Here we are! August 31st. The final day of the month, and the final day for the August Flukemaster Classic Pool which now stands at $1,100.00. As you know, George Cullen dramatically took over the lead on August 12th with a 6 lb 14 oz fish, which has stood for 18 days. The boat has left the dock 22 times over the course of those 18 days, giving the entrants more than 150 hours of fishing time to take over the top spot. Luckily for George, no one has done it. No one who is in The Flukemaster Classic that is. There have been fish bigger than Mr. Cullen’s 6 lb 14 oz fish, however, they were not contestants in the monthly pool, proving the old saying is correct, “You got to be in it to win it!”. Today 74% of the anglers on board are gunning for that top spot, not only for the honor and prestige of being named “Mr. August 2013″, but to be $1,100.00 richer. The atmosphere here is electric and the thoughts and strategies that are going on through the minds of the anglers is shear genius. We are about ready to get rolling, so let’s get in on the action.

Wall of Champions 

The Men and Women Who Have Won The Flukemaster Classic Pool

FLUKEWATCH 2013

August Edition

 

Timeline

8:39am – Lines in! Game on!!! We are in Ambrose Channel, Home of the Giants!

8:41am – First fish over the rail, and it swims again. Short!

8:47am – First keeper on board caught by Laura Berg. Only 3 pounds short of the leader.

9:26am – Two nets, one in the bow and one in the stern dip in the water. Both anglers thought they had the one. Both fish weigh close to 5 pounds. Fluke anxiety has set in.

9:49am – It’s obvious that Laura Berg came here on a mission. This is the third sea robin that she caught that has been given the death sentence in the form of strip bait. Will it work? To be determined. . .

10:01am – It worked! Laura Berg lands a nice 4 pounder on the strip bait, and as mangled as it is, she drops it back down to the bottom in hopes of something larger.

10:17am – Wayne Smith lands his second quality keeper. When the shouts of “NICE” spread around the craft, he simply replied, “Not NICE enough!”.

10:48am – Carmine Mangini, who is fishing in the port bow, hooks into a slob which takes his line toward the stern. Over, under and around a few lines as he slowly walks his fish down. Finally in a spot that looks clear, another 5 pounder comes up. So close, but yet so far from the leader.

11:08am – Although we are catching some nice sized fish, the overall performance of fishing is well below average. Calling an audible, we are relocating to a channel to our south, Sandy Hook Channel.

11:41am – Morale is back up after a move to SH Channel. A few anglers have re-rigged and changed strategies in hopes of capturing the fish of their dreams.

11:49am – Laura Berg is at it again as she hooks into something good, unfortunately there are no head shakes leading us to believe that this rod bender is nothing more than junk, and junk it was. Close to 30 pounds of mussels caught on a dead line. Heartbreaker!

11:55am – As shouts of  “NET” are heard coming from the stern, three deckhands drop what they are doing, and sprint with nets in hand to the area the shouts were heard. Keeper it was, but just like Maxwel Smart, the character from the classic television show “Get Smart”, used to say, “Missed it by that much!”. Only he missed the monthly fish by 4 1/2 pounds.

12:29pm – Tensions are high up in the bow as territorial disputes break out after a short fluke was landed in another anglers spot. Big money dream equal no friendships on the last day of the month!

12:43pm – Rich Suftin, who only moment earlier was reminising about an article he read in the Fisherman magazine 28 years ago regarding deep channel fluking, noticed that we were drifting out of the channel and up onto The Knoll. With this article in mind, Rich quickly without hesitation cast his line toward the channel edge where he believed the large fluke would be feeding, but unfortunately for Rich, the backlash in the reel that ensued was the worst that I have seen in 22 years on this boat. Wow!

1:07pm – Hold on for a moment!! Four fish over 5 pounds just came over the rail, giving all anglers hope that this could be the drift!

1:13pm - Andy Sokol just hooked into possibly the best looking fish all day. With his rod bent over, multiple head shakes followed. This looked as if it may be one for the scale, but as it came to the surface, into the net and over the rail, it was large, but one pound short of the leader.

1:16pm – “Last chance for fluke romance” was heard over the PA. The thought of a magical finish are in every anglers head. Much like George Cullen did on that August 12th afternoon, all are now looking for a storybook ending.

1:27pm - Total bedlem broke out in the bow as everyone was trying to get that final shot at the big fish. All nets were tangled with Spro jigs, people yelling net, just pure craziness. In all that mess, Lou Peira landed a contender for the daily pool.

It’s over! George Cullen is the official winner of The 2013 August Flukemaster Classic Pool! Congrats George!!!