NJ Fishing Reports for July 2015 - www.StripersAndAnglers.com

[DarkSkies]

Short and sweet......

1. Post your fishing reports here.....
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3. Location -
Out front....
out back.....
or the county...

further details on the first page of any past S&A monthly fishing reports.

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[DarkSkies]

Early Summer Recap
July is usually a great month for vacations and traveling to different places ...some observations so far.....

Some people have adapted to diminishing opportunities in NJ, by nomadic traveling to current fishing hotspots...

That's great....but unfortunately I remember the days when you didn't have to drive 3-5 hours to get into some fish...
and there is no guarantee when you get there, that the bite will be as hot as it was yesterday....

During the summer, many give up on bass and bluefish and turn to fluking...
With the recent seabass closure....it seems boat Captains and those who do this for a living have a tough road....stricter regs every year for different species.....longer closed seasons....
And lots of disappointments just trying to make a living......

For those still dedicated to striped bass, bluefish, and weakfish...there are some opportunities....but water temperature and presence of different types of forage seem to dictate whether your trip will be successful, or a bust....

Good luck out there...people....
enjoy the summer weather....:fishing: :HappyWave:

[seamonkey]

During the summer, many give up on bass and bluefish and turn to fluking...


Hey dark you forgot SHARKS! Not a bad choice for the lazy days and hot water. They are here in cape may. I will be out searching this weekend hope its not too crazy with the tourists. Croakers are here in the surf too in case anyone wants some croaker sandwiches.

[hookset]

you forgot cownose rays too lol. Mmmm, with garlic and oregano and oil in a frying pan. delish.:upck:

[basshunter]

Glad you put the puking icon there almost thought you were serious. Would rather eat kale and okra than eat a bloody fillet from a cow nose.

[J Barbosa]

Love me some summer fluking and bottom fishing.

Going to get back into the surf shark fishing this year.

[jigfreak]

With the recent seabass closure....it seems boat Captains and those who do this for a living have a tough road....stricter regs every year for different species.....longer closed seasons....
And lots of disappointments just trying to make a living......



You said it. Just read this today-
"The lack of Boats and customers on the water makes it feel like October already."

[surferman]

you forgot cownose rays too lol. Mmmm, with garlic and oregano and oil in a frying pan. delish.:upck:


Glad you put the puking icon there almost thought you were serious. Would rather eat kale and okra than eat a bloody fillet from a cow nose.

Hey you guys I didn't think you could eat them either. did a search on youtube and found this. Very bloody meat but he does fillet a cow nose!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4zBTfa-0ME

[finchaser]

5 to 6:30 AM 4 bass and a chop all on white shaker tail and jig head

[lostatsea]

nice going finchaser I fished ocean county last night before dark. One cocktail blue and 2 short fluke on bucktail and gulp.

[lostatsea]

Very bloody meat

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4zBTfa-0ME

damn that looks like roast beef. knew a girl like that once.:scared:

[dogfish]

^^^^^Knew a girl who bled a lot? Or one with roast beef flaps? Which is it.

[buckethead]

Fished the surf in moco on the incoming tide before sunrise. One short bass on bucktail and pork.

[storminsteve]

Yeah some slim pickens out there lately thats for sure. Fished mo co from 6-8 tonight. Figured it would be great timing. Incoming tide, slightly overcast with some rain showers in the distance. Fished a bone colored sp with a teaser. Picked up a small striper and bluefish right before the sun went down. Both hit the teaser.

[finchaser]

5 to 6:30 AM 2 bass to 31" and a 5# blue all on white shaker tail and jig head all still swimming

[seamonkey]

Nice going guys. I fished cape may last night and got a few doggies and skates. Was looking for a brown. Used bunker chunks. I guess I will have to upgrade the bait and use something bigger next time. Good luck guys and happy 4th of July.

[fishinmission78]

You're better off using fresh caught croakers for browns if they are around. And instead of bunker chunks fish a half of a bunker at a time with the guts hanging out. Good luck.

[cowherder]

Well kudos to the guys who were catching stripers. Tried this morning in the ocean between 5 to 6am before work. Slight east winds and the surf looked fishy. Got one blue on a white pencil popper. Then fluked for a half hour and got two short fluke on bucktail and gulp. Heard there is a hot fluke bite down near island beach. May try there after the weekend if conditions where I was don't get better.

