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In the Northeast right now, we’re in the heart of fluke season. These delectable flatfish are the target quarry of innumerable inshore fisherman from the Southern states all the way up through New England, with the Mid-Atlantic states producing impressive numbers.

Also known as summer flounder, fluke are cooperative during the warmer months of the year, from May to September, and they’re not sought for their fight, but for their flavor. Often pursued in shallow inshore water on light tackle, fluke may not pull hard, but they’re delicious table fare.

Fortunately, they’re not as elusive as other species like striped bass, and they make good sport even for relatively inexperienced anglers. Here are two effective techniques for late-summer fluking from your Old Town fishing kayak.

Bucktail and a Trailer (Gulp, Fish Bites, Etc.)

If you like to work artificials, there is no better technique than rigging up a bucktail with a trailer.

Bucktails are a special type of jig consisting of a jighead with deer hair dressed around the hook. They’re often painted white and red, but bucktails can be nearly any color. Silver, chartreuse, and pink are also popular.

The weight you’ll want to fish will depend on the depth and the current, but anywhere from a 1/4 ounce to ¾ ounce can work for fluke. As a general rule you don’t want to go too massive because the extra weight can compromise sensitivity. Truthfully, lighter is better as fluke can sometimes be delicate on the uptake.

As for the trailer, any soft plastic could theoretically work, but two of the most effective and popular are Gulp and Fish Bites. Gulp Swimming Mullet in pink, chartreuse, and pearl white are all great options, but they can be a little fragile. Fish bites, like Gulp, are scented, but they’re a lot tougher and harder for fish to rip off the hook.

Rig the soft plastic as you would on a jig head, cast upcurrent, and hop the bucktail back to the boat. You can also target drop-offs; cast to the edge and hop the bucktail back towards deeper water. Don’t be surprised if you get slammed!

There are other artificials you can use for fluke, and when conditions are right and the fish are aggressive, they’ll hit metals and diving plugs, but it’s hard to outperform a scented soft plastic rigged on a bucktail.

The Bait Rig

Artificials are not the only way to catch fluke in the summer. Many anglers prefer the easy use of live and cut bait.

Popular cut baits include squid and blood worms. Live bait includes spearing, killies, shrimp, sand eels and, believe it or not, tiny snapper bluefish. Fluke just love them - but be careful about using them as they are typically categorized as a gamefish, not a baitfish, and so regulations for taking and use as bait may be restricted in your state. Another popular bait for fluke is fluke belly itself, but again, using fluke as bait is subject to regulations associated with fluke, so be careful about adherence to regulations.

You can rig a bucktail or a jighead with cut bait or live shrimp or killies for fluke, but you can also tie your own snells. Wide gap gooks and fluke hooks are popular for fluke to ensure a good hookset and minimizing the chance of a gut hook.

A single hook on a leader with an egg sinker or a bank sinker can be effective for fluke - again, the weight should be determined by the depth and the current. Usually, ¼ to ¾ of an ounce will suffice. A high-low rig can also be used effectively for fluke.

To fish a bait rig, an effective technique is simply to allow the rig to drift over the bottom. You can hop the bait rig a bit to give it some movement, attract fluke, and disperse scent. As stated, be quick on the hookset because fluke can be finicky short strikers.

Gear Up Your Old Town Fishing Kayak for Fluking Success Today

Old Town fishing kayaks like the Old Town Autopilot 120 make excellent inshore yaks for chasing fluke in the summer.

They are light, fast, nimble, and highly stable, giving them the perfect balance of attributes. They’re as stable as much larger vessels, but can get into much shallower water, including coves and coastal creeks, where even skiffs with the shallowest drafts just can’t go.

Sometimes, it’s necessary to go shallow to get to big fluke - not always, but the flexibility is what makes fishing kayaks better than larger conventional vessels for chasing big backwater flatties.

Anyway, these two techniques mentioned here are more than you’ll need to boat some fluke, and even if you get shorts to start, you can learn from your experience, see what they’re hitting and where, and pick up on nuanced techniques that will help you swing more fluke over the side of your yak.

As always, be safe, get out there, and get into some fish.