The fluke regs are set in Jersey. Like them or not it is what it is – 3 fish at 18 inches around the state’s waters except in the Delaware Bay where its 3 fish at 17 inches and on Island Beach State Park where shore fishing stands at two fish at 16 inches.

The season for all areas runs from May 25th to September 5th. Ok, now that you’ve got all that, you need to get geared up for both the early season bayside fishery and when the fishery moves Oceanside during the summertime. Here’s a general checklist of gear, rods, reels and all you’ll need for both shallow water bay and deep water ocean fluke fishing for the season:

Rods:
Bay – 6-1/2 to 7 foot rated for 8 to 17-pound. St. Croix TIS70MHF, Shimano Teramar TMC-66M.
Ocean – Conventional rated 15 to 40-pound– Lamiglas BL7040C Okuma SCT Boat Rod SCT-C-701H.

Reels:
Bay – Shimano Stradic 5000, Okuma Azores 40S, Penn Battle 4000.
Ocean – Shimano Trinidad TN16, Avet SXJ.

Terminal Tackle:
50 to 75-pound Spro barrel swivels, size#1 Sea Striker three way swivels with sinker clips, braid-friendly fishfinder slide clips, 20 to 30-pound Seaguar or Yo-Zuri TopKnot fluorocarbon leader, hooks Gamakatsu 2/0 to 3/0 Octopus, Mustad size 2/0 to 4/0 Kahle, assortment 2 to 12-ounce bank sinkers.

Running Line:
15 to 30-pound Power Pro, Sufix 832 braided line or 12 to 15-pound monofilament line, Yo-Zuri Hybrid.

Extra Gear:
You’ll always need indispensable tools to help unhook fish, cut lines quickly and fillet your catch. Go with Cuda 18828 Titanium Bonded Needle Nose Pliers, Cuda18127 9-inch fillet knife, Cuda 18226 Micro scissors and Rapala RSSP6 6/5-inch stainless steel pliers and for deck boots, XTRATuf ankle deck boots and Grundens bibs to keep you clean.

The rest of your checklist should include an assortment of various lures. My absolute favorite fluke enticers are white white/chartreuse Spro bucktails from 2 to 6-ounce, Andrus 3/8 to ½-ounce round head bucktails in white/yellow, 3 to 4-inch Berkley Gulp! New Penny Shrimp or white Swimmin’ Mullet baits, Zoom Super Fluke rubber baits, and a variety of fluke spin-n-glo drift rigs equipped with squid skirts, flashy bucktail and spinning blades.

Mind you, this just scratches the surface on what you could really use to start out fluke fishing. Start crossing this checklist off now and be prepared for May 25 opening day. Next blog, we will get into where to go for your first shot at fluke.