Posted on August 3, 2019 Letizia boats near-doormat John Letizia, one of the regulars at Castaways Tackle in Point Pleasant, is better known for his Point Pleasant Canal eeling for stripers, but pursues all inshore species with his boat — and came up with a beauty yesterday at Shrewsbury Rocks. His fluke would have blown away all of the entries in last Saturday’s Point Pleasant Elks Fluke Tournament, but was just shy of doormat size at 9 3/4 pounds. The 10-pound fluke ranks up in northern fishing accomplishments along with the 50-pound striper and 20-pound bluefish. There’s no official definition of a doormat fluke, but dedicated fluke fisherman recognize it as 10 pounds — and such fluke are very few and far between in NY/NJ Bight waters. A few more ounces would have been great, but John was thrilled with his outstanding catch — and will have even more incentive to beat it. At Belmar, the Big Mohawk reported some fluke limits Thursday for jiggers, but noted that those dragging bait caught NOTHING! That’s a pretty good indication of how you should be fluking in the ocean. The Big Mohawk sails at 5:30 a.m. on the weekend. The Golden Eagle had a good catch today which included chub mackerel, bluefish, sea bass, ling and fluke. Though the mackerel were swimming around the boat, they were hard to catch. The Golden Eagle is adding a 16-hour trip for tuna, dolphin and other exotics on Tuesday, Aug. 13 from 1 a.m. to 5 p.m. Call 732 681-6144 for reservations. The Shark River bluefish that provided lots of topwater action on poppers yesterday morning weren’t there this morning. I did release one 4-pounder on a Z Man Swimmerz paddletail plus a small striper, and later added a 23-inch striper that hit a Band of Anglers Dart Spin I was reeling in fast to make another cast. Joe Blaze of Brielle fished Manasquan River from his Boston Whaler last evening, but only came up with short fluke on his fly rod before dusk — when bluefish up to 8 pounds hit his 3-inch Lefty’s Deceiver. Joe said the river was loaded with tiny bait (probably spearing) which was never attacked. Calm weather continues as Saturday’s forecast is for west winds at 5-10 knots — though there’s a chance of showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon.