By Chet Jakubowski

Last Friday, some bird activity along the ocean beach between Ocean Avenue and Jamaica Walk inspired Michael and Brendan McGuire to try their luck surfcasting into the fray. Using a metallic lure, Brendan caught a 19-inch fluke, a nice fish, but too small by an inch and a half to qualify as a keeper. Back into the briny it went. The next day, Mike caught a 15-inch fluke, followed by a 13-inch shortie on Sunday. Meanwhile, their friends Sean Meyer, Ryan Connolly, David Hegarty and Kevin Meyer had a ball dragging a 10-foot seine, which results in a haul of spearing, king fish and one, lonely peanut bunker.

This has been an unusually good year when it comes to baitfish population which forms the bottom rung of the ladder on which the food chain is built. The larger schools usually travel along the ocean shore and around the tip of the jetty into the Rockaway inlet, then into the far reaches of Jamaica Bay. Whenever there is an abundance of baitfish in the water, there also is a good chance that your fishing activity will result in success.

Tomorrow is the annual Fluke Fishing Contest which is being held earlier than usual by the Breezy Point Boater’s and Angler’s. Bill Pritchet is the commodore of the association. Its purpose is to gather folks who are interested in fishing and boating activities who may not cross each other’s paths. People from all three of our communities are welcome to participate in the association’s activities. Call Bill at (718) 634-4070 for further details.

As for tomorrow’s contest, I expect that it will confirm the fact that this year is one of the best of summer fishing seasons. Look for the results in next week’s column.