Search is on for keeper fluke

As the fluke season opened this week, there was plenty of action from the tip of the north and south forks west to Reynolds Channel and Smithtown Bay. As expected, sub-legal fish were easily corralled, but keepers proved a bigger challenge. The edge in legal-size fish went decidedly to the East End ports.

Anglers working whole squid baits out of Greenport, for example, scored with plenty of toss-back fluke up to 20 inches, plus roughly one keeper for every two lines in the water. The keepers, however, were generally mini-doormats weighing between 5 and 7 pounds, with a few pushing the 8-pound mark.

"We had good fluking out of Mattituck Inlet, too,'' said Bob Ceglowski, skipper of the Captain Bob fleet. Most trips saw fast action and between 12 and 18 keepers and a pool fish topping 7 pounds. Catches have been best on Silver Bullets, teamed with a 1/4-ounce white Spro bucktail teaser, but the pool winners generally fall to spearing and squid combinations.

Out at Montauk, several doormats in the 8- to 10-pound class hit the deck. Mike Young's 11-pound brute, caught Tuesday aboard open boat Lazy Bones, was the biggest of the lot. Continuing west, short fluke - and sea robins - were in good supply, but keepers were tough to entice from Moriches Inlet to Reynolds Channel. But Patrick Gillen of the Captree open boat Capt. Gillen said, "The action was furious and plenty of fun.''

Stripers tried to steal the show along the South Shore and in Long Island Sound late this week. Big bass, some topping 40 pounds, have finally caught up to the bunker schools west of Debs Inlet, with many fish in the 30-pound class caught in recent days. That action seems ready to bust wide open.

On the North Shore, the waters around buoy 11 off Port Jefferson are loaded with bass ranging from 6 to 12 pounds. Western Long Island Sound has been even better. The Port Washington open boat Angler II reported lock-and-load action this week with limit catches the norm.

Stripers have also been feeding heavily in Jamaica Bay. Bass were the main focus in the Captain Kayak Seventh Annual Jamaica Bay Kayak Tournament Sunday. "What a thrill it was just to see so many kayak anglers push off the shore in one place,'' Mark Nelson of West Boylston, Mass., said. Nelson took top prize with a 38.5-inch cow that smacked a Butchy Built Tube and worm combo trolled from his Ocean Kayak. Suzanne Collins, of Remsenberg, captured the women's crown with a 29-inch linesider. Funds raised were donated to the Casting for Recovery program (castingforrecovery.org), a breast cancer survivors group.

Another charity fishing tournament is slated for June 12. The Peconic Bay tournament will award its grand prize to the angler who registers the greatest aggregate weight for a bluefish, striper and fluke trio. The $75 entry fee goes to the Lyme Disease Association. Visit peconicbayfishing.org for details.

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