Duke of Fluke 2017, a shirt, some dinner, and a band, by Alexi

   "If I keep trying, chances are I'll win by the time I'm 70"  I said to myself at the start of the day.  I hadn't gotten much sleep, and wasn't really sure I was going until I went.  In the truck,  I spilled my coffee before I even had a sip.  I thought I had to be there by 7, but really 7:30 would have been fine.  I had brought some killies along with me, and bought more at Sterling Harbor.  I had everything else I needed.  (pre-tied dropper loop leaders, bucktails, some gulp in varying stages of decay, one fresh pack of gulp swimming mullet (small)  and all the other junk I always drag out with me including the kitchen sink.)

truck life

   The kayak division for this tournament is weird.  The calcutta is OK, an extra 25 dollars goes to the biggest fish, I think there was about 800$ in the pool, and there is a nice trophy.  But really it's about the food and the beer and the T-shirt.

  Now to the fishing and the plan.   I decided to go a different way than last year, same launch, different area.  I wanted to maximize my fishing time, so I just drifted with the incoming tide.

n. wildwood/ grassy sound area

Instead of going down towards Jenkins Channel, I went towards Grassy Sound and under the big bridge.  I didn't start catching Fluke until I was on the other side of the bridge.  Then it was non-stop 12-16" fish.

a million of these little guys

   I was getting really tired, the tide was switching, and I was really not expecting to catch a keeper.  I decided to switch tactics, so I put on a bucktail with gulp, and a gulp on a hook on the dropper.  Because it was near slack I was casting it up drift and jigging it back, along the sod banks.  Not long after this switch in tactics I had a few shorts, and then a nice 19 to 20" fish.  I didn't think it would win, but maybe it would be a runner up for third place or something.

I continued to fish back to my truck, got caught in a storm, and made it back to Sterling Harbor by 4 for weigh-ins.

could have been dinner, but instead it's science

I wasn't sure that I was in the running, and one thing I wish they did was to have a leaderboard up, but anyway, by 5 I glanced at the sheet, and thought, maybe I should weigh it in.  It was 2.9lbs.   Then I realized they were taking my fish for science.    

the tournament scene

Team Dan Schafer got this little blue:

not a fluke

So by the end of the night I was completely delirious with exhaustion AGAIN.   Everything seemed to really drag out forever between 5 and 8.  I should have taken a nap, but I didn't.  Instead I drank cheap (free) beer.  In the end, all I got was No fish, No 3rd place.  Just a shirt, some dinner, and a band.

the end

addendum: 

Sometimes I really hate tournaments. I come away with a very negative feeling.  I feel like I would have rather just fished, and not had to deal with the competitive element.  And then I think, 'would I have even fished that day if there was no tournament?' and 'Would I have fished as hard?'  Who knows?  I did meet some nice folks this time, which was a good thing.  But really, I can do that just fishing.  

First Fluke trip, no keepers, by Alexi

   Break-time is over.  It's time to fish again.  Sometimes, after a long break, a trip is really just about testing the gear.  Does my boat still float?   Do my reels still spin?  What's missing from my stuff?

Boat ramp selfie

   A month and a few days has passed since my last trip.  I wanted to go someplace close, so I decided to try Absecon Bay.  I had launched there in the back before to crab, and I liked the channel I was in, not really realizing it was the ONLY channel in miles.

only one (channel)

 They are doing construction there and so I had to use the boat ramp instead of the sand.  The general appeal of that spot is waning.  I had high hopes for an easy launch, easy access, easy drive fishing spot, but those hopes are being dashed.  For one, there is NO water in Absecon Bay.  (Maybe flats fishing at night would be fun, because there are large portions no boat could possibly access.)

   I got some killies from Absecon Sportsman Bait and Tackle shop.  At the ramp there was an officer.  I thought he was fish and game, but he was a local officer checking if people launching their boats had the proper permit.  He said kayaks didn't need them, and that I should go ahead and launch.  

     I drifted my way out of the channel and was going to follow a cut in the bank to left.  That cut didn't exist.  I was in the mud.  One giant mud flat.  One giant, stinky Atlantic City mud flat.  One giant, stinky, no fish, mud flat.  I was despondent.  I had only been out for about two hours, but was already considering my alternate plan options.  (even getting back in truck and going to Stone Harbor)

    So on my drift back to the boat ramp I started catching short fluke.

first of many up to 16" (woop)

 

This channel was full of babies

   I thought that I had a bigger one on a few times, but I just hadn't been fishing in so long, I had forgotten what even a small fish felt like at the end of my line.

    I kept catching fish, slightly bigger and saw more activity in the channel the further back I went.

Docks

sedge grasses with bird

I noticed that snapper blues were eating my killies, so I rigged up something I thought would catch them, with the idea of live lining a snapper, but really in my mind I was done fishing and was on my way back.  Back at the boat ramp a Fish and Game officer checked me out.  He was recommending launching by one of the bigger bridges.  He said he was there in the morning fishing, but they didn't catch any keepers either.  Which makes me think, if I'm not going to catch keepers, I'd rather do it in the spaghetti.