Flounder catches have been pretty good for guys who know how to work rough bottom structure. The rocks and sea trees of the Old Grounds between DB and DA Buoys, as well as the rubble of reef sites 9 and 10 have been holding fluke, and savvy fishermen have found that modifications to standard rigging helps them catch more flatties amongst that kind of cover.

According to Captain Ricky Yakimowicz, short leaders are the key. He said a 3 to 4 ounce bucktail with a hair teaser on a 4 inch leader about a foot ahead of the jig works well. He mentioned that flukers also had success employing a rig with a sinker as heavy as necessary to maintain contact with the bottom, and a hair teaser hook on a short dropper about 6 to 8 inches above the weight. The jigs or hooks get sweetened with a strip of squid, shark, bluefish, a shiner, smelt, Gulp! or any combination of these. Anglers should constantly bounce the rigs as they drift through the chunky grounds and be alert for the quick strike of a flatfish lying in ambush. The jigging action seems to provoke more aggressive strikes than when baits are drug casually over the bottom, and flounder just hang on while deciding to swallow or not.

The short leadered setups are also less likely to get snagged. Some days when the drift was too fast or in a bad direction, crews that anchored and cast rigs upcurrent so they walked across the structure did well. Jigging produced some nice specimens during the week. Dave Walker bucktailed a 6.21 pound doormat at Site 10 aboard Katy Did. Jim Woods got a 6.97 pound fluke on the Katy Did. Flounder came from Delaware Bay artificial reefs too. Laura Kemper and Lisa DiVincenzo checked in 3 nice flatties to 22 inches they got with Gulp! at the Star Site. Jamie Moore managed a 3.92 pounder at the Star Site. Harriet Paul put a 5 pounder in the box aboard Lil' Angler. Curtis Hawkins captured a 6.02 pound trophy on the Angler. Clayton Horvath had a 7.6 pound welcome mat while working a wreck with Capt. Chuck of First Light Charters. Joe Walker and his crew had 8 quality keepers at the Star Site Wednesday. Among the catch was a 5.39 pound beauty boated by Joe's granddaughter Candace Way. Tautog fishermen had decent catches at the Outer Wall and Ice Breakers using green crabs, sand fleas, shrimp and box crabs. Faith Roth reeled in a 7.29 citation tog at the Wall. Triggerfish and sheepshead have shown up in warm water. Kyusok Yi captured a jumbo 12.54 pound sheepshead at the Ice Breakers. Tuna catches have slowed compared to the good bite over the past two weeks. However, chunkers did catch some bluefins in Massey's Canyon. Yellowfins popped up in the Baltimore and Poor Man's Canyons, but not in numbers like before. Good sized dolphin have been taken. Craig Lester landed a 28.2 pound mahi in the Baltimore aboard Swords Fish.