Conference wahoo::fishing-v2

    
    	Down in N.J. I did quite a lot of fluke fishing in Sandy Hook Bay.
    I imagine the same technique would work up here.
    
    	I used a medium duty fresh water spinning outfit with 6 lb. test. A
    3/0 Kahle (sp?) hook with a small swivel 18" above the hook. A sand
    weight (flat-round) of about 1/2 oz. was threaded on the line above
    the swivel so it could slide on the line without the fish feeling it.
    
    	For bait I used 3-4" Killies (minnow like bait fish) hooked
    through the lips (and a squid strip trailer if the crabs weren't to bad.) 
    The squid strip is cut into long, narrow triangular strips similar to a
    split-tail pork rind trailer. Simply cast out and bring it back with a slow 
    retrieve (about the same speed as a slow drift in a boat.)
    
    	Although the body shape of a fluke is virtually identical to a
    flounder, the similarity ends there. The jaw structure is completely
    different. A fluke jaw will not take the abuse of a hard hookset. If you 
    set the hook too hard, the only thing you'll get is a set of fish lips.
    
    	Fluke, more often than not, don't bite like a regular fish. They
    inhale the bait from behind and tend to keep swimming along at the same
    pace as your retrieve. This is why you absolutely do not want to use a
    surf caster. They usually are not sensitive enough and you'll miss a
    lot of bites.
    
    	A fluke bite usually feels more like a crab bite or weeds initially. 
    When you feel this, reel in any slack line with the pole tip pointed down 
    towards the water, then SLOWLY lift the tip up to about 12 o'clock. If you 
    have one on, you'll feel it fighting back at this point. Again, be very 
    careful not to tug too hard because you'll just wind up ripping the hook 
    out.
    
    	Good luck......RAYJ

    
    I didn't think fluke made it this far up...?  My dad used to take
    us out for fluke and puffer_fish when we lived in Jersey (Man, that
    was a long time ago).  Thanks for the memories.
    
    Let us know how you do (and where if it's productive).
    
    Good luck!
    
    Tim

    re: .2
    
    	Yep, they make it up here. In fact, once when I was fishing the
    	mouth of the Merrimack, a guy came over to me and asked me what
    	type of fish it was that he just caught - it was a fluke! Turns
    	out the guy was from Wyoming and had never fished the ocean before.
    	I would have never believed that fluke would show up that far north
    	if I hadn't seen it myself.
    
    	By the way, he caught it on a one of those freshwater lures called
    	'flatfish'. (how appropriate!).
    
    			Robert.

    Hmmmmm.....I'm not sure I believe that.  Having fished "down the shore"
    a lot when I was young, Flounder and Fluke were referred to
    synonimously.  Looking in the really cheap American Heritage that DEC
    gives you, it says under Fluke:
    
    (flook) any of various flatfishes, esp. flounder
    
    I don;t think there is an official fish called a "fluke".  I think if
    there's a fish you call a fluke that's not a flounder, then it's
    probably a Halibut or something.
    
    Of course, I'll be happy if you can prove me wrong because then I'll be
    somewhat less ignorant.
    
    /brett

    re: .4
    
    	Fluke = Summer Flounder.
    	In N.E., when people talk about flounder, they are usually talking
    	about Winter Flounder.
    
    	What is it that you don't believe?
    
    			Robert.

 In the fishing community, a fluke specifies a certain species of flatfish.
Obviously, referring to your DEC issued "American Heritage Dictionary" for
information about species identification is not going to net you the results
that consulting a proper authoritative volume would. ;^) A fluke differs
from a winter flounder in that it has large teeth, different shaped fins
and different coloration. I believe it also has its eyes on the other side of 
its head (ie being left handed rather than right handed).

 The Doctah

PS- The bait shop at the NH state ramp in Hampton has a poster with all of the
native flatfish; it's an ID poster and also includes minimum legal sizes.

    Doc is right.
    
    Left-handed flat fish:
      Fluke (large jaw, teeth)
      Windowpane flounder (medium jaw, black spots on body and specks on
         tail and surrounding fins, shape is rounder)
    
    Right-handed flat fish
      Winter flounder (small jaw, football shaped)
      American Dab
      Yellow Tail
    
    I've never caught a fluke north of the cape (only on the sound side). 
    I have caught windowpanes and have been told they were flukes by
    tackle/bait store owners.
    
    Tim
    
    p.s. I think the halibut is a left-handed fish as well.
    
    

    Now that we seem to have put the fluke/flounder thing to bed :
    
    re: .1
    	When you fished Killiefish for bait - were they live? I don't
    	think you can get them around here. (anybody know what the locals
    	use?).
    
    	What is the minimum legal length for fluke these days?
    
    			Robert.

