the blues fired-up. Think team first and you'll get plenty of hook-ups. Four-ounce AVA daimond jigs are the standard lure here at this point in the season."

Mate Dave Meyers: "I like to use hammered spoons and jigs for blues instead of jigs with a smooth finish. The scattered reflections from these lures look more natural in the water, close to the flash of real baitfish. The stripers really seem to notice the difference."

Chris Palermo: "I have my own boat but I still like to come out on open boats. It lets you try new areas, fish for species you might not usually catch from your home port, plus you meet a lot of fun people on these trips. I go as much for the atmosphere as for the action. I love the Captain Bob fleet but also fish out of Captree on the Laura Lee, out of Montauk on the Viking, and on a few other boats as well."

Bill Addesso: "I do pretty well with stripers on these bluefish trips. One key is to work your jig a little slower than you might if you wanted to excite the blues. I like to let my jig settle to the bottom and then leave it there for a minute or two so I get a little scope in the line. That way, the lure stays near the bottom and in the striper's strike zone for a few extra feet on the retrieve. I usually try this after I've caught my share of blues."

Captain Bob Ceglowski: "If you think we might try for porgies or sea bass in addition to blues and stripers, like we do on our wreck trips, bring along two rods. Rig one up for jigging blues and bass, the other for bottom fishing."

While fishing on the open boat, Captain Bob V (captbobfishingfleet.com,) out of Mattituck on Saturday, Captain Bob Ceglowski and I got to talking about eating bluefish. I’m not a huge fan, but there have been times I’ve enjoyed them baked, cooked on the grill, or served as ceviche (raw fish in lime juice, the lime actually cooks the fish). My favorite way of eating them is smoked, which seems to work especially well with smaller blues ranging from large snappers to small cocktails of two or three pounds.

Captain Ceglowski noted that this year has seen a relatively tasty crop of bluefish in the Eastern reaches of Long Island Sound. “These blues,” he stated, “have been feeding on butterfish and don’t taste as oily as when they feed on bunker.”

Ceglowski suggested anglers give these fish a try, adding that their flesh this year is both whiter in appearance and more mild in taste than usual.

His suggested recipe:

“Put the fillet on a sheet of foil. Take a little Parmesan cheese, basil and garlic, plus a load of sliced tomatoes, and pile it all on top of the fillet. Fold the foil into a pouch and place it on the grill for 20 minutes."

My favorite recipe is to dip each fillet in mayonnaise, then dip it in seasoned bread crumbs. Place the fillets in the oven and bake at 350 until the crumbs are brown and the flesh appears ready to flake. At that point, raise the heat to broil and toast the bread crumb coating. This recipe works with just about any kind of fish.

Frank Mundus was never at a loss for words, but he didn't just shoot from the lip when it came to technique, gear and battling the big ones. He sized-up his interviewers. If he believed you were serious about learning, he offered some gems. If not, he just recounted the stories that everyone wanted to hear. Here, he continues the Monster Sharks, 101 interview.

"In terms of hooks, I'm partial to the Jap hook for big sharks. (Editor's Note: I believe here Mundus was referring to circle hooks.) That's because it hooks nine out of ten fish in the jaw and it's three times as strong as local hooks. It's shape makes it slide up from the fish's throat or belly when you set the hook and it catches in the jaw. This makes it easier to tag and release the fish. If a fish is hooked in the jaw, it should go back. If it's hooked in the belly, keep it and use it for chum. I don't care what you say about cutting the line and leaving the hook in a fish's gullet. Those fish that are hooked deep, they don't survive well. Take them home and use them for bait or chum rather than waste them. They'll just die days or weeks later so it's better to at least use them.

"Once you get a big shark on the line, you've got to work fast. We had seven sharks over a thousand pounds and every one we whipped hard and fast. The longer that fish is on the line, the better its chance of getting away. We whipped that 1080-lb. mako in an hour-and-twenty minutes. With Peter Benchley on the boat for the American Sportsman, we whipped a 200-lb. swordfish in eleven minutes - of course, we spent a half-hour holding onto him with the gaff, but we had him to the boat in less than quarter of an hour.

