by The major fluke tournaments are coming up, and anglers have a chance to make their “fortune” in the July 21 Grandpa Savino Fluke Tournament out of Great Kills. Staten Island The heaviest fluke over 13 pounds is worth $25,000. The contest hours are from 4 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The captains meeting is at 7 p.m. Friday, July 20 in Captain’s Marina, Great Kills. Call Walter Fisher at 917 375-7607.
The Sandy Hook Bay Anglers 37th annual Two-Day Fluke Tournament will be run July 14 and 15 out of Atlantic Highlands Municipal Marina. There are $5,700 in cash prizes plus Calcuttas. The entry fee is $100 per boat. For details visit http://www.sandyhookbayanglers.com – or call 732 787-4008.
The big Point Pleasant Elks Fluke Tournament is coming up July 21. The entry fee is $145 per boat, and there’s also a kayak division for $50 per angler. For details visit point pleasantelks.org
Fluke fishing was generally tough today. At Atlantic Highlands, Capt. Rob Semkewyc of the Sea Hunter said he was surprised by seeing relatively few anglers on the docks this morning despite the fine weather. Fishing was slow, though some quality fluke were boated.
Capt. Ron Santee of the Fishermen was happy to see a young girl win the pool with her first keeper fluke. Miss Cosgrove fought the 5-pounder to the net unaided. There were more shorts today to produce action, but fishing pretty much shut down after the change of tide. The Fishermen is chartered Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Miss Belmar Princess went right to the sea bass today as two-fish limits were easy to come by. Then they went inshore for fluke and caught some shorts and keepers.
The Tackle Box in Hazlet weighed in a rare for this season doormat fluke as Dan Lisak of Westfield used bucktail and Gulp to catch an 11-pounder in Sandy Hook Channel.
Both the surf and Shark River showed some promise this morning. Vinny D’Anton of Wall fished the river at first and caught eight small stripers before joining me in the surf where I had caught a small bass on a Chug Bug and raised two others. Vinny got a small bass on the same lure, and later added a 23-incher further south. I cast a Storm Searchbait jig briefly at Spring Lake to catch the fattest little windowpane I’ve ever seen. It had so much meat on it that I couldn’t see through while holding it up to the bright sun. Another one was released along with a 15-inch fluke before I switched to a brief effort with sand fleas that produced a 22-inch striper and a large skate.
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