[storminsteve]

Tried this morning in the ocean between 5 to 6am before work. Slight east winds and the surf looked fishy. Got one blue on a white pencil popper. Heard there is a hot fluke bite down near island beach. May try there after the weekend if conditions where I was don't get better.

I thought the same thing when I walked on the beach last night. That slight East seemed perfect for fishing.
Catching - ehh, not so much. Threw the bag, got the skunk in nomoco. I read those fluke reports too and may join you in ocean county soon.

[lostatsea]

It's over! Time for fluke and croaker.

[SharkHart]

Fish were spitting up a lot of these today at the shark river reef


19468

[jigfreak]

Nice! About time. Tho they prob wont come in with all the beach replensishment.

[buckethead]

Fished moco with bucktail and pork with a redgill teaser this morning. nice overcast conditions. Picked up 2 short bass and a short fluke. Shark hart that is a good sign those sandeels. Like jigfreak said who knows whether they will come in closer or not. We can only hope. Thank you for sharing that.

[Blazin420]

Good to see the sandeels!!...Got out Sat night in the back from 8-130am...1 small cocktail blue for my efforts...The no-seeums were UNBEARABLE!! I was covered up with hoodie and a bandana on my face and still my forhead was brite red and chewed up when i got home!! Found some bunker as the tide started to go out snagged and chunked hoping that would get them..Nope...Had 1 pick up on a head that spit it out and the chunks just got chopped up by the small blues....Disappointing night...I packed it in cause i just couldnt take the bugs anymore!!! I did lose about 3lbs due to sweating my arse off with all the cloths on!

[finchaser]

The tuna we got yesterday were gorged with sandeels 60 miles off

[J Barbosa]

Fished 7/1 - Tried fluke fishing in RB but could only get 1 fish. Think the heavy rain that morning shut them down again. Went out front managed a decent pick of shorts and sea robins ending up with 2 keepers.

Fished 7/3 - Kept bouncing from spot to spot trying to put a keeper in the boat and kept running into the wrong conditions. Finally on the last stop luck went our way we ended up with 5 keeper fluke and 2 keeper sea bass.

Fished 7/5 - Decided to avoid the crowds in the bay, fished out front only 3 other boats in our area. We had 3 keeper fluke and our 3 man sea bass limit (6 fish) of nice jumbo sea bass...we were only keeping the bigger ones. My dad managed the biggest one I've ever seen about 6-7#s.

The fluke from out front have been much thicker than the bay fluke.

Seen some small spearing out front, bay fluke have been spitting up tiny shrimp.

[cowherder]

Fished yesterday 9-11 for bass and blues. Traffic coming home was terrible there was some kind of event up at the hook I think. Zippo for me. Met one guy who said he was out 5 nights in the past week and got one bass 10 lbs on bunker. Lots of work for one fish but at least he caught one. Better than me.
Nice fluke reports jbarbosa! I am swiching over this week.

[cowherder]

The tuna we got yesterday were gorged with sandeels 60 miles off

finchaser you got some tuna? Bluefins or yellow fins? Any size to them? Congrats

[porgy75]

5 nights in a week for one striped bass. Yes he definitely earned that fish. Nice fluke reports j barbosa. What is working best for you if you don't mind my asking? thanks

[finchaser]

finchaser you got some tuna? Bluefins or yellow fins? Any size to them? Congrats

Bluefins to 67# and a few monster blues

Saturday my friend won our tuna club Jack Meyer tournament ( to rich for my blood) with a 246# big eye. So yesterday we fished Bluefin for fun, tons of bait and turtles along the 30 fathom curve unfortunately like the dead sea from 10 miles off to the beach

[surferman]

Very nice. How big were the blues out there? The party boats off of monmouth county are catching very small ones lately.

[lostatsea]

Yeah I saw pics of those pee wees. Going on a head boat to catch 12 inch bluefish no thanks

[lostatsea]

Fish were spitting up a lot of these today at the shark river reef


http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=19468&stc=1

good to know thanks for sharing.

[buckethead]

First hour of the incoming this morning. Overcast conditions and pretty calm out there. Nothing for me. May try later on.

[hookset]

Moco last night from 9 till 11. skunk A roo

[buckethead]

Fished the surf in monmouth county this morning at sunrise. Outgoing tide. One feisty short bass on bucktal and pork combo with redgill teaser. Conditions were good, slight NE with a chop on the water and overcast.

