May
27th, at 8:45 AM.
After 10 years on the lamb , Doormat, Frankie the Finn, was finally
apprehended by Nassau County Detectives at an undisclosed sand bar
out of Jones Beach Inlet.
10:45
AM
Detective Johnny Gamakatsu and Detective Tony Fluoro charged
the involvement of Frankie the Finn with the deaths of 20 fishermen
that had been found finned to death between Montauk to Sheepshead
Bay.
They gave Frankie two options, either disclose all facts to apprehend
the 10 lb. doormat gangs or Frankie the Finn would be locked up
for life at an undisclosed spot up in the Harlem River.
Frankie the Finn broke down and ratted out...and these are his file.
The
"Frankie the Finn" Files
Understanding the Fluke.
He is an aggressive predator. A nasty little dude with a bad attitude.
He cruises in large gangs which hang out by the clubhouse on the
edge of banks that have a good drop off in order to ambush his prey.
In the bay, you'll find him on the edge of the channels, sometimes
in two feet of water. In the open ocean you will find him where
there is any sort of structure. Find a good body of bait on the
bottom off our beaches and you have found his hood.
Bait Strips of the Finn Gangs
Squid.
Always good for strips, but sometimes a whole squid is just what
the doctor ordered. If you can find really small squid they can
be lethal. But you must double hook, because of the short bite.
Spearing.
Comes all sizes. Try to get the largest ones you can. Which means
open your eyes when buying bait. Like going to the butcher. Don't
take it for granted. Look at the color you are looking for that
bright green color. If it looks gray and rechewed, it is. Leave
that bait shop and go to another one. It will either make your day
or ruin it with rotted bait.
Sand Eels.
Sand eels are caviar to fluke. It is the bait the fluke will shoot
over. When fresh ones are in stock, buy extra and store it away
in your freezer, because it will become scarce later in the year.
Smelt.
Great bait for the large ones. Double hook the big ones for sure.
These bait rots fast always keep all your bait on ice if possible
or that summer sun will cook it. Especially in the back of your
brand new trucknot pretty!
Snapper.
Great bait in late summer to entice some huge pups. Once again,
double hook these baits over 6 inches.
Peanut Bunker.
Another late season bait for fluke. Trust me, peanut bunker becomes
the main course for the South Shore these bait fish become abundant.
All
of your local bait stores should carry a wide selection of teasers.
But to give you an edge on the competition, fly shops is where you
can really find exact colors and other saltwater flies you can use
as teasers to kick butt. Plus I find that they use higher end material.
Don't...I
repeat...DON'T go buying cheap teasers. You will get what
you pay for...crap. Cheap hooks, no glue around the tie on top of
your teaser. So when the first good bite comes along, the teaser
just falls apart. Cheap hooks that need to be sharpened or you'll
lose a fish on a lift line.
Causeway in Wantagh has a great selection and the fly shop on Sunrise
Highway by Connetquot State Park is also an excellent place to buy
your weapons to apprehend a monster fluke. There are many other
wonderful bait & tackle shops, which I have not mentioned.
Glow-in-the-Dark
Squiddies.
This is a rubber squid jig that you put on before the hook of the
long line to your fluke rig. Use in low visibility and when the
fluke are pounding on squid. Excellent!
Line.
There are so many new lines out there to experiment and get an extra
edge on your fishing. Don't be such a tweed and go on about using
30 pound regular mono. I have a Model T in my garage or you can
grab the new Jaguar. Duh! Change it up, OK? Sleep on the left side
for a change. Your such a rebel!
And forget about Fire Line. It just falls apart after a few uses.
Walk away from the sales. It's stiff and has way too much memory.
That's all the strength you'll need, trust me on this. All these
lines you must have at least 3 to 4 feet leaser line. Never tie
spider directly to your rig. Mess City, USA! Leave it at that Okie-dokie?
• Seaguar Fluorocarbon Leaders
Always check the prices on this. I pay about $11 for 25 yds. of
20 lb. test. I've seen it for double that amount. Give me a break!
So just be aware.
• Braided Lines
Silver Thread - 20 to 25 lbs.
