Fluking - New Jersey, Sunday

[bgreene]

Slow would mean a few fish.....

Need a worse word than " slow".....so how about ....." no "

And a couple of assorted party / charter boats were doing about the same.

Sea robins.....yes.
Rain.............yes.

Boat, motor performance........excellent.
Nothing lost or broken............excellent.

[Cam]

That's why they call it fishing and not catching. Still, a bad day fishing is still better than a good day working.

[bgreene]

Thanks for commenting Cam.

As the saying goes.....***8221; why when I was a boy fishing was much better***8221;
It was, as my dad and I would typically pull a dozen keeper fluke or so.
Also where are the bluefish ?
Just a few years back and for decades before, night and day bluefishing on party boats wasn***8217;t a sure thing but often close to it. Now......nearly no blues and the party boats aren***8217;t even targeting them.

So do I really need a bigger boat ?
Not really as my V21 continues to fit in so many ways, economical, roomy, comfortable,
and fast so making a 10 mile move is just a short ride when it***8217;s calm.
Sure I***8217;d like to be able to blast through 3***8217;-4***8217; chop at 30.......but that would cost a good $ 200,000 + and all the costs that go with it. To catch 3 searobons !!

[Cam]

The fishing is definitely different from what it was years ago. I don't remember being skunked any time I went fishing. I always caught fish. Just have to get through the dog days of summer and hopefully it will pick up again.

[SkunkBoat]

I can't say that these days aren't as good as the good old days.

In the late 70's I started surf fishing in NJ. Looking for that elusive striped bass.I caught a few bluefish but mostly we caught whiting and ling off the Casino Pier. Never caught a striper...never saw one.
I was in the Navy for most of the 80s. Got out in Sept of 90. Went to Ortley beach with my brother...first cast got a double header of stripers (plug & teaser). Second cast, another bass. Caught a dozen in an hour.
Striper fishing has remained great ever since( due entirely to the dreaded "Regulations"). Bluefish have years where they stay inshore and years when they stay 40 miles out, its always been that way.
Whiting are gone entirely. I do miss that.

Used to go fluking on the Sea King from Belmar in the 90s. Had good days and bad. Of course, the size limit was 13" or 14". I don't think I caught a fish over 3 pounds in all those years. 18" fish used to win pools...

Got a boat in 99. I'd have to say that the first few years were the best fluking because the increasing size limits (to 16") meant a lot of nice fish were around. Started catching 4 & 5 pounders each season. That said, there have ALWAYS been days when the Skunkboat got skunked.

They have since gone overboard with the 18" limit and it just seems like a waste of time sometimes....but fish are there. My brother and I drifted Manasquan River for an hour in the evening last week had dozen fluke, 11 shorts, 4 between 17" and 17.5", and one keeper 18.5".

[bgreene]

Man...we also loaded up on winter flounder -from rented row boat.
No finders, no gps, no intell, not even chum.
Just went out during the season, dropped anchor on Shinnicock Bay,
and fished a tandem rig with 1” piece of worm.
My dad spent most of his time rebaiting for us as we routinely caught
30-50 fish for the day. It was just normal fishing.