Big fuel bills and lack of leisure time have been two
pressing concerns for anglers this summer. There's no denying sport fishermen have cut back on their trip frequency, willingness to cruise far from port, and total time invested in trying to catch dinner.
So it was that my son Ryan and I found ourselves drifting within a few hundred yards of Mattituck Inlet on Wednesday afternoon. I had considered making the half-hour run east to Horton's Point, where friends reported picking a few keeper stripers and several decent fluke, but as morning chores pushed into the afternoon our time also grew limited. What to do?
Reluctantly, I decided to see what fish I might be passing over en route to more hallowed grounds. We started our first drift in 35 feet of water, due west of the inlet. Nothing.
A second drift, in 25 feet of water and slightly closer to shore, resulted in a smallish fluke. Easing closer to the beach, we began our third drift in 15-foot depths and recorded a couple of "taps." On the verge of pushing the throttle forward and making the long run east, we tried one more close-to-home drift. Our hooks, baited with six-inch Peruvian spearing and thin-cut squid strips, had barely touched bottom 100 yards from the jetty when both rods doubled over. Within seconds, Ryan and I were swinging aboard twin, 17-inch, summer flatties.
The bite continued aggressively for the next hour as we tallied 22 fluke and four sea robins during the flooding tide. Interestingly, all but the first fish struck in 12 to 14 feet of water. Nothing deeper, nothing shallower. Keepers? Not this day, although we had several flatfish push 20 inches, and dropped two that might have made the grade. Still, we had a blast playing catch and release on 12-pound test gear while making the most of our time and burning less than a gallon of gas.
If you are planning to enter this weekend's Fluke Mania Smack Down, hosted by Nor'east Saltwater (www.noreast.com,) you'll need more than a keeper to finish in the money. With the entire Island open to competition, consider targeting local lunkers in deep pockets or along channel edges overlooked as the fleet powers to the nearest "hot spot." Probing 30 to 50 feet of ocean water, where most of the doormats this year have fallen, is another option. Of course, some will play the hot hand of the week and chase rumors or reports.
On the latter front, some respectable fluke continue to come from 30 feet of water inside Smithtown Bay. There have also been some heifers east of Riverhead on Long Island Sound, and of course, the south side of Montauk and waters north or east of Gardiners Island should never be discounted.
On the South Shore, fluking has been decent in Ambrose Channel, and in 25 to 35 feet of water inside Jamaica Bay. There are also some doormats to be found in 35 to 50 feet of water south of Jones Inlet, and east of Fire Island, Moriches and Shinnecock inlets.
A trend of note in fluke catches over the past week has seen day-glow green teasers, tipped with spearing and positioned a foot above a fluke bullet, consistently pull the most and largest fish
E-mail: outdoortom@optonline.net
Hot spots
Ambrose Channel (fluke)
Jamaica Bay (fluke)
South Shore ocean (40') (fluke)
Smithtown Bay (fluke, bluefish)
Eaton's Neck Triangle (porgy, fluke, bluefish)
Horton's Point (fluke, striped bass)
The Race (striped bass)
Gardiners Island (fluke, porgy)
Ponquogue Bridge (fluke, stripers, blues)
Montauk Point (stripers, fluke)
