- 7 weeks ago
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00:00I'm Nick Honoshefsky. As a professional saltwater fishing journalist, I've explored the world's wildest fishing destinations.
00:07Now, I'm bringing you there, into the saltwater underground.
00:30Summertime at the Jersey Shore bursts as a hustling, bustling landscape of boisterous dockside bars, salty surfers, and sun worshipers.
00:52But most importantly, it offers up full-on fishing opportunity.
00:56Each summer, tens of thousands of anglers flock to the seaside town of Point Pleasant to hop a boat in the pursuit of a fish that drives the summer fishery, the summer flounder, a.k.a. fluke.
01:09With fishing reports going ballistic, I've made a few calls and put together just the right crew looking to scrap with a few flatfish.
01:18All right, well, we're sitting here in the middle of September right now along the Jersey coastline in Point Pleasant.
01:24We call it local summer. That's when all the tourists leave for the year.
01:28And we're catching the end of fluke season right now.
01:32So I'm going to go meet up with my buddy Mickey and Captain Pat Murphy.
01:36And we're going to try to see if we can put some fluke fillets in the cooler before the season ends.
01:42There's some fluking with the boys, you know.
02:02There they are.
02:04About time, huh?
02:05What's up, Murph?
02:07How you been, brother?
02:08Hanging in there?
02:10Yeah, man.
02:10Yo, Mick, what's the deal, dude?
02:12How you been, man?
02:16Yeah.
02:16All right, we've got the big plan today, huh?
02:18Do some fluking out there?
02:20Yeah, do some fluking, see what we can get.
02:23All right, well, let's do it.
02:25Got to get some big fish today.
02:26There's probably no other bud I can call on a minute's notice to come fish than my friend Mickey Melchiondo, a.k.a. Dean Ween.
02:40He's the lead guitarist for the band Ween and a true rock star.
02:44But his real passion lies with fishing.
02:46It's high time we get together again and light up some Jersey fluke.
02:53Looks good, Murph.
02:54Where are we heading today?
02:55What do we got?
02:56We're going to start around the Klondike here.
02:58These fish are starting to move off the couple blows that we had and the swell that we had the past couple days.
03:05So we're going to try some areas that are good fall areas.
03:09Also, nuclear chicken and pink shone.
03:15I'm on a little bit of a pod here.
03:19There he is.
03:21Yeah.
03:22Just dropped it right back down to him.
03:25Missed him on the way up.
03:26Shook off.
03:27Dropped it right back down.
03:29Another little dude, but right species, that's for sure.
03:35Oh, yeah.
03:36There you go.
03:37Murph!
03:38Murph!
03:39He's saying this is going to need a net.
03:42It's been right after another.
03:43Oh, straight up and down.
03:44I think I gave him a concussion.
03:45Oh, yeah.
03:46All right.
03:47First keeper of the batty.
03:48Nice.
03:49Look at that.
03:50We've got to hold him down so the other boats don't see.
03:51Nice baldy fish.
03:52There.
03:53That's your fish, brother.
03:54That's what we're talking about.
03:55Jersey fluke right about here.
03:56It's about maybe a two, two and a half pounder maybe?
03:57Yeah.
03:58Could be.
03:59Look at that.
04:00Beautiful fish.
04:01And look at the colors on him.
04:02Just so, so radical how they camouflage and blend in with the sand floor.
04:07Man, I've got to take pictures of my boys to prove that they caught some fluke.
04:08So when there's little to no drift, we're using a Bucktail Rig which consists of 25 to
04:1730-pound fluorocarbon leader, the Bucktail tied with a loop knot.
04:22And I've got to take pictures of my boys to prove that they caught some fluke.
04:28So when there's little or no drift, we're using a bucktail rig, which consists of 25 to 30 pound fluorocarbon leader,
04:35the bucktail tied with a loop knot on the end, tipped with your favorite bait,
04:39and then a teaser tied up about 20 inches.
04:43And on this particular teaser, I've got the Savage Gear Sand Eel and a regular bucktail hair.
04:48And we'll tip it with spearing or squid, drop it down, and you work it vertically up and down when there's no drift.
04:54You've got to imagine the fluke sitting down there in the sand all camouflaged with his eyes looking up.
04:59And this little thing comes past him. This guy's hooked up.
05:02And then the bait comes past him, bouncing off little puffs of sand off the bottom.