"How do you get a big fish up so fast? We'll, one thing's for sure, you can't out-muscle him. You have to pressure him, but with the proper amount of pressure. Don't walk them around the boat, don't idle. These fish know how to swim, if you take it easy, they'll keep swimming for ten hours! What you have to do is apply steady, constant pressure. Do it right and you can whip any fish.

"Believe it or not, you don't need real heavy gear to beat a big shark. In fact, you've got to match the gear as much to the angler as to the fish. You can't hand most ladies or even small men an 80-lb. stand-up outfit, it's just too big for them to handle comfortably. They'd be better off with 30- or 50-lb. gear. Just keep in mind that you have to apply steady, constant pressure and this gear is fine. I can honestly say that we've never been licked on 50-lb. gear. Never had a fish out-fight us on 50. We had one on for seven hours once, only lost it after the wire leader let go.

"With steady, constant pressure, you can lift anything on a 50-lb. setup. We once had a giant tuna die on us, sank right down to the bottom. We were in a rowboat back then and I hand-lined that fish all the way up - all 700 lbs. of him. I raised that fish with my fingers, inch-by-slow-painful-inch on 50-lb. test.

"Slow, steady pressure. That's what you've always got to keep in mind when the big one grabs your bait."

● Check back, more Mundus to come with his thoughts on "Jaws," shark mania, how he caught his giant great white, and changes in shark catches over the years.

Several private boaters I've spoken with in recent days have mentioned super action with false albacore at Montauk Point. A few have also noted solid catches of albies at Gardiners Island and Plum Island. The action has been on any moving water, but best between 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m.

Some of the false albacore caught and released have been quite large, with many in the 7- to 8-pound class and at least a few topping 10 pounds. As you might expect, Deadly Dicks, small, white, soft-plastic grubs and bright white or silver streamer patterns have accounted for much of the action.

One tip: It can be difficult to chase the schools and get in an advantageous casting position without putting down surfacing fish. In the long run, it's often best to cut your engine, take a good look around, and identify the major lanes that pods of false albacore are using (often you can see these slicks on the surface). Get in one of the lanes and drift or idle, nudging the engine into gear just enough to stay in the lane. Give it a few minutes and you'll soon have the the fish swimming toward your boat without sounding.

Keep in mind, too, that a little courtesy between skippers can go a long way toward keeping everyone sane in the midst of all the surface mayhem. There's plenty of water on the East End, no need to crowd.

He had been called the pioneer of shark fishing, the last of the Great White Hunters and The Monster Man. You may have thought of him as “Quint,” the salty charter boat captain from the movie, “Jaws,” who was eventually bested by the biggest mechanical shark of all time. He still holds the world record for landing the largest fish of any type ever take with a rod and reel – a great white shark that tipped the scales at over 3,400 pounds. Through it all, he has easily been Long Island’s most famous, and most controversial, fisherman.

In July 1951, Frank Mundus moved his charter boat from Brielle, NJ, to Montauk Point, NY, and began fishing for shark – considered a “trash fish” at the time. Offshore fishing has never been the same. Single-handedly, he created an industry. Some have called it an atrocity. Others have admired him for his courage and innovation.

Over the years he’s been quoted, mis-quoted, respected and cursed at. It all depends on who you ask. He’s been called illiterate, yet he’s written a book. His pranks at Montauk are legendary, but when spoken to on a serious note he seemed to sail on an even keel. All along, he claimed to have had fun.

Frank Mundus passed away on September 10, at the age of 82, from complications of a heart attack he suffered after returning to his Hawaii home from a fishing trip in Montauk, NY. With his passing, one of the most interesting and entertaining fishing personalities of all time slips into the deep blue beyond.