 I think the minimum legal length is 13" in NH, at least. Most of the flatfish
had legal limits of either 12" or 13". Not sure what Massachusetts rules
are, but I suspect a 13" fish would be legal.

 the Doctah

 FWIW- The August issue of Saltwater Sportsman has a short article about
where to fish for fluke in Rhode Island.

    
    Hmmm... minimum length for fluke...?  I didn't realize there was one,
    but from what I remember they were rather large to begin with.  Of
    course I was a mere tot when I last caught one, but I would guess the
    were *at least* 24 inches.  
    
    There's not much to'em when there short.
    
    Tim

    I don't claim to be an expert, but I have caught a few.  If you
    can't get live bait, you can do just about as well with stips of
    squid, or even better shark belly.  There are special hooks - kind
    of a small hook attached near the eye of a very long shanked hook.
    
    With squid strips, you can rig this right behind a spinner and retrieve
    it slowly across the bottom.
    
    Good luck,
    Mark
    

    re :.10
    
    	Picked up a copy - Alas, as is typical of Saltwater Sportsman, the
    	article is geared towards boat fisherman.
    
    		Thanks for looking,
    			Robert.

    Most people seem to fish for fluke from a boat. :-( I have caught a
    couple from shore in Martha's Vineyard. They will hit lures, as well as
    live bait. That's how I caught mine. Bucktails are good, especially
    with pork rind or squid. 
    
    Last report I read said that they were some in the flats near the
    canal. (Mashnee?) Not sure if you can cast to them there or not. Also
    some have been picked up from the south coast of R.I., from the walls
    at Point Judith (never fished there, just read about it). These, I
    presume, are accessible to the shore bound. 
    
    As for tide, I don't think it matters which way the tide is moving, as
    long as it IS moving. This may well be another of those 'rules' that we
    humans are known for, but which the fish don't seem to understand too
    well. 
    
    Good luck, and if you want some company chasing these or other kinds of
    fish, let me know. If it swims in the salt, I'm interested.
    
    leo

    re:8
    
    	Yes, the Killie's were alive. I don't recall seeing any around here
    but then again I haven't really looked. I usually use sand/blood worms
    when I baitfish as flounder, pollack, striper, and cod will take them
    and any of these are more plentiful than fluke in N.H. waters.
    
    	I have used just squid strips before with some luck. For some
    reason though, the crabs (blue-claw in N.J.) really home in on the
    squid strips. A few times I went out fluke fishing and came back with
    about a dozen blue-claw crabs, which are also good eating.
    
    	The squid is fairly cheap and readily available so that might be
    worth a shot. If you're not familiar with cleaning and preparing whole
    squid let me know and I'll post a note.
    
    	RAYJ

    
    RAYJ,
    
        I'll take you up on your offer to post a note for preparing &
    cleaning squid for bait strips.
    
    Thanks,
    
    Ed
    

    	To prepare squid for bait, reach your finger into the body and remove 
    the head, tenticles, and guts. The purple skin should easily peel off 
    along with the two wing-like pieces attached near the pointy end of the 
    body. There is also a thin plastic-like piece (backbone ?) that runs
    the length of the body (inside the body) that you also pull out.
    
    	Once done, you have a cone shaped piece of flesh. Simply slice up
    one side of it, lay it flat, and cut long triangular banner shaped
    pieces. The pieces should wind up looking something like banners that 
    come to a point on one end, are about the length of the body, and are 
    approx. 3/4" wide at the other end.
    
    	When using killies, hook the squid strip through the wide end and
    then run the hook through the killies lips from the bottom lip and up
    through the top lip. The squid strip looks like white under-bellie on
    the killie and the live killie tends to keep the open end of the hook
    up so you don't snag the bottom.
    
    	You can try using the head and tenticles if you'de like but I never
    had much luck with it. If you don't have killies, simply rig the squid
    as described above.
    
    BTW - If you're buying squid to eat (Calamari), you clean it the same
    way, except I usually cut it into rings (vs. strips), coat with batter,
    and deep fry till golden brown. You also can eat the tenticles (cut
    from the head, coat, and fry.)
    
    	RAYJ

       Fluke are being taken out of the Maritime and off the Mashnee Flats!
    Drifting chubs along the sandy bottom seems to be producing some good
    results. Good luck!!!!!!!
                                     Heading down next weekend!!!
    								 Scott.

    
    Is there a season now for flounder in MA? I seem to remember
    reading somewhere that it opened May 1st. I take it if 5/1
    is opening day then the flounder are already around but what
    time of year do they usually start to show up down the Cape?
   
    Walt
    

    	Walt,
    		We'll talk...
    				B.C.

    
    Am I in trouble again? 8')
    
    WB

Flounder season is closed until June 1 I believe.  I can look in the abstracts
when I'm at home, if I remember.

    I wrote the below reply in 1991 and never entered it.  As I am cleaning up 
    files before my departure I came across it and figured it might contain
    some useful info that someone might use someday.
    