05:07Shoots out and eats it. That's what I like to imagine anyway. I don't really know how they feed.
05:11I just made that whole thing up, actually.
05:14You're always thinking about fluke.
05:16Nice, Mick. There you go.
05:18That's a head shaker again.
05:22That's why I feel so big.
05:25Yeah, I'll hook them.
05:30There he is.
05:31All right.
05:32We've got this guy creeping up on us to mug us.
05:35Oh, yeah, head shake.
05:41Oh, awesome.
05:42Hit the Savage Gear Sand Eel right there. Check that out.
05:45That's pretty cool.
05:46Usually people want all these scented baits on the teasers, but even something that's got a little bit of action to it, like this, like I said, little Savage Gear Sand Eel paddle tail goes through the water.
05:59And it appears to be a swimming fish in the current, which is awesome.
06:03I want to try to find a big fish, so line them up. We're going to take a ride.
06:09Line them up. We're going to take a ride.
06:11This episode of Saltwater Underground with Nick Hanushefsky is brought to you by at Nick Hanushefsky on Instagram, Grundon's, Savage Gear, Bubba, Shimano, Grumpy's Tackle, and Fisherman's Supply.
06:33This episode of Saltwater Underground with Nick Hanushefsky is brought to you by at Nick Hanushefsky on Instagram, Grundon's, Savage Gear, Bubba, Shimano, Grumpy's Tackle, and Fisherman's Supply.
06:50Give me a shot here, guys. I'm going to keep them running.
07:07Those fluke like laying in that low profile stuff in and around, right? You don't really want the big high wrecks, you know?
07:14Oh, there we go. Oh, whoa! We might have a good one here.
07:19Nice and easy, nice and easy.
07:22That thing looks like it has some girth the way it's bending that rod.
07:28Oh, he's a tagged fluke. Check that out.
07:30So check this out. Somebody tagged this fluke. We've got to write the number down.
07:34So they put these tags on all sorts of fish, and this one happens to be on a fluke.
07:38It looks almost like a brand new tag.
07:40But they tag them so you know when you get them returned, you know how much they've grown and how big they've gotten.
07:46I've never even seen a tagged fluke like that. Look how lucky that is, man.
07:50Yeah, usually there's grime all over watching his tags yesterday or something.
07:54That's what I mean. That is so cool, man. You'll never see that.
07:57I mean, you rarely, rarely ever get to see a tagged fluke.
08:00There he is. There he is.
08:02All right.
08:03Yeah, he's going back in.
08:06This is like fish here. We'll let this tagger go.
08:10Well, he's your fish now. Look, he's gonna catch, he's gonna get the doorman on my rod.
08:16As I'm measuring his fish, by the way.
08:19Double header.
08:20Oh, that's awesome. That's so cool.
08:23The second one looks like a keeper. Yeah, look at this, look at this.
08:26There he is.
08:28Ah!
08:29That's how it gets done on Murph's boat, man.
08:31Double headed. Look at the fat flatty.
08:34The Butte, man.
08:35Unbelievable.
08:36There's a whole lot of shaking going on there.
08:38Yeah.
08:39Seems like the wind's picking up a little bit, so these bucktails aren't really holding ground anymore.
08:43We're gonna have to go to the bottom rigs now.
08:46Double tandem hook rig here. Fish finder slide, whole squid baits.
08:50Drop that thing down, it'll look like a live squid.
08:53Swimming on the bottom.
08:55And that's when those big 8 to 10, 12 pound doormats are gonna hit.
08:59I mean, that thing doesn't look like a live squid ready to get eaten.
09:05Yeah, Murph!
09:07Murph, come on, man.
09:09I like sea bass. Look at that thing.
09:11Beauty.
09:14Ooh, double headed sea bass.
09:16That's my favorite eating fish in here.
09:22In the ocean.
09:24That's the truth.
09:25Yeah, you found the sea bass wreck.
09:27Come here.
09:29Oh, that's my friend.
09:30Eating the whole squid.
09:31Robust.
09:32Look at that.
09:33And they're getting, he's got that real beautiful blue color on him, too.
09:36Yeah.
09:37Look at that around his eyes.
09:38Little knucklehead.
09:39What do you call him knucklehead?
09:43Alright, guys.
09:44Just line them up here.
09:45We're gonna try a different spot and see if we can find a couple more.
09:48It's morning and it's not even 9 o'clock.