Simply bring up the name Frank Mundus at your local watering hole or dockside gathering place and eyebrows are sure to rise. It seems every fisherman who's ever come in contact with this salty skipper has a different story to tell. Most are entertaining, some are downright funny, others are scary or even nasty. In reality, the majority are second-hand accounts and, much like the man himself, it's anyone's guess at to how much is fact and how much is legend.

Say what you will about his fishing techniques, brashness, and ability to spin a tale, this much is certain: It was Mundus at the helm of the Cricket II when the first rod and reel mako to top 1,000 lbs. was dragged back to port; it was Mundus at the helm as six more sharks of 1,000 lbs. or more visited the dock; and it was Mundus at the helm when the largest rod and reel shark of all time, a 3,400 lb. great white, was hoisted ashore for a visit to the taxidermist. Still, it is his alleged role as the model for Peter Benchley's character "Quint" in the book and movie, Jaws, for which he may be best known by the general public. Few recognize that, in his later years, Mundus was actually an advocate for shark conservation.

I was fortunate enough to interview Mundus several times over the years. I’ll try to post excerpts from some of those sessions over the next few days, so be sure to check back. The following is from an interview about what it takes to hook and land a monster shark. Mundus was just a few weeks shy of his 70th, birthday at the time, recently “retired” and living in Hawaii. I noted in my notes that he was still “as verbal and vibrant as ever.”

Frank Mundus: Monster Sharks 101

“Yea, it's me. Still here and still kicking. Only now I'm hip deep in pineapples instead of knee deep in sharks. Currently, I'm not doing much fishing at all but there's a guy gonna take the Cricket II from North Carolina to Australia for a few months in the hopes of setting up some charters for great whites. I'll probably go along and check things out for a while, then head on back here to my farm.

"Anyway, as to catching monster sharks, it's the same wherever you go - especially with makos and great whites. While most anglers are busy worrying about what tackle they need to catch these monsters, they'd be better-off watching the sharks and learning a little bit about their habits. I mean, there are some sharks that are hungry and ready to eat and others that you need to make hungry. If you can't tell the difference, chances are you're not going to hook up.

"Take that giant mako you see swimming or gliding out in your slick. Fishermen all the time complain that they see big sharks but can't get them to bite. You've got to know right off the bat that this fish isn't hungry if you're going to have a chance to make him want to eat. Your first tip-off sometimes comes when the fish is still way out from the boat. You see a big mako or great white swim though a school of birds sitting on the water and they don't get up and fly away, that's a fish gonna be hard to catch. You see, the birds know he isn't hungry. They can tell - just like an antelope in Africa can tell if a lion is ready to eat. If, on the other hand, all the birds get up and fly, than you've got a hungry customer on your hands.

"So, let's say you've got the swimmer or cruiser out in the slick, the big mako or great white that doesn't want to eat. You'll be able to tell this fish because he kind of glides, he doesn't look busy or overly interested. You'll notice his tail moves slowly from side to side as he swims in no apparent hurry. You've got to get a bait out to this fish fast because it may make only one pass and then disappear forever. In other words, you've only got a limited amount of time to interest this fish. To get this fish going, you've got to treat it like a kitten.

"Ever play with a kitten and a ball of yarn? The first time you toss the end of the string at the kitten, it gives you that 'so what?' look. The second time you toss the end of the string near it you can see a look of interest. Try it again and his muscles tighten. One more time and he'll pounce after it like there's no tomorrow. Now he's got to have it and you can make him pretty mad if you keep taking it away. That's what you've got to do with a shark that isn't hungry. You've got to tell him he can't have the bait. Toss the bait out to that fish and the second he looks at it, take it away. Now do it again. This time he'll swim in a circle and make a half-assed move at it. Take it away again and again. Pretty soon, he's madder than hell and he's just got to have it. Keep watching, you'll know when he's mad enough to take that bait for real. Believe it or not, this is what we had to do to entice that 3,400-lb. great white we caught. That fish had no need for our baits, he was putting bite marks the size of a peach basket in that floating whale carcass. What's he want with a little bait unless you make him mad?