[jigfreak]

Good for you bucket head still out there grinding out the hits. I have a back bay spot which is great this time of year but its been dead. The water temp is too high and the bay is filled with fertilizer runoff from the lawns. ppl need their green lawns the hell with anything else.

[hookedonbass]

Fished nomoco this morning. As BH said the conditions were ideal. Not a tap for me.

[buckethead]

Thanks jigfreak for me it's my more my morning exercise than anything else. There is hardly anyone on the beach lately as well. Fished this morning. Water was decent with less of a breeze than yesterday. Slight N/NE. Good conditions but no fish.

[porgy75]

Hey there seems to be a lot of short fluke at island beach according to john at betty and nicks. Sharks too. So at least you can get a bend in your pole this summer!

[lostatsea]

Always love reading your reports and the conditions too bucket head. Thanks

[finchaser]

3 short bass this AM and then the armada killed what little bite there was, :don't know why:forgot today was Saturday:banghead2:

[buckethead]

Nice going finchaser. I fished the sunrise in moco this am and could only manage one short bass on bucktail and redgill. Nice N/NE chop on the water and decent conditions. I didn't notice any bait other than the sand crabs. Just not a lot of fish around.
Btw I thought today was Saturday. Let me know if I'm wrong. Us old guys have to stick together because we are forgetful sometimes.:)

[Blazin420]

Fished this am before work..5-730am..Water looked good threw the bag till about 6 not a tap..Then decided to give some sand crabs a shot..Managed 2 decent fluke both 17in..And had 1 real hard whack that i missed..Felt like it could have been a bass..Was nice to try the crabs and finally get some results..I have a few different methods i wanna try..See what gets the best results..Be back out tom am before the crowds

[baitstealer]

Way to go gents. I fished north of island beach this morning from 5-8. Pretty good action with fluke got 8 and some sea robins. Not one was a keeper tho? Biggest was 16 inches. Also a lot of little taps on my bucktail I don't think they were fluke maybe something smaller. Anyone have any idea of what these fish could have been? thanks

[jigfreak]

Try smaller hooks next time. Bring a high low rig and throw some clam pieces on it, croaker might be around.

[seamonkey]

Fished 2 times over the weekend with bait during early morning. Skates doggies and sea robins. One fluke about 17 inches on bucktail and fishbites high low as I was trying for some croakers too. Thanks for that info jigfreak next time I will downsize. I def think they are around but none for me. Also cape may is loaded with brown and dusky sharks. At night throwing bluefish or bunker out. Some of my friends have gotten them up to 80lbs but I haven't had the time to fish at night yet. Tight lines gents.

[jigfreak]

Yep the sharks are around at night. Fish the high water. Hold your rod so it doesn't go to england.

[finchaser]

5 Am to 6:30 AM this morning released 7 bass 4 of which were keepers 28 to 32 inches they were chasing tinker mackerel which are a welcome sight

all caught on pearl shaker on a jighead

[cowherder]

Wow most guys are starving to catch one bass and you hit a home run! Most excellent thanks for sharing. Question - do tinker mackeral come in regularly this time of year? I have been reading the belmar boats reports they were talking about some mackeral but they fish pretty far off. So is them coming in part of hanging out in the bays until they get bigger or do you just think they were passing through? thanks!

[finchaser]

Wow most guys are starving to catch one bass and you hit a home run! Most excellent thanks for sharing. Question - do tinker mackeral come in regularly this time of year? I have been reading the belmar boats reports they were talking about some mackeral but they fish pretty far off. So is them coming in part of hanging out in the bays until they get bigger or do you just think they were passing through? thanks!

They use to but not for years the Belmar boats are getting mackerel

The tinkers average around 6 inches
They are prime fluke and weakfish bait also
they are catching them in both inlets on subiki rigs
I tried to PM you but can't

[cowherder]

Thank you sir! Looks like I might be buying some sabiki rigs.

[Blazin420]

Nice job Fin! Im jealous!! lol...Went out last night and got nothing but swarmed by bugs!! Fished till 11pm with only a few sand sharks fishing sand crabs...I think im making the switch and focusing more on fluke for now..Plus the wife wants a fresh fluke dinner shes been busting my chops since June for it!!

[J Barbosa]

Was out last Friday and managed 4 keeper fluke. Seen some bunker going airborne trying to avoid the large bass underneath them. Acres of bunker schools (like I see ever week)... but this time a few bass were working a pod. I was beginning to think they didn't exist!

