Tom Hansen at Grumpy’s Bait and Tackle reports there is a definite shift in the fluke being caught. The throwback ratio is getting much more acceptable with more larger fish around. Gulp! baits seem to be working effectively to catch these fish hanging out in the surf. The most popular have been four-inch swim mullet, ghost shrimp and belly strips. There have also been abundant rumors of bluefish, but Hansen said it has been a long time since the proof was hanging on their scales. Some of the fluke weigh-ins from the shop’s log book are Robert Chatillion with a 3.7-pound fluke caught on a Gulp! bait, Don Brown with a 3.25-pound fluke on a Gulp! and Cheryl Vornhold with 2.55-pound fluke also on a Gulp! All those fish were between 19 and 23 inches. Out front on the boats, Mike Malek at the shop had Capt. John of the Debra Ann and Capt. John of the Tijereta out on the Evil Queen. The crew put together a catch of three keeper fluke up to 23 inches and had fun catching a mess of almost keeper and keeper-size sea bass. Down on the Barnegat Inlet North Jetty, blackfish are being caught. The daily bag limit is one fish per angler. At night from the beach, the surf anglers are tying into the brown sharks. Jana Keslink from Grizz’s Bait and Tackle said in the Barnegat Bay people are catching blue crabs, snapper blues and fluke. She mentioned the usual bay spots are holding fluke, the BB-BI buoys, the 40 can and Double Creek Channel and the Inlet. “In the bay Jig with a Grizz jig or Corky’s buck tail with spearing and squid,” she said. Out front, fluking is beginning to pick up in 50 feet of water off the Coast Station on Island Beach State Park. On the Barnegat Light Reef, or Tires as the locals call it, sea bass are being caught with clams and squid. Their big fluke weigh-in came from 7-year-old Gavin Guarascio who weighed in a 10.18-pound fluke.

Dan Radel