Huge fluke catches at Fluke Masters Tournament

 | By Seamus on 8/6/2011 9:47:51 PM | Views (133)

Dave Lilly of Hazlet figured he'd had a good day of fluking with a five fish total of about 26 pounds, and with the southeast wind coming up he decided to weigh in early for what would likely be a runner-up position in the 14th annual Fluke Masters Tournament at Leonardo. He was surprised when an angler weighing in...

Dave Lilly of Hazlet figured he'd had a good day of fluking with a five fish total of about 26 pounds, and with the southeast wind coming up he decided to weigh in early for what would likely be a runner-up position in the 14th annual Fluke Masters Tournament at Leonardo. He was surprised when an angler weighing in at the same time had almost 40 pounds -- but that turned out to be insignificant as this contest may have produced the toughest fluke competition of all time. Lilly was at the Leonardo Fire House to get the results, and was amazed that one boat brought in a huge 16.1-pound doormat -- only to be beaten for the Calcutta by a last minute 16.2-pounder.

When it came to the five-fish totals, the winning weight was an incredible 47.26 pounds that barely edged a bag of 46.52 pounds. The next two spots went to boaters with 39.3 and 39.01 pounds. I have no names for the winning crews at this writing. As good as the fishing was, Lilly said he had wind against tide while fishing in the ocean during early morning, and than a roaring southeast wind that required;very heavy sinkers after that.

Betty & Nick's Tackle in Seaside Park weighed a 5-pound, 13-ounce fluke taken in the Island Beach State Park surf on Friday by Kenny Hollins of Berkley Striper Club, who was using a 4-inch Gulp Swimming Mullet in white.

Capt. Arthur Stokes ran a tuna trip to the Atlantic Princess, an area that had produced bluefins Friday -- but was very poor today. I joined the crew that left Clarks Landing in Point Pleasant at 3:30 a.m. We started jigging at first light, but never had a tuna hit. A couple of bluefish were jigged,but Stokes only heard of two tuna caught there even though there were some large whales in the area. Later in the morning, Stokes started trolling -- and two more blues hit spreader bars. Then we had two little tunny -- the first I've heard of this summer.

Capt. Dave Bender of Jennie Lee from Manasquan trolled clearer waters in Chicken Canyon to pick some yellowfin tuna and dolphin up to a 35-pounder. We missed that flurry before running in to beat the increasing southeast wind.

There are small craft warnings up for Sunday, along with rain in the forecast.

Read More

Catch Information

Species:
Bluefin Tuna


Bluefish


Flounder


Little Tunny


Mahi-mahi


Striped Bass


Yellowfin Tuna

This Fishing Report was submitted on 8/6/2011 9:47:51 PM by Seamus and last updated on 8/6/2011 9:47:51 PM.

Location

View Full Fishing Map

Let us custom design a SD Card of fishing spots for your GPS unit!

Buy Now!