As the Fourth of July draws near, fluke fishing for the captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association is dominating the action.

Captain Gary Dugan of “Irish Jig” Sportfishing reports steady fishing on fluke with catches ranging from 15-25 with averages of 2-5 keepers. He plans to start fishing more in the ocean on local reef sites and lumps as the fish begin their migration from the bay to the ocean. He has been finding good numbers of big blackfish also, but they must be released as they are not yet in season.

Captain Brett Taylor of “Reel Reaction” has been fishing the bay waters hard for some big catches of fluke. There are many more throwbacks than keepers, but his anglers have been going home with enough keepers for fish dinner. He recently had Bill Dodd of Beach Haven West and his son-in-law Eric on a 4-hour bay and inlet fluke trip. They worked quite a few areas with the duo releasing 40 Fluke while keeping two nice 22 inchers for the table. The pink S&S Bigeye bucktail did the trick for the keepers. Another day he had Ellington "Duke" Smith of Delaware with his grandson Marcus and girlfriend Jasmine out in difficult weather conditions. The trio caught some 15 fish with four keepers to 28-inches weighing 8-pounds. On another trip Captain Brett caught some bluefish and short striped bass in the inlet.

Thursday, June 28 marked the first class of the Junior Mates Program administered by the captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association. Interested teenagers who missed the first session can see about still signing up by calling Captain John Lewis at 609-670-5980