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The sad part of this story is how New York dec is forced to have to follow ASMFC decisions its time for
NY to pass laws so NYSDEC is not forced to allow competing states to have smaller size limits as this is considered a tri-state area

What's sad in NJ boats fishing in NY waters for fluke and getting away with keeping 18" fish. So much for conservation. As long as NJ gets theirs you screw NY!

Regional regs are the answer.

Fluke are thick local to Freeport ! Only problem is short to keeper ratio is terrible . Had 35 fish on a 3 hour trip with one 24 inch keeper to show for it

How’s about some fluke and white shrimp oreganata?

After we discussed and I tried the ling oreganata, this recipe has expanded to other seafood!

Yesterday’s fine weather pattern allowed us to make our second Montauk Fluke trip of the season with a 4-man charter consisting of David, Sean, Nick and Frank. The results did show a slow but steady improvement that has the pattern most of us have experienced the entire year.

Since we had reasonable success a bit further south of the point on last Friday’s trip that’s where we began our efforts. A few short Sea Bass followed by one keeper and a handful of short Fluke plus a few Whiting at least proved there was life on this drop. About 30 minutes in David gets a good thump and puts a healthy 20” Fluke in the box. Unfortunately, the action died shortly after this fish so I knew it was time to make a move.

Headed inshore a mile and a half and immediately found a decent drift line with a bit more movement to the current. Sean started us off with a nice 21” Fluke and we also saw Nick put another Keeper Sea Bass in the box. For the next 2.5 hours we had steady action on each pas eventually building the catch total to 7 quality keeper Fluke and 7 total keeper Sea Bass. David managed to earn his limit with his top fish going 4# but it was Frank who shined brightest with a nice wide Fluke just shy of 6# caught on one of the last drifts of the day. The other pattern of light bites was evident again today with most of the fish literally falling off the hook once netted and a couple of other sizeable Fluke that mysteriously dropped off the line half way to the surface. Nevertheless, it was a solid improvement over last week’s trip and cause for hope that we can keep building on our Fluke trips in the ocean.

Very nice!! Things seem to slowly be improving

Keep drilling it out. Gotta be a DD coming soon!

Sailed to my offshore office with Stephen E., the younger better looking(!) version of you-know-who (IYKYK), except w/o the ball-buster gene. Great kid, big ups to his Dad for steering him right. A pleasure to have on the boat. No bull.

Anyway, had action right away with shorties to 18", fished hard all day for at least 50 shorts, 2 x 20" keeps, and Stephen's gorgeous 6lb9oz mini-mat. That fish hit something I'm completely unfamiliar with, a 3.5" "drop-shot" metallized minnow lure, sweetened with a 4" piece of belly. He did well for a few hours with whatever that thing is. Hey, it got him the best of the season so far on my boat, so nothin' but kudos here!

The bite was one of the weirdest I've seen in a long while - tons of pick-up and drops, all through the trip. Get the hit, give 'em the old three-one thousand, set the hook, feel some substantial weight, and then nothin'. Super frustrating. Some really solid hits too. Hopefully they commit better as the water continues to warm.

Most annoying part of the trip - 2 X 3-engined 50kt go-fasts with Jersey reggies, keeping all those 18" we are required to throw back. You'd thing with the major amount of tog bottom in their neighborhood they'd have no need to run 20+ miles to find rubble, but I guess it is what it is. Regional regs are the only rational answer.

How’s about pan-seared fresh fluke, topped w/sautéed tomatoes, red onion, diced celery, cuban peppers, garlic, basil and capers? Very quick to prep and super-delicious!

Another valiant effort on a really nice day for the ocean.
BTW, did Stephen's "secret lure" look something like this? If so, I know where you can still buy a few! ;)

That's how we used to rig the silver balls years ago. Guess it still works.

I don't think its much of a "secret lure" and really, it looked nothing nothing like that. That's just a fancy swing-hook fluke ball cast to look like a swimming minnow jig. I have a few of those stashed somewhere in my garage. What Stephen used looked kinda like a life-like minnow, with a dark top and metallic silvery sides, from what I can recall anyway.

It can't weigh very much at all (looked to be maybe a quarter ounce or less). From my research this morning I see this type of lure is used with an extra-fast action, very soft-tipped FW bass "drop-shot spinning rod" with very light line (think 6lb test), over a very small tungsten weight - they don't allow lead weights in many FW impoundments these days. So, you drop the rig to the bottom, and give it a very gentle jigging motion (think only a few inches), and strike whenever you feel the Bass has tapped it - or the rod tip twitches at all. Seems to work well.

Apparently drop-shotting is a super popular way to catch FW bass that are in deeper water. And so Stephen was using it on a B/S-style rig , over a 6oz sinker - the drift was kinda fast Monday, so we needed significant lead to fish properly. Anyway, it was quite a surprise (more like a shock - for me!) when I netted that fish and saw what it hit. If you look again at the pic I posted you can see the itty-bitty belly strip, but not the lure itself, unfortunately.

What do they say? Oh yeah, "elephants like to eat peanuts," or something along those lines. Seems appropriate in this case. This is what still holds my interest in this sport, finding new ways to catch fish that kinda run up against "the accepted" methods. Anyway, I'll ask him to send me a pic and I'll post it here.

Had a freshwater guy on my boat last year that did the same . Turns out that rig is killer with a small gulp minnow or jerk shad . Maybe a thin strip of belly . Have been experimenting all spring with it . Very effective so far with fish to 25 inches . 10 lb braid 15 pound leader . Hook direct to the line . Still 14 inches up though 😁

Yes, from what I've seen that is the way the FW guys do their rigs.

Here's young Stephen's lure. He runs the hook all the way thru to the tail, than hangs the belly on the hook as a trailer.

Looks almost exactly like the "bay anchovies" (rain bait) that we see out there. I find it fascinating that fluke can see this size bait in 80' of water. Gotta be pretty dark down there, no?

Broiled fresh fluke roll-ups stuffed with shrimp, seasoned bread crumbs, Old Bay, sliced garlic and a dab of butter, over balsamic arugula. Sautéed local Cauliflower side with chopped tomato, garlic and bread crumbs.

In case anyone wants to give the drop-shot technique on our fluke - here's a nice "starter kit" from Berkley. If it were I, I'd schmear some sort of "smelly jelly" fish attractant on them, but then that's just me.

I learn something new all the time. What the heck is Smelly Jelly. I did a google and there are many "flavors". Which one to try?

Hi BG - when I mentioned "Smelly Jelly," that was a very old product from the '90's (I think) and I was really referring to a type of product, rather than a specific one.

This is what I would use if I were to really get into this type of fishing:

[URL unfurl="true"]https://www.pro-cure.com/collections/scents

I'd go with one of the SW-friendly versions. I see many of the YT posters seem to prefer this brand, the guys I watch include Dan/Fishing Accomplished, Pete Ranieri and of course EliasVFishing - who has his own line of very successful rubber/plastic lures - his "MiniMac" baits seem particularly effective on bay fluke, from what I've seen on-line.