My Duke of Fluke 2015 experience: Wildwood, NJ - by Alexi

     My plan was solid.  I hadn't had much luck pre-fishing closer to the inlet, so I was going to fish further back.  I launched at Shell Bay blvd.   That's all of the way in the back.  Waaaayyy back, behind Stone Harbor.  I drifted the creeks towards the toll bridge until slack tide, then fished the incoming back to my car.

Shell Bay Blvd Launch

    I was trying to avoid a lot of boat traffic, as last time I did this tournament it was pretty heavy between the bridges.  As you can see from the picture above, I found a spot on a beautiful Saturday without a boat in sight.  (A great accomplishment unto itself) For bait I had Killies and gulp.  Two rods going the whole time.  One could not have begged the god Poseidon for better weather.  Winds were less than 5mph most of the day, and the sky was partly cloudy.   

     I was into the short fluke as soon as I hit the creek.  I also had a few oddball catches:

 

I spent slack tide between the two bridges .  It was un-productive.   However, as the incoming tide picked up I had steady fast action.  I could barely drop my killie in the water without a fish hitting it.  I hadn't lost single fish, and I don't use a net, AND I caught my only keeper Fluke of the day.  A grand total of 19".   So, I didn't win anything, but I did a lot better than I had two years ago when I last participated in the Duke of Fluke.

one of many short fluke

    Despite my apparent (and consistent) failure, I still maintain that the Duke Of Fluke tournament is one of the best kayak fishing tournaments I've participated in, mostly because of the truck of beer, and the party atmosphere that follows the event.

THE BAND

the weigh-in line