"Now, did you know that there's a pecking order to big sharks? Sure is. I've seen it many a time but the best example was again with that giant great white. We had six huge sharks stacked up under that whale, you could see them on the graph, but we mostly saw them one at a time. They were stacked up like air planes in a holding pattern just waiting to land. They were big sharks, too. Frank Braddick, Jr., hooked a big tiger or something and lost it and we hooked and lost a monster that must have been about 2,000 lbs. before we tied into that giant.

"Anyway, these sharks, they had a real pecking order. Each fish was allowed by the other fish to come up to that whale and spend a half-hour by itself. If it stayed around the carcass too long, another shark would come up and physically push him away. It's interesting to note, too, that the pecking order doesn't have to be based on size. It's simply an order. This one goes, then that one, then the next. Exactly how the order is determined, first come first served, aggressiveness, I'm not sure. But I know it simply isn't based on size. Anyway, if you happen to be sitting over a pack of these monsters, you might not want to bait the first one you see. You might want to wait a bit because you never know how big is the next one. It also means you have a limited time to get the one you want or you have to wait until it has another turn - if it gets another turn.

"Here's another tip that will clue you in to the presence of a big great white or mako in the area: if the blue sharks are thick under your boat and they suddenly clear out, get ready. That big one may be only five or ten minutes away from showing in your slick. Set up your heavy tackle now, before you see him."

● Check back for advice from the late Frank Mundus on how to whip the the biggest sharks.

While most Long Island anglers focus on the fall run of stripers, blues, weakfish, false albacore and other salty favorites, those with a hankering to tempt bigmouth bass into sufrace strikes shouldn't overlook September. With temperatures quickly droping, surface waters are in the bigmouth's comfort zone and the fish can be especially aggressive as they try to put on a little extra weight before winter arrives.

Deer hair frogs and mice will draw solild strikes from big bass at this point, while large panfish poppers in yellow, red, green or black should help you enjoy fast action with smaller fish. One of my favorite bass patterns this month is actually a trout fly - a brown Muddler Minnow. Work this across the surface in short spurts that leave a visible wake. Of course, all of these patterns are best presented with floating lines. BTW, fishing is okay even at mid-day this month if skies are overcast.

One key to scoring while using fly-rod poppers at this point is to target your casts at any remaining green vegitation. Also, it helps to work the deep-side edge of weed matts as the bass are now beginning to move away from shore.

A few places to try your luck: Massapequa Reservoir, Patchogue Lake, Kahlers Pond, Swan Pond in Calverton, Peconic River above Edwards Avenue, Forge Pond, and Fresh Pond on Shelter Island. Have fun!

With the open and charter boat porgy limit set to expand on Monday, September 1, I asked Dave Brennan, captain of the Greenport based open boat, Peconic Star (www.peconicstar.com,) for this best porgy-catching tip.

"Hook 'em before they bite," was his simple advice.

That may sound like a joke, but it's actually right on target. Porgy fishing can be so hot at times that some anglers have their baits stolen before even feeling a tug. Brennan suggests engaging your reel the instant the line hits bottom, and then lifting the rod tip gently.

"If there is any extra weight at the end of the line, set the hook immediately," explains the crafty skipper. "A fish already has your bait in its mouth."

Most anglers use a high-low rig for porgies. Once you set the hook, let the fish struggle near the bottom for a few seconds and a second porgy will likely jump on the free hook.

Since snappers and blue crabs often share the same inshore waters, it's fun to try for both on the same trip. Once you've got the snappers figured out, catching a few blue crabs shouldn't be much trouble.

