Pacemaker Fishing Forum

I was up in New Jersey with my kids this weekend and the stars aligned to what turned out to be a great morning of fishing on Saturday. Big sister was visiting a friend of hers that day so I had an opportunity to get out and do something special with my son. As it turned out, my friend Chuck from Long Island offered to take us out on his boat to do some fluke fishing. He was in the same situation with his daughter away and it would be just he and his son as well. The forecast looked questionable with thunderstorms threatening so we decided to get on the water early and see if we could get some fishing in before the storms moved in.

Everything worked out as planned and we had an absolutely awesome time watching the kids catch a bunch of fluke and an assortment of other species like dogfish, sea robins, skates and a lone sea bass. My buddy and I also caught our share of fish but that was truly secondary to seeing the little guys knock out fish after fish and really having a great time. I honestly couldn't have cared if I caught a thing. It was a great time with a great friend and his son and a proud moment as a father watching my little guy develop his fishing skills right in front of my eyes.

The only sad part of the day was that we weren't able to keep any of the fluke because of a ridiculous 20.5" limit in the state of New York. We threw back at least 4 fish in the 19.5 to 20" range that one of those fish could have easily fed a small family for dinner. I am all for regulations that help the future of fisheries but this one is crazy. The recreational angler is throwing back some quality fish that could likely end up in commercial nets and sold in the market. There are more fluke around now than when the limit was only 16 inches. I feel sorry for the party boat captains who are trying to make a living out there.


My son Ian with one of his fluke and his dogfish:



Jonathan with one of his fluke: