The day starts with a 5 a.m. alarm, a cup of vital morning coffee, and a quick load-up of the skiff, which I attached to the truck the night before. After a short drive to the boat ramp, the skiff is hitting the salt by 5:45, with clients expected to be there in a half-hour. The sun is just coming up, the sound of distant outboards can be heard zipping along the Intercoastal Waterway en route to the inlet and nearby Atlantic in search of stripers or sea bass. But for us, it’s a different ride on smooth waters untouched by the majority of boaters, weaving in between shallow cuts and along off-channel bars on the way to our destination—a strip of sandy/mud bottom adjacent to a vast eel-grass flat, where we’ll be jigging for fluke with light tackle.
The location covers only about 40 yards of 3-foot-deep water, but lots of summer flounder, and even a few weakfish, stage along the shallow edge for shots at swept-away grass shrimp or juvenile blue and calico crabs. Timing is everything, and with our early start, we’ll have a good hour-and-a-half of the outgoing before the water becomes thick with snot grass from the ebbing tide.
With a slightly puzzled look, my client asks, “There are fish this shallow?”
“Just wait and see. You’ll be surprised.”
The first drift produces 14 shorts and 3 keepers to 23 inches, all of which inhaled a small ¼-ounce jig tipped with artificial baits.
Summer flounder are migratory, moving east to west in the late winter and then west to east in the early fall, with water temperature playing a huge role in their location and feeding behavior. In the spring and early summer, the water temperature on shallow flats, cuts, and channels away from the inlets offer the warmest temperatures and optimum feeding areas.
Young-of-the-year blue crabs, calico crabs, sand shrimp, grass shrimp, and mantis shrimp are the primary forage for fluke at this point in the season. Crabs that hatched the preceding summer will reach a 1- to 2-inch size range before their winter hibernation. During the winter, they burrow into the mud and re-emerge as the estuaries warm, just as the fluke are moving in.
Shallow areas adjacent or among muddy eelgrass bottoms are the places to locate these springtime crustaceans. Regardless of the location, state, or region, most Northeast and Mid-Atlantic backwaters offer similar topographical features that will hold fluke.
One of my favorite aspects of shallow-water fluke fishing is the lightweight gear that allows me to really feel the fight. A spinning reel in the 2500- to 3000-size range teamed up with a 6’ to 6’6” medium-action rod is the perfect combination for shallow bay fluke. Spinning rods allow anglers to cast light jigs easily and accurately to eelgrass edges or drop-offs, where fluke like to hang out.
Braided line is the best option for its sensitivity, and 10- to 15-pound-test offers plenty of strength for backwater fluke fishing while having thin enough diameter to cast lightweight jigs. I use a 10- to 12-pound-test fluorocarbon leader attached to the main line with a small barrel swivel, which helps reduce line twist. Fluke are ambush predators with excellent eyesight, so tying directly to the jighead usually results in more bites than using a snap.
My go-to lures for the flats are 1/8- to ½-ounce jigheads tipped with 2- to 3-inch soft baits that mimic shrimp, mantis shrimp, and even crabs. The profile seems to be more important than color, but white, chartreuse, and pink all work. New penny and natural crab patterns work well, especially when the water is gin-clear, but when it dirties up, brighter colors excel.
Small minnows or strips of mackerel tipped on small jigheads also make great baits for springtime fluke. The fish have their crab feedbags on, so cut pieces of shedder crab make excellent choices for keepers. I have even witnessed tiderunner weakfish cruising after cut shedder crab in water less than 4 feet.
Jigheads come in various shapes, sizes, and colors, though all are not created equal, especially for backwater fluke jigging. Rounded heads with large eyes, such as the S&S Bigeye jig or Z-Man Trout Eye jig, work better than ultra-minnow-style jigs for this type of fishing. The round-head styles seem to foul less frequently in the presence of algae, grass, and seaweed, while ultra-minnow or dart-style jigs are more likely to dig into the bottom on a horizontal presentation.
Fluke situate themselves facing the current. As baitfish, crabs, or shrimp are swept from their eel-grass sanctuaries, they lie in wait, picking off the unwitting crustaceans with quick propulsions of their tails and opening of their cavernous, fang-lined mouths. Therefore, jigs are most effective when worked or snapped along the bottom to mimic a shrimp or crab fleeing with the current. Baits or lures worked against the current generally account for far fewer strikes.
When drifting with the jig, the best method is to keep the jig bouncing a few inches off the bottom. In shallow water, let the line scope out from the boat so that the lure or jig is away from the vessel and its shadow. This is quite different than fishing deep water, where you want to keep the line completely vertical.
When the fish strikes, quickly set the hook. If you miss, drop line back and continue jigging. Fluke almost always come back and hit the lure again—just don’t miss the second time.
Casting up-current and working the lure slowly back to the boat is another effective approach, especially when anchored or spot-locked over structure or when the wind and current are working against each other on your drift. I recommend an ultra-slow retrieve with a frequent, irregular snap of the rod. A 3- to 4-inch snap, pop, or jerk is plenty to elicit a strike, and the irregularity mimics a baitfish trying to get away from a predator.
Anglers looking for productive, shallow-water fluke spots on their home turf should begin by checking out the most recent NOAA or seabed charts. It’s crucial to locate areas that have the proper qualities to hold forage. Sandy areas are not optimal unless they are near a marsh, sod bank, mud flat, or eel-grass patch.
Small tidal creek outflows and false creeks between sods are another prime starting location that tend to draw in lots of prey. Last year, we found an area well away from an inlet that had mixed patches of sand and eel grass. Fluke were stacked in the pockets. By retrieving the lures just above the grass, we had them hammering our baits.
Some overlooked structures that are sometimes packed with hungry fluke are bulkheads, pilings, and docks. Many of these areas have good assortments of shrimp and small crabs that provide staple forage for predatory gamefish. Striped bass, weakfish, and bluefish pick off these critters, but fluke will also set up on ambush points around such structures. I like casting around and jigging for fluke with a small bucktail or soft-plastic jig in these areas while using a trolling motor to keep me in place.
A quality pair of polarized sunglasses goes a long way in helping to spot depth changes, eel-grass patches, or even finning gamefish. The lens’ polarization tremendously reduces glare off the water and allows an anglers to see through it.
Don’t be surprised if you land a doormat when targeting the shallows. Large fluke key on areas that are most productive in terms of feeding and prey items. It’s nice to be able to see a fluke pounce on a bait, but it’s usually just a flash of sand or mud and the line feeling like it’s stuck on the bottom. Unlike ocean fluke, big fluke in the shallows tend to run out, taking line since the skinny water prevents them from swimming down.
Over 13 years of chartering, I have landed more than a dozen fish between 8 to 11 pounds while jigging for fluke in shallow water, and all of them took line. I’ve also seen anglers hook a big fish but fail to let it run, resulting in a broken line or pulled hook. As with any other gamefish, keeping the line tight with no slack is critical when fighting fluke, especially larger specimens.
The shallows provide surprisingly good fluke fishing in the early weeks of the season and, often, you’ll be the only one fishing for them there. So, scale down the tackle, check your area’s charts, and hit the flats for keeper fluke.
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