● Start by bringing a long-handled crab net. Although blue claws are known for swimming near the surface after dark, they also come to the top on occasion during the day. Having a net handy will allow you to scoop up any crab that happens to swim past.
● Blue crabs can often be found hanging onto bulkheads. Simply peak over the edge and look carefully, especially in areas where a ladder enters the water, the bulkhead comes to a corner, or a loose plank juts out into the water. Here the crabs will perch in the shade, picking away at small organisms which lie hidden in the moss or weeds that grow on the submerged wood or concrete. (Be careful not to trip over dock lines, boat cleats, etc., while looking over the edge).
● Bringing along a crab trap is probably the most effective way of taking crabs while snapper fishing. Simply toss out a trap or two and give a check every five or ten minutes. Some days it's possible to take a dozen or more crabs in this manner while collecting enough snappers for dinner. Bait the trap with chicken wings, a whole bunker or a fish rack secured to the trap floor with a length of wire.
● For more sport, leave the traps at home and use a simple drop-line with a chicken leg for bait. You’ll need a net to scoop any crab that takes this offering – and you'll miss as many as you catch – but it is a lot of fun.

Snapper season is in full swing and these feisty little bluefish are a pleasure catch, especially if you target them with light tackle. Here are a few tips to keep in mind when heading out for these tiny but tasty critters:

● Choose a lightweight spinning pole with four- to six-pound test line.
● Use a “snapper popper” tipped with a single spearing or sand eel as a lure/bait combination. Hook the baitfish once, through the eyes.
● Work the popper by chugging it along the surface so the baited tube and hook rides just below the surface. Keep reeling as you get bites, forcing the fish to commit to a solid strike.
● Rigging for bait fishing is best kept uncomplicated. Opt for a simple, silver-colored snapper hook tied directly to the end of the main line with a clinch knot. Suspend the hook two to four feet below a small float. The standard snapper hook comes with a long shank, making it easy to remove from the toothy jaws of this tiny predator. Bait up with a two-inch long piece of spearing or sand eel.
● Live killies, suspended two to four feet below a float, are a great bait for large snappers.
● Small, silver, Johnson Sprites and KastMasters will produce fewer but bigger snappers, especially during September.
● Snappers are especially fond of feeding at creek mouths at the start of outgoing tide. They often prefer incoming water around shallow beaches and marsh edges.
● As with most species of fish, dawn and dusk are often very productive feeding periods.

With the water a bit roiled and off-color in some ports today, a little added color on your teasers and bucktails should help excite the fluke. I usually prefer white for my teasers and bucktails, but late summer often sees hot pink hit a productive streak, especially if there is a strong hatch of calico crabs in the area. Hot pink is also highly visible in waters where brown tide is well established. As for chartreuse, it's always worth a try when the water is murky. To increase your chances of the fluke spotting your offering, make the teaser chartreuse and your bucktail pink. This combo works especially well in the shallow south shore bays, and in less than 20 feet of water on Long Island Sound. Give it a try if the waters are still cloudy tomorrow or later this week.

Check back later for more reports.

As you can see from today’s Newsday cover story, the brown tide is still blooming on Great South Bay. While nobody enjoys fishing in discolored water, sometimes there isn't much choice. Experts note that the brown tide does not seem to harm fin-fish, so you might still catch a few if you try hard enough. Here are a couple of tips to help the cause.

● Fish near inlets. The brown tide is generally less intense where ocean water enters a bay or harbor.
● Fish on rising tides. Again, clean water from the ocean floods into the bay, diluting the tide at least a little bit.
● Use bright- or black-colored lures. Chartreuse, florescent orange, hot pink and pure black are more visible in murky water than white, silver, tan, olive, green or “natural” minnow colors.
● Use big lures to provide a larger, more easily seen, target.
● Choose lures that make a rattling sound when retrieved. If using soft plastics, insert a small, inexpensive, fishing rattle, available from bait and tackle shops or on-line catalogs, into the body of the lure. The clanking sounds emitted as you retrieve will help predator species zero in on the target.
● Fish with real bait. Fresh whole clams and bunker chunks work well for stripers and blues. Live killies or strips of squid attract fluke. School weaks and kingfish will strike sandworms, strips of squid or pieces of clam. A chum pot full of ground clam or bunker can work wonders with porgies, weakfish and even fluke when you fish at anchor.