Gorilla Line - 20 to 30 lbs.
Spider Wire - 20 to 30 lbs.
Obvious by now is the sensitivity on this line. I can feel the slightest
pick on these lines. When fluke fishing it is very important to
be able to detect the bite. So you can let the line out for that
doormat to really get his teeth into your bait.
New
Lines to Try Out...
• Vanish 20 lb. Berkly Fluorocarbon line not leader. Try it,
love it. Low stretch, held up swell, easy on knot tying.
• Yo-Zuri 20 lb. No Stretch Fluorocarbon Line. Love it, get
it...period, end of story.
Hooks.
I've told you guys, you spend a fortune on your reels your rods...all
that money you spend just to go fishing, so go buy some decent hooks
will ya! Stop hurting me with Kmart hooks made in Oklahoma.
• Gamakatsu - Octopus hooks 30 and 40 - perfect size
Dave's hot ticket to the show...
• Gamakatsu Upturned Shiner Hooks
5/0, 3/0, 2/0
These hooks blew me away on catch ratio. The wide opening really
grabs the thin jaw with ease always giving me a good hook set and
less foul hook ups.
• Silver Bullet
The bullets have become the norm in any fluke fisherman's tackle
box. 1, 2, 3, 4 & 6 oz. is all you really need since you are using
the lines I recommended. Half the diameter in the water, half the
drag from the current. So you stay on the bottom where the fish
are. Silver bullets come with all different teasers, so match the
color form the "Teasers" section.
•
Pre-tied rigs with spinners are all old faithfuls. Not my cup of
tea but they do produce.
Your
Presentation.
All things must be streamlined. We must again "chi" our fluke into
biting. Your strips need to be hooked centered or they will corkscrew
and make some really nice line twists.
Split
the ends of your bait strips. This will give your strips better
action in the current and your spearing should not be longer than
your strips or we defeat the whole purpose. The hook should go threw
the eye of the spearing. Don't worry, he is dead so there is no
screaming and jumping up and down.
(insert illustration of spearing and bait strip on hook.)
Everything is balanced, everything is "chi". We are one with the
fluke god. Exhale. Fresh bait, repeat, fresh bait or just stay home
and bake cookies.
Your teaser, keep it simple, one spearing or a small squid strip.
This is the basic way that all of your hooks should be dressed.
No matter what bait you may be using.
Remember when using large baits they create much more drag in the
water so a heavier weight is needed to present your dinner properly.
Use 7-8 oz. sinkers or we will have a mess.
Large baits, heavier weights...repeat Toast head..."Large baits,
heavier weights".
The large baits that certain people use, like 12 inches, is a little
overkill. 7 inches is all you need to dance. I've caught and have
seen caught hundreds of double digit doormats. All caught on medium
size baits. In fact, I will go as far as to say that giant bait
is no great advantage. I'm such a rebel, hold me back, I'm beginning
to break a sweat, take my pulse!
Rods.
Bay Fluking: 6.5 foot medium, 12 to 20 lbs.
Ocean: 7 foot medium heavy, 15 to 30 lbs. Bucktail Purest:
6 foot light action, 6 & 12 lb. test.
Reels.
Penn 940
Shimano Catala CTL300
Abu Garcia 6600 C5 Mag
Shimano CL-200-5
Penn 965, 975 & 940
Shimano Charter Special 2R1000
Penn Squidder
• Open Spool.
When fishing for fluke always fish with an open spool and keep your
thumb on the spool for the brake. You must bounce off the bottom
in 5 inch hops. Hop three times, wait a second and slide, wait a
second...then repeat. When you feel that bite, don't just watch
it dummy, let line slide through your thumb. Let him get our bait
good. 
If
you are using really large bait without a double hooked rig, you
definitely must let him eat or go home and bake cookies. Then slowly
lift the rod back and when you feel his weight snap back and hook
that sucker. Use a slow steady retrieve, no pumping up and down.