My buddy managed to hook up with a nice one but dropped it during the initial run.

Was canyon bound Saturday & Sunday on the Jenny Lee. Saturday was slow only a small mahi to show for it. Overnight we lost a swordfish :(

On the troll again Sunday and we hooked & landed a 500lb blue marlin. Not long after that we hooked another nice one probably 300lbs that went Arial about 20x before chafing us off.

On the ride back saw plenty of life including hundreds of turtles about 20-40 miles out (just like Finchaser mentioned earlier last week).

http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=19481&stc=1

[captnemo]

Great report. Sounds like some fantastic blue action. Will be getting out there in August. thanks for the info and congrats.

[captnemo]

Also wanted to ask, did you see or mark any yellowfins while out there? thanks

[bababooey]

Nice going on the marlin! Must have been balls to the wall during the fight.:viking:

[buckethead]

Fished the moco surf this morning at sunrise. A bit of a small swell out there and some wave action. Not much bait evident other than the mole crabs. Did manage a short striper on bucktail and pork.

[buckethead]

JB very nice report. It must have been nice to get out to the blue water and catch those fish, well done.

[porgy75]

Wow awesome marlin dude! Never went for anything like that.The adrenaline off the charts when fighting a fish like that! Thanks for sharing.

[clamchucker]

I agree that big marlin is a memorable catch. I fished the canyons many years ago. Back then you could get big tuna within 30 miles from the shoreline. Sadly those days are gone. Some of you were talking about sharks. My grandsons have been out in the past 2 weeks and they are catching quite a few brown sharks at island beach at night. If you want them they are there. Make sure your tackle is rugged and up to the task.

[finchaser]

This morning 5AM to 6:30 AM 2 bass and 3 blues all on DOA jerk bait and jig head

[Monty]

5 Am to 6:30 AM this morning released 7 bass 4 of which were keepers 28 to 32 inches they were chasing tinker mackerel which are a welcome sight

all caught on pearl shaker on a jighead


This morning 5AM to 6:30 AM 2 bass and 3 blues all on DOA jerk bait and jig head

Congrats on the fishing and catching :HappyWave:

[finchaser]

Thanks still haven't been out front

[storminsteve]

Nice going there guys.

[buckethead]

Good job finchaser. Fished moco surf this am and it was dead for me. nice walk on the beach at sunrise though.

[hookset]

finchaser nice work.
Really need a change in the weather. Went out this afternoon after work to scout some places for some night weakfish searches. found a lot of dead bunker and very cloudy water not good. We may have another bunker kill soon.

[ledhead36]

way in the back yesterday afternoon. On my cousins boat. Fluking was not that great we got one keeper each. Squid and killie on bottom and gulp for top hook. Couple of shorts. From what he said fluking has been off the past few weeks.

[ledhead36]

fWent out this afternoon after work to scout some places for some night weakfish searches. found a lot of dead bunker and very cloudy water not good.

Every late july they would show up like clockwork. Those were the days.Now they are like ghosts.

[fishinmission78]

Fished Island beach last night for sharks. It has been good but last night not so much. Lots of weed and only dogfish for me. New moon tides you would have thought it would have been banging. nice going finchaser still catching bass that's pretty impressive.

[fishinmission78]

Forgot to add have been catching some island beach special keeper fluke. There are a lot of small fluke in the surf. Gulp chartreuse double rig has been working for me. Slow retrieve when the weeds are not there. Tons of shorts though so be prepared.

[surferman]

Thanks for the honesty. I have been fishing cape may, average once every 10 days. Tons of doggies, small skates and sea robins. I can't for the life of me figure out how they said dogfish were endangered. Cape May is the dogfish capital of the world.

[porgy75]

When you guys talk about the double rig I was wondering why they are work better. Do you think they smell the gulp more in the water because it is 2, or is it the color that grabs their attention. Thanks

[J Barbosa]

Was out fluking on Saturday and pulled up a 6-7# fluke on the first drift. As I go to net this fluke I see this 12-15lb bluefish swimming half dead in circles on the surface. My guess he was improperly released by one of the two boats trolling bunker spoons near me.

Ended up with 4 keeper fluke total for Saturday. Should have run out front but the chance of t-storms kept me close to port.

Went out with a friend on Sunday and he wanted to stay in the bay again. Ended up with 0 keepers and about 10 shorts total.