If you've taken a look at our Newsday cover story about the brown tide on Great South Bay, you might also want check out my recent video clip: Fishing Through The Brown Tide. From www.newsday.com, go to Explore LI and then click on "Outdoors." You'll see the clip toward the bottom of the screen. Hope it helps.

Speaking with Captain Brennan reminded me of another point porgy anglers should note: Be extra quiet when setting up in shallow water. If the scup, as porgies are also called, are in less than 20-foot depths, you’ll need to quietly double anchor well uptide and then drop back slowly until over the fish. Look for porgies to hold over submerged rock piles and mussel-covered humps on the bottom.

More to come. Check back.

Dave Brennan, Captain of the Greenport open boat, Peconic Star (www.peconicstar.com,) is one of Long Island’s top porgy skippers. He offers this tip as an important first step in becoming a porgy expert: “Hook ‘em before they bite.”

It’s no joke. If you wait for a porgy to try and rip the bait from your hook, you’ll likely miss the hit. That’s because scup, as porgies are also known, usually taste a bait before they strike in earnest.

“Porgies swim up to the bait, gently taste it and spit it out once or twice, before trying to tear it off the hook,” explains Brennan. “As soon as your line hits bottom, lift the sinker up two or three inches and feel for extra weight at the end of the line. If the line feels a bit heavy, start cranking – that’s a fish mouthing your bait."

There is no need to strike hard, added Brennan. Swing your rod and you’ll pull the hook right out of the fish’s mouth. Most porgy sharpies simply give a smooth and stead lift to set the hook.

The Peconic Star is currently fishing for fluke, but will make the switch to porgies on Wednesday.

More to come. Check back later today.

I remember seeing my first hatch of the 17-year cicadas back in 1973. Just entering my ‘teens at the time, I was already a die-hard largemouth bass fan, and enjoyed catching pickerel, bluegill and pumpkinseed sunfish as well. It was sometime during that June when I read a piece in a fishing magazine about “matching the hatch,” for trout. The basic theory held that trout favored whichever hatching fly or terrestrial insect was in the greatest supply at the moment, and matching your flies to that particular insect would virtually guarantee fishing success.

Well, it didn’t take long before I was casting grasshoppers, butterflies, moths, caterpillars and just about any creepy, crawly bug I could find to the captive audience of fish in Sayville Mill Pond, Bayport’s Lotus Lake, and even Cow Pond, a small puddle toward the south end of Sayville’s Broadway Park that once held a few panfish, bass, bullfrogs and leopard frogs. Cow Pond has dwindled to a tiny puddle over the years, and biologists fear that leopard frogs may by now be extinct on Long Island, but the lessons learned fishing that summer have held with me to this very day.

So it was that I found myself thinking back to those glory days while examining cicadas from the woods of Ridge late last week. As I pondered how to match their size and shape, I recalled using them for bait that long ago summer. When the hatch ran its course and my supply of free bait came to an end, I struggled to keep the action alive by tossing various surface poppers. Eventually, I settled on casting a small, black Jitterbug. I would toss it out near weed beds, twitch it gently once or twice, and then reel it back with a slow and steady retrieve. The bass smacked that little lure right through the end of the summer – and I was forever hooked on topwater action.

I’m happy to report Jitterbugs are still included in my freshwater arsenal, and they still work great, especially for tempting largemouth bass after dark. Over the past two weeks, however, I’ve been throwing a one-quarter-ounce size during the day on several ponds and the surface strikes have been furious, especially in the late afternoon when cicadas are most prone to take to the air. My guess is that the cicadas have become the hatch to match on some freshwaters in mid- and eastern Suffolk County. If you have a black Jitterbug rattling around inside your tackle box, break it out for a few casts. You may find the response tremendously explosive.

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.