Fluke have soft skin which will make that hook pop out if he gets
any slack. The other reason to always fish open spool using your
thumb is that a big fluke may jump your bait, then back off for
a second. Just let the line back out to keep it in front of his
flat face. 90 percent of the time, he will jump right back on it
and finish off his prey. If you have a locked reel, you would have
just dragged the bait 25 feet away from him...go home and bake cookies
and don't forget the milk!
•
Bucktailing.
Bucktailing the shallows with small bait or no bait at all is a
great deal of fun in Shinnecock and the shallows of Fire Island,
the Great South Bay and Long Island Sound. Bucktailing is basically
bouncing. Bounce and wack that fish when he bites. No slack. We're
using small jigs with small bait and teasers with no more than a
spearing, so there is no letting the fish go have a long lunch here.
Take him out Finn quick like. Drop the gun and walk straight out
of the restaurant..
• Sea Anchor.
Use sea anchors for heavy tides to slow your boat down, so you can
effectively fish. Cannon makes some very good, heavy duty sea anchors
for the money.
• Power Drift on Slack Tide.
OK, you've been hammering the fish... now the tide has dropped out
and your picking up skates. Why? Because youčre not moving your
bait is just lying on the bottom. dead without movement. What you
need is to power drift over the exact same area where you have been
producing fish. By putting the boat in and out of gear. You just
want some forward motion. Slow as possible. Trust me, you will pick
up a few more fish. Also go to a lighter rig to bounce around, you
must keep your rigs moving to catch fluke.
• Powering Against Wind & Tide.
OK, we've all seen this scenario time and time again. You are blowing
8 knots with the tide not happening. idle the boat in reverse against
the tide to slow you down to pick up a few more fish.
Tides.
We all wish to produce good sized doormats every spring and summer,
so you must be aware of the tides. During the spring cool waters,
the out going tide seems to be the best productive waters in the
bay and sound. As the shallow waters begin to warm from the hot
sun, the fish become more active on the feed bag. So the last hour
and a half of the out going and the first hour of the incoming tide
are your prime time for the larger fluke. For the ocean it's a whole
different scenario. We're talking stronger tidal surges.
Of course the moon phase will be the queen of the game. Take for
instance, Montauk with all it's wonderful structure. It rips and
cuts. It's rock to sand structure. Her wrecks on the south side
around the point of Hither Hills by the fish pots. You must obey
the tides and be on time or struggle the heavy current. We're talking
big fish not the smaller more aggressive fish... we're talking pigs,
the Don of the group. You want to be there an hour before slack.
Slack tide won't be long and the 1 hour when the tide just gets
moving on your favorite spot or favorite party boat. This will be
your prime shot at a doormat.
Full moon tides will give you an extended time at the end of the
tide, but at the middle of the tide it will be rough going. Dog
days of summer.
The incoming tide is the opposite, now in the warm waters the fish
inside the bays have become sluggish. The cooler waters from the
ocean will get them on the feed again. So plan it out to the moon
and the tides for your party boat or private boat to produce a good
hit on the doormat of your dreams.
One last thing...
Buoy Markers.
Grab six , one-gallon plastic water containers, spray paint them
red or fluorescent green to make them easy to spot. Seal off the
top, so they won't fill with water and sink...that always helps,
yaw know, with a marker! Anyway you will need, 200 lb. test, about
60 feet long for the ocean and 20 feet long for the bay. Listen
to me Bobby, OK? Use a brick for a weight or a rock from Grandma's
Japanese rock garden, she won't miss it. Tie the 200 lb. test around
the handle and then wrap the rest around the container so the line
will release, then tie the other end to your brick. Keep them close
at hand and when you get a bite going, throw one over quickly. When
drifting and the bite comes to an end, throw another marker in,
this will make it easier to make productive drifts and stay on the
fish.
My hand is tired of writing, OK? And I know that all of you guys
have a few tricks of your own, so please send them in.
Due to his cooperation with the detectives, Frankie the Finn
was let go in an undisclosed spot somewhere in South Jersey...and
is living like a normal shmoe now. Can't get any real canolies
around there and the mozzarella is like leather. I think we'll
be hearing from the Finn again soon.
•
Jamaica Bay: White teasers and green are 