[cowherder]

4 keepers that's a nice ratio JB. I fished moco yesterday on the incoming tide. Some good action with the small guys but no keepers for me. Gulp chartreuse mullet. 11 fluke from 6:30-8:30 pm.

[cowherder]

When you guys talk about the double rig I was wondering why they are work better. Do you think they smell the gulp more in the water because it is 2, or is it the color that grabs their attention. Thanks

I dunno why but gulp definitely does work. I stock up every year when ***** has their sale. I think in the raritan bay and moco area the chartreuse works great because the water is cloudy a lot of times that I seem to be out there. Could be the replenishment or something else I don't know. When I have fished island beach the water is a lot clearer. So maybe it's different depending on where you fish. My .02

[seamonkey]

Nice going on the fluke guys. Wish we had them in those sizes from the surf in cape may. We do have croakers now if anyone is interested. Got a mess of them over the weekend. Got them between 6 and sundown using fishbites.

[surferman]

I can confirm on the croakers as well. Fillet or grill them up whole they are tasty!

[J Barbosa]

Anyone else catching a ton of sea robins and dogfish this year?

On the standard bucktail & gulp rig

[ledhead36]

Mens a mens on the robins but I have caught enough dogfish to start a fish and chipps factory. They are everywhere, Usually the farther back in the bay you go the easier it is to get away from them. I fish all over that bay area and have gotten them everywhere from perth amboy to highlands. They made some big mistakes when they went all out to protect them. In all the years I been fishing I have never seen so many.

[storminsteve]

As I said in the dead things thread I suck lately. Fished nomoco from 7-10 tonight. The conditions were perfect. The wind was a nice northwest and I was rubbing my hands together in anticipation when I headed out. Gave it my best shot fluking. One short fluke saved me from the skunk. Where did all the shorts go? Maybe they were at a flukezilla meeting and I missed the memo. Also one monster sea robin. Dismal night with perfect conditions.

Oh there were also a lot of bunker in the area. Not one explosion or blowup on them though.

[finchaser]

This morning 5 to 6:30 released 1 bass 3 blues and a fluke all on DOA jerk bait and a jig all bass and fluke were shorts

[Blazin420]

Still gettin bass Fin Nice!! Whats the water temp where your fishing? Just curious...I went out Tuesday am 6-830 12 fluke 2@17in the rest in the 14-16in range white Gulp mullets did the trick all but 1 on the teaser..fished by some rocks and had better results then my passed outings on the open beachs..Wife still hounding me for a keeper LOL!!..Picked her up after and enjoyed a nice beach day!

[finchaser]

was 73 today tons of bait not quite out front yet

[DarkSkies]

Interesting night last night fishing bunker from a boat in the bay and ocean. Bunker seem to be all over covering a wide area.
Very few bass underneath. Finding them is like looking for a needle in a haystack....but the size was enough to motivate us to go out and search.

On the way out, we saw an interesting sight....
Birds working over small schools of rainfish that had been pushed to the surface by feeding cownose rays...

Large bluefish have returned to the mix. We would have been happy to even find a few of those....

We managed to get a few bunker for the livewell, and once in the ocean found random pods all over. Very happy bunker unharassed by anything. Still optimistic, we tried for a few more. On one of my casts I accidently snagged a cow nose ray among the bunker schools. Gradually reaized it was a 20# ray on the other end and slowly brought it in.
Best rod bending action I have had in a month. :o :naughty:

Fished for a total of 6 hours, trying to position ourselves over the liveliest pods. We covered a lot of ground. No activity for us even when we mixed the livelining up with some chunking.

The amount of bunker entering the bay during the flood was inspiring and depressing at the same time. With more bunker around than the few remaining bass could ever possibly eat, we knew going in that it would be a shot in the dark.

We took our shot, and came up empty handed.
However, it really was a great night on the water....conditions were almost perfect, sans the fish.
Thanks and much gratitude to JB and his friend for the invite.
Good times on the water with good people. :HappyWave::fishing:

[Blazin420]

was 73 today tons of bait not quite out front yet
Cool thanks Fin!

At least the weather was in your favor Dark..Minus no fish sounds like a nice night!! May try to get out after work this evening probably just enjoy a nice night on the beach but sometimes thats all i need to relax a bit!

[finchaser]

4 bass to 27" this morning all on rubber and a jig head

[cowherder]

Still catching stripers. Nice X2 finchaser!

