The first month of the ’24 New Jersey fluke season is in the books!
The May 4th season opening of New Jersey’s summer flounder, aka fluke, fishery was met by cooler water temps and easterly winds against the outgoing tide. Within the first couple of weeks of the season water temperatures in the back bays remained chilly, while a noticeable absence of bait made finding good catches difficult. By as move into the month of June you can expect to see improvements in the fishery, with bigger fish and more trip limits for anglers.
Look for the back bay, salty river and surf catches to see an uptick in the coming days, with better ocean catches expected by month’s end (especially once the New Jersey spring sea bass fishery ends on June 19th and coastal for-hire boats begin focusing attention towards ocean fluking).
As of this writing, we’re also anxiously awaiting the first reported “doormat” of 10 pounds or better; send that double-digit catch photo to me here at jhutchinson@thefisherman.com to make a future spotlight in The Fisherman Magazine.
