Diving Point Judith Harbor of Refuge 6/28/2008 Fluke & Clam Hunting
Written by: Phaleg
Tide was going to be high at 4:05 PM today, so we figured we would head out to the fluke waters before full high tide and have a look around. The water is getting pretty warm around New England now with most places well into the 60’s for an average surface temperature. The bottom temp at say 20’ – 35’ is much cooler with an average in the low to mid 50’s. The Flounder seem to like it at around 60 for a bottom temp before the real monsters move in for the feeding frenzies that seem to linger for days on the New England shore lines.
At around 10’ or so the Flounder started appearing everywhere. These were the Winter Flounder though and season on this little fella is closed until September. The state of Rhode Island has a very limited season on Winter Flounder trying to get the populations to rebound a bit. We have a heavy fishing industry in this state, and the state is working very hard to make sure Fishing regulations work hand in hand with commercial and recreational limits.
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As you can see they blend in quite well with their surroundings in this Eel grass / Sand mix breeding heaven for Flounder of all types. We have 4 types that inhabit our waters on a regular basis. Winter Flounder, Summer Flounder, Yellowtail Flounder, and Witch Flounder, all are truly delicious. My wife and children don’t really care too much for fish, but flounder is top on their list of good stuff to eat. They love several types of the fish I hunt here in New England, and Flounder is their favorite, I personally like Tautog the best. The picture above is of a Winter Flounder, you can tell by the mouth most of all. A Winter, Yellowtail, and Witch Flounder all have very small mouths, while the highly aggressive Summer Flounder (A.K.A. Fluke) has a very large, toothy menacing mouth, and uses it to chase down prey and gobble them up whole.
The Rhode Island D.E.M. is doing a fantastic job of Fisheries Management. In the last few years alone, I think the Winter Flounder Population around these parts has gone up by at least 50% or more. The Winter Flounder depend heavily on Eel Grass beds for breeding. In Rhode Island there has also been a massive drive on to replant and protect the Eel grass beds, and let me tell you, this alone has been a major success story. I have watched the Eel grass beds grow like a bad neighbor’s lawn, high and out of control. With the increase of these Breeding areas such as the Eel grass, I have seen many many species increase in numbers, health, and Breeding populations. I cannot even begin to tell you how beautiful the Eel grass beds look in the summer here in New England.
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As you can tell by the picture, it is truly beautiful down here. But keep in mind, this is my first time with a camera, the water was cloudy, and I am clueless as to Photography, but I am learning quickly. Don’t let the picture fool you though; these Eel grass beds are a full 6’ high or more in most of their area, so you can get lost in them. They sprawl out for dozens of square acres, where as the area they cover, seems to have grown by at least 20% since last spring. Many people contribute to this fact. Boaters don’t anchor here, fishermen tend to stay away from such areas and only fish the edges, and divers are extremely careful to not uproot it. I cannot begin to thank everyone who consciously puts an effort into the conservation cause in our waters. You can swim over these Eel Grass beds for 20 minutes in any direction if that gives you an idea of how large they are, and if you think a Reef has an abundance of wildlife, you would be shocked at what hides in a giant Eel Grass bed, just these little guys are quite good at hiding, unlike Reef Fish who hang in the open, every blade of grass has something living on it, in it, or under it. I think an Eel Grass bed blows a reef away for wildlife.
I know many fishermen are not happy with the recent reduction in fishing limits, but take it from me; it IS paying off in Spades. The populations are growing at such a rate, that fishing season of the old days will be back before you know it, well not really, I mean that is how we got into this mess in the first place, but trust me it will be close, as to balance good times with many future good times. The Flat fish in this area are big and thick and are begging for some batter and French Fries, and come this fall, I hope to grant more than a few of them their wish, but for now, I’ll have to stick to the Summer Flounder.
The Winter Flounder size limit is 12” while the Summer Flounder (A.K.A. Fluke) has a 20” limit. But to help clear this up, Winter Flounder just don’t get as long as the Giant Summer Flounder around here do, but in their defense, a Winter Flounder of 14” will yield far more meaty Fillets than a Summer Flounder of 22” will yield. The Winter Flounder are just a thick, meaty Fish, while the Fluke are large broad fillets, great for that Stuffed Fish Recipe you been looking to try out.
One of my favorite things to do in the Eel Grass beds is clamming and crabbing. If you glide over the Beds carefully, you will find large patches of sandy areas in some spots. These areas are full of nice Quahogs, Stone Crabs, and lots and lots of Lobsters. You see, the lobster pots and Eel Grass just don’t get along. They will take that lobster pot and turn it onto a $150 Piece of garbage quicker than a Lobstermen can say “crap that was an expensive mistake” so they seem to congregate here in large numbers. The Flounder of all species like to hide in here when they are babies and you can see hundreds of all the different kinds of flounders darting about. Many will come and sit under your shadow as if you were there new hiding spot.
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As you can see, the Blue Crab in this Area is also doing quite well. This one must have thought I was some kind of quick snack. As I swam by the edge of the Eel grass, this little guy reached out and grabbed my hand as if to Shake it and say “hi, take my Picture” but with a hint of pain, so I did. You will notice the massive cluster of eggs on this female Blue Crab, not to mention the striking colors in her shell. The population of Blue Crabs is finally starting to make a comeback too. I do not see many of these in this area, but those I do see are almost always carrying an egg sack, so I assume the Eel Grass Beds are a great place for them to raise a family too. Normally I wouldn’t disturb such an animal, but like I said, she disturbed me, calmly posed for a few pictures, then crawled down from my arm and disappeared back into the grass beds.
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These guys like to hang out under what we call the Soup. Some spots in the Eel grass beds are just full of weeds like this all slopping around on the bottom. Well in case you were thinking of just pawing through it, a pop out like this little guy will quickly change your mind. We find many lobsters in the 1 – 2 lb range hiding under this muck. The shinny thing next to this little guy is about the size of a coke can.
While foraging in areas like this, we are very careful not the get grabbed by some lobster that thinks he just scored the free meal. I have a diver’s lobster permit, so they better watch the menu, or they just may appear on it after biting me!
We did manage to bag a very nice Summer Flounder of 20” (just legal) for some Fish Sandwiches for dinner. My Daughter Amber went from “ewe fish for dinner” to “hey dad, if you see one of them yummy flounders, can you bag him for some sandwiches” So, on this dive we did. Along with some Flounder sandwiches, we went Quahogin’.
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You can’t really tell, but in this bag is about 5 Lbs of some of the Best Clams (we call them Quahogs around here) you will ever find, a few large snails (my Son loves his snail salad) and a few very large Stone Crabs. You can see we didn’t take any more than we needed for a family of 6 to enjoy a nice fresh seafood dinner. So remember, take only what you need or plan to use, and leave the rest for another day!
Next week The Tautog Season opens back up, it was closed for the month of June in Rhode Island, so we will see you next week with some Fish and Chips, I mean Tautog Stories & Pictures.
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This is my Son/Diving buddy, he is always with me whenever I slip below the surface. He is 12 years old, Certified( as everyone should be) and very competent at diving and carrying the dive flag. So why not grab your child, and call that dive shop to see just how easy it is to get certified. Who knows, maybe we’ll see ya down there?
Well I am off to make some fresh Summer Flounder sandwiches, and Clam Chowder, New England style of course, wouldn’t insult the clam by doing it any other way?
As is every dive day, this article is dedicated to my loving wife Goobs, who puts up with all this expensive diving. She is our Shore support, and without her, we would of forgotten half our gear!
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