With the fluke season behind us, did you do better or worse than last year.

If you guys can mention if you fish North Shore, South shore, Conn or NJ, it may help to see if others are seeing the same as you.

Our Fluke season in 2020 was disappointing by North Fork/East End standards but probably better that experienced by anglers sailing out of other ports.

Sadly the spring run in Peconic Bay was a mere shadow of what it used to be. While most of the fish caught were of decent size, 4-6#, the quantity was way off. During the prime window from early May through mid to late June I found it nearly impossible to put together a limit catch.

The fishing off Gardiners Island was truly a nightmare. I only made 2 serious attempts to fish there and managed a total of 3 keepers for 2 full days efforts. One trip saw a fair number of shorts mixed in while the other was really quiet. Even the Sea Bass population in this area seemed subdued last year. Something funny is going on with either bait or water temps here as I have been fishing this area for over 50 years and never saw Gardiners this poor.

Montauk Fluke fishing was certainly much better than the other grounds I normally work but even here the results were not as strong as we have enjoyed in recent years. I made a total of 8 trips to Montauk from the North Fork last summer with mixed results. First of all, the best bite started about 2 weeks later than previous years, not taking hold until mid July. My numbers worked out as follows. Four trips were solid with full boat limits and fish up to 8.2#. Two trips were just OK coming in a few fish short of a limit with Fluke up to 7.5# finding the box. The other two trips were tough with just a few keepers caught on each outing and our days being bailed out by the excellent Sea Bass action. Although some folks had better results with some very large fish, this is the first season in the last 3 that we did not see a single fish over 10# hit the deck. By comparison, we saw 3 DD's caught in 2019 and 2 in 2018. I know I am spoiled but for Montauk , which I believe offers some of the best opportunities for catching really large Fluke on LI, it was not a banner year.

I'm sure we all hope for an improved Fluke bite in 2021, especially since it has to be one of the most popular species in our area.

Heres an example of my 2020 Fluke season
1 of my few keepers was on a clam and small bait holder hook while hunting for triggers in shinnecock inlet
I was alone and when I got my first eyeball of it, I was practically tripping over myself to get the net before it spit the hook?‍♂️?View attachment 29190

It wasn't attacked by a racoon?

those pants scare them

I went thru a few trip-robbing, annoying repairs as well last season - ignition, cooling, electronics. Nothing that required pulling the boat though, thank the Lord!

Did I mention I hate boats? Well, maybe not, but I really don't love 'em all that much, either.

Oh, how I wish I had a friend or two that knew something about fishing. ?

Then I could fish from their boats instead of my own rig. ?