[cowherder]

probably just enjoy a nice night on the beach but sometimes thats all i need to relax a bit!

X2 as well. Catching is nice but without a weekly trip to the beach I would not be a happy camper!

[Monty]

X2 as well. Catching is nice but without a weekly trip to the beach I would not be a happy camper!
Same for me.

[buckethead]

Fished moco this morning bucktail and pork. From sunrise to 7am last of the outgoing tide. Saw some small bait in the surf. Probably spearing or small rainfish. No bass for me. Nice going finchaser.

[porgy75]

Thanks for all the reports bucket head and others. At least you are trying. Today I gave a try for some fluke down by an inlet in monmouth county. One thing I didn't realize was the fluke tournament. From 6-6:30 I must have seen at least 60 boats pass out of the inlet. Unfortunately not that great for catching. I got one short fluke, one sea robin, and one star gazer. All on gulp swimming mullet. Left the beach when people started to show up. Still a nice morning for me.

[Blazin420]

Fished yesterday from 630am till 130pm...Still picking away at the short fluke i managed 8 my buddy managed 8 with 1 huge startgazer that he thought was a doormat...Thing was beast had to be 5-6lbs...He was siked till he saw that ugly face LOL!! Hads 1 that i put the tape on that was 17.5 and my bud 1 that was 17.999...Teaser with the White GULP and small SHrimp worked best..S wind picked up to 15+ in the afternoon which made it tuff and dirtied up the water a bit....Nice day out there

[hookedonbass]

Nice going guys. I went yesterday afternoon for fluke in nomoco. The wind was terrible and the water was dirty. I only managed 2 with white gulp. I just gave up after awhile that wind made it real tough.

Blazing you have been doing pretty well with the flatties. Do you switch to chartreuse when it gets dirty like that? Or do you feel white is just as good. thanks

[Blazin420]

Nice going guys. I went yesterday afternoon for fluke in nomoco. The wind was terrible and the water was dirty. I only managed 2 with white gulp. I just gave up after awhile that wind made it real tough.

Blazing you have been doing pretty well with the flatties. Do you switch to chartreuse when it gets dirty like that? Or do you feel white is just as good. thanks

That wind was a killer in the afternoon i was gonna stay all day but it got to be too much so i left and grabbed a burger and some beers LOL!

Ive been sticking with the white this season seems to be working better then the chartreuse even with dirty water..at least where ive been fishing..Also the 2in GULP shrimp in new penny or natural have been very productive for me...The snapper were around so ill be live lining them soon they always get me some better sized fluke

[buckethead]

Fished moco from 6:30-7:30. Very slight wind and not much else going on. Some scattered bunker schools. Nice early morning walk, 1 searobin on the bucktail.

[finchaser]

Yesterday morning 5 to 6:30 1 bass and 1 fluke both on pink finesse tons of bait and more northern sennets then usual this time of year

[J Barbosa]

Last Saturday me and a buddy caught 9 keeper fluke to 9lbs (I managed 5 keepers). My buddy got the 9#er and it had an ALS tag. I can't wait to hear where and when it was originally tagged.

On Sunday 3 of us caught 7 keepers to 21" (I managed 6 keepers).

[storminsteve]

^^^^^Nice going on the fluke dude! How deep is the water you are fishing? I have only seen some small ones in the surf zone. 9lbs is close to a doormat.

[storminsteve]

nomoco last night it was a great way to spend a few hours after work. Had the gulp and bucktail setup. My catch consisted of 4 short fluke, one dogfish and one that broke me off. I am assuming it was a giant cownose ray because stayed deep and just kept going. my light tackle was no match for it.

[baitstealer]

Its like an epidemic of short fluke out there. Is there a magic formula to catching keeper fluke from the surf? Or does one have to go on a boat for that.

[Fishman]

Seems like if you are fishing from shore the keeper ratio is about one out of every 30.
On a partyboat I heard it's like one out of every 15. So the chances are better. From the facebook reports I read today it seems like a lot of guys are grumbling about the lack of keeper fluke this year.

[J Barbosa]

^^^^^Nice going on the fluke dude! How deep is the water you are fishing? I have only seen some small ones in the surf zone. 9lbs is close to a doormat.

Steve,

Almost all of them came in 20-40ft of water. I've tried deeper in 70-100ft but it just hasn't produced for me yet (not even shorts).

[storminsteve]

thank you