[Leprechaun]

I would have to say how absolutely consistant the run of better-sized fluke was off Jones Inlet between the last week of July and the first week of September.

After 2006's debacle of running all over the ocean to scratch together a decent catch, 2007 was a stunning improvement. One stop shopping in many cases - a tremendously unexpected surprise...I guess one word sums it up: Squid. If they're there, the better fluke will ALWAYS follow.

Runner Up: How poor the Bunker Dunking was in the same general locale after a terrific run during the early Summer of 2006. There were days here and there in 2007 - but it never developed into the bang-bang fishing that we enjoyed the year before.

Best, Lep

This post edited by Leprechaun 10:21 AM 12/29/2007

 

[paulh]

Is that the infamous Tuna EX picture ?

A couple of surprises were the good spring tog fishing and the tons of bunker we had all year but relative lack of fish on / near them.

This post edited by paulh 10:32 AM 12/29/2007

 

[HungryJack]

I like the Piker Style shorts

 

[rastamon]

Surprise to me, I never got to fish all season, fresh or salt, for the first time ever. Not for lack of days off or invitations, just too busy

 

[gebby]

1. the amount of decent size fluke heard about and seen while jigging bass 35-55' off jones late november into december. i believe paulie b. attitude had a six pounder.

2. the amount of birds with virtually no fish under them in early december off debs.

 

[HappyCamper]

ditto on the fluke thing Lep. Best year of my life in quality and quantity but the thing that surprised me the most is how much I miss having my own boat. I sold my boat in the spring and I thank God for good friends that take me out on their boats but like I said, I miss the freedom of having my own boat. That surprised me a lot! First time in 15 years not being able to run down to my boat and go out when I wanted, where I wanted and fish for whatever I wanted to.

Another surprise, the lack of bass when chumming in Jones inlet. We had our share but no where near what we had before.

Pleasent surprise, nailing a 10 pound tog a few weeks ago. The absolute best fight in my life and I caught big blues, bass, tuna and sharks but that little 10 pounder fought for his life like no other fish. Now that I broke that barrier, I'll probably release any other over ten but now I want one in the teens Im hooked on black fishing and I never wouldve thought that even last year. A good surprise.

PS, Happy New Year all.

 

[Billy40]

For me personally, I do not have ANY prior experiance in the Ocean Fluking, so I can only go by what surprised me this year. I was surprised to see so many 5-10# Fluke caught while Sea Bassing. Not tht I am proud, but before this year my largest FLuke was only 5 1/2#'s. I had 1 day where I limited + 2 with every fish larger than that. I really should have taken more days off to target FLuke while Sea Bass fishing, I really am pissed I didn't get out more.One of my friends fished the same general area and one day caught a 10# & a 14# Fluke, it was just insanefor several weeks, as previously noted.

Another surprise, has been teh crappy weather in December. Had I expected to get blown out and freeze my ass off so much this month, for relatively few fish, I would have taken more days in July/August.

MY final surprise was teh completely disappointing FLuke season in the Western Sound in teh Execution area. I know some people do not agree, but I can tell from reading the reports (and their reports) that it was WAY WAY off from last year, even though there were a lot of SAnd Eels which were blown West in mid June.

 

[strip]

I was tickled pink this year with the unbelievable amount of bait in the sound. As a result we had a banner fluke season in Smithtown bay. That was a pleasant surprise. It was also especially fun in that the most effective technique for scoring was light tackle bucktailing. I did alot of that with spinning gear and 3/8 to 1/2 oz Spros and had quite a number of fish in the 5lb range and more than a handful around 7lbs...great memories from this past july.

The other treat this year was the solid showing of bonito from Mt Sinai to eatons Neck. that fishing started as early as late July and was steady right through September and into October. I think I caught more bonito this year than in all other seasons combined.

The dissapointing surprise would have to be the lack of big stripers. We had lots of schoolies in the spring and fall and I have no complaints when it comes to fly rodding school size fish ...there were some quality fish in spots at times but the spring run of nice bass was a dud.

 

[MakoMatt]

gebby wrote:
1. the amount of decent size fluke heard about and seen while jigging bass 35-55' off jones late november into december. i believe paulie b. attitude had a six pounder.
Maybe this is a different fish but while jigging Bass on Paulie's boat in late November I boated an 8-9 pound Fluke.

Another treat this year was trolling up a Wahoo near the HA.

MakoMatt

 

[chumslk]

An abundance of shorts in a lot of species . Are the regs. starting to work ?

 

[pequa1]

chumslk wrote:
An abundance of shorts in a lot of species . Are the regs. starting to work ?

Or are they failing to work ? (personally in favor of slot limits)

 

[654662]

MY FIRST ALLISON!

After over 10 years of offshore fishing i finally got my first

145lb Allison!!

That was a surprise as first year we really saw them!

 

[Slick56]

Suprise for 2007- I finally got off my azz and fished Montauk from the surf for the 1st time. Had a stellar week for me. Got to stay at Gurneys Inn for 10 days free in a condo and just fished every day. The ultimate suprise was, well, being a total googan I went to the point and fished with bunker chunks alla TP style

and actually caught a 19# bass

Had a few fluke, many bluefish, skates and sea robins. But the ultimate was to get out offshore with my friend on the Canvassback and go sharking and then inshore bassin at shagwong reef. What a week, I slept for days after that

Also, suprise was the amount of bait in raritan bay. I never seen so much bait here before. I had some good days fluking in Keansburg and ambrose. But the suprise for me was landing some 4# and 5# fluke at Hoffmans island which is not the norm. I had one day where it was just insane! And of course being the nice guy I am I gave out some info on that spot to someone who fished the Fluke tourney and he won.He fished the same area days after me and caught the winning fish

This post edited by Slick56 11:10 AM 12/30/2007

 

[Billy40]

Slick56 wrote:
Also, suprise was the amount of bait in raritan bay. I never seen so much bait here before.

THat is a great point, I forgot abotu that. Not tha tI have vast experiance in SI, but tehre really was an abundance of bait near me too...with NO FISH on them except tiny BLuefish.

 

[Slick56]

Billy40 wrote:
but tehre really was an abundance of bait near me too...with NO FISH on them except tiny BLuefish.


You are so on the money with that Billy, there was bait but I seem to never find any fish under them. What I also noticed was the lack of birds crashing the surface in the bay. That was one of the the most noticable signs of fish under the bait in 05 and 06. I may be wrong and havnet got out there enough but thats what i saw.

 

[bucktail]

mine was my first DEC sighting ever at Shinne**** east!!!! They even got out of the truck and walked about 50 feet before leaving. The most incredible thing on the beacch for me this year.