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    
When I moved up to Massachusetts from New Jersey, for many years I had figured 
that Fluke should be around the cape, but no-one I knew ever seemed to fish
for them.  The problem was that I didn't know the right people.

   LOCATION: One of the most signifcant feature of being able to catch fluke 
      is knowing where to find them.   It seems that only about 20% of the 
      waters where range actually hold fluke.  Fluke require a combination of 
      several factors to be present.  The most significant factor is the 
      proper bottom.  Fluke are found in a generally sandy or soft type of 
      bottom where they can dig in and hide.  They can be most often be found 
      in the holes that exist in this type of ocean floor.  In addition to the 
      type of bottom, fluke require water where a lot of baitfish pass by.  
      This generally includes water that has a good current flow.  Many inlets
      and rivers fit this category well.

   SHORE SPOTS: There are a lot of fluke in the Southeastern Massachusetts 
      area.  While most of these areas that support fluke are accessible only 
      by boat, there are some spots where you can get them from shore.   Below 
      is a some of the spots I know about.    

   PROVINCETOWN:  One summer (2-3 years ago), I had a very successful few 
      days fishing from the shore for fluke at Herring Cove beach.  I caught 
      several fluke up to 3 lbs on both the incoming and outgoing tides.

      Herring Cove is easily accessible.  The parking lot is right on the 
      beach and there are signs to direct you to the beach.

      It also offers the opportunity for families to make a fun day of it.  
      When I wasn't concentrating on the fishing,  I put the poles in the sand 
      spikes, and helped the kids build sand castles.  There is a section of 
      the cove designated for fishing, and one for swimming.  If you can go 
      after labor day, you can fish from the swimming beach.  There is 
      generally no one swimming in the morning (it is to cold) at that time.  
      You also can set the family up in a spot very near the beach house and 
      rest room facilities.

   EASTHAM/ORLEANS:
      While fishing at Herring Cove, I met a person on the beach who said that 
      he had very good luck at cornfield point (or cornfield beach) catching 
      fluke.  I tried to find the area he was describing, and I figured 
      he was referring to the area around the Pamet river. From what I could 
      tell, it looked like this area might be a good fluke spot.  

      Unfortunately, I was not able to give it a try.  I did, however, read 
      an article in the fisherman claiming that the pamet river is an 
      excellent source for sand eels. It seems like the area should be a 
      natural spot for fluke, with a sandy bottom, moving current, and a lot 
      of bait.

   CAPE COD CANAL/SANDWICH:
      Another spot I was told about (but have not yet fished) is the area 
      along the canal known as "Portugee Hole".   It is located at pole marker
      #155.  Budd from Budd's bait was telling me that each year, he
      consistently has derby winners in the 4 to 5 lb range taken from here.  
      The spot supposedly takes a bit of time to find out exactly 
      how to fish it.  There is one hole which holds the fluke, but you
      have to find the hole.  It is recommended to fish on an Easterly
      (incoming) tide, using about 4 oz weight.  Once you find the hole,
      cast upward of the hole, and let your rig drift into it.

      To get to there, take the Sagamore bridge onto the cape.  Take
      the first exit after the bridge (Rte 6A, Sandwich).  Follow the road to
      the end.  Make a left at the lights (Westbound). Follow along the canal
      to the first turn-out.  Park at this turn-out and look for pole #155. 

      [1995 note: I did try this spot a 3 times with no luck. ]
    
   BOAT SPOTS: The reason I have not tried a number of the shore spots is that 
      I have been able to get out to Mashnee flats with a boat.  Mashnee Flats 
      are located at the West end of the Canal, off of Mashnee Island.  This 
      year has definitely been better than the past 2 (at least for me).  We 
      have fairly consistently pulled out 6 to 12 keepers most of the times we 
      have been out.  A legal keeper in Massachusetts is 14" or greater. 

      If you have a boat, Mashnee flats are an easy cruise from the Bourne 
      state launch.  It is important to have a westerly tide (outgoing) in 
      order to catch fluke on the flats.  If anyone is interested, I can 
      provide more detailed info on Mashnee flats.

   TACKLE: A general rule of thumb to follow is to use the lightest tackle 
      that will catch fish.  


-- Kevin


By the way, "kellies" or "killies" which were referenced previously are known
as "chubs" in Mass.  It seems that Connecticut is a line of demarcation 
for common names of fish in the Northeast.  Some other examples of name
differences are:

        New England		New York/New Jersey
	-----------	        -------------------
	 pogies                 bunker/mossbunker/menhaden
         scup			porgies
	 squeteague		weakfish
	 tautog			blackfish
	 choggies		bergals
	 monkfish		goosefish
	 frostfish	        whiting
	 chubs			kellies
         silver sides		spearing