09:53And we're getting fish after fish.
09:58Come on, get on.
10:01I know, it's not a doormat, but he could be over 18.
10:05Hmm.
10:06Keep looking well.
10:07I'm catching all these, like, 17-inchers, you know?
10:10Close, but another beauty.
10:14Hit the Savage Gear sand deal again, which is nice.
10:18I love that.
10:23Flip-flop back in the water.
10:25Mickey and I, we called each other earlier today.
10:27Like, typical Jersey guys wearing Adidas pants, you know, on the boat.
10:30Like, yo, yo, bro, you wearing your Adidas today?
10:34I called him late last night.
10:36I was gonna wear my gold flute medallion.
10:41Oh, Nick!
10:42That was a nice one.
10:43Nick!
10:44Nick's got a good one.
10:45Alright.
10:46Alright, slow and low.
10:47Remember if you wanna grab the net on that?
10:48Yeah.
10:49Slow and steady wins the race.
10:51That looks like a nice one.
10:52Rod's down.
10:53There we go.
10:54There you go.
10:55That's it.
10:56Another beauty fluke.
10:57Woo!
10:58That's solid.
10:59That's a dinner table fluke right there.
11:00Alright.
11:01Whether he's on the Dauntless or his own boat, Murph's always putting us on fish.
11:20Always.
11:21What do you say, Murph?
11:22What's the plan here?
11:23We're gonna drift around the wreck here.
11:24See if we can get a longer.
11:25Secret wreck, I see.
11:26How about that?
11:27Big flute laying by the rock.
11:28Nice.
11:29Nice.
11:30Nice.
11:31Nice.
11:32Nice.
11:33Nice.
11:34Nice.
11:35Nice.
11:36Nice.
11:37Nice.
11:38Nice.
11:39Nice.
11:40Nice.
11:41Nice.
11:42Nice.
11:43Nice.
11:44Nice.
11:45Nice.
11:46Nice.
11:47Nice.
11:48Nice.
11:49Nice.
11:50Nice.
11:51these big wrecks, right? That's where they're going to stage. That's where they're going to go.
11:57And the cool thing about fluking in Jersey is that there's a huge party boat scene for it. So we're
12:02on a private boat right now, but the party boats like the Gambler, Captain Mike and Bob Bogan,
12:07they run like half day trips, 8 to 12, 32 to 630. So anybody can come out and fluke during the day.
12:13It's awesome. The boys on the Gambler crushing it. You know what's really cool about this is all of
12:18us with all these fish. We all got a keeper too. Oh, wait. I'm sorry. Nevermind. Nick didn't get one.
12:28Yeah.
12:33Whoa, dude. Look at this, dude. Unless you got like a bonito or something, dude. That could be a
12:40tonny or a bonito. I don't know. Bring him up. Hopefully a great white shark. Yeah, maybe a
12:46shark's following him. All right, don't lose him.
12:48Look at that. That's like a chub mack, right? Or what is that? Yeah. Chub mackerel. Beauty
12:54little fish. That's the best bait in the world right there. Oh, yeah. Is this the fish you
13:01covered? I don't know. This is what I've kind of been waiting for. Got some girth. He made a
13:12run, dude.
13:18All right, Jake. That's what I was talking about. That's the one I've been waiting for right there.
13:22These guys might have the high hooks today, but I think this one's the pool winner. Let's
13:27get him on the ice. Thick fillets on that thing.
13:30Yee-haw. All right, we're eating good tonight. Now we're talking. Typical Jersey guy stealing
13:38our fish. Oh, Murphy gives the three whistles. I thought that was only a party boat thing.
13:48Three whistles. Three whistles means the day is done. Hell of a day, boys. Tell you what. Good stuff.
13:56Good stuff. Good stuff.
13:58Now that we've got our fresh flute fillets, I know exactly who we're going to bring this
14:24too. All right, I am really jazzed today because I'm in my hometown of Clinton, New Jersey,
14:41and I'm meeting up with my old school buddy, Chef Josh the Kellis, who owns Juniper Hill in
14:46Clinton here. And Josh has been all over the world as a celebrity chef from New York to
14:51Paris of Tokyo, working for Wolfgang Puck, been on Iron Chef in the Today Show. We're
14:56going to bring our fresh flounder fillets and see if you can cook them up homestyle here.
15:00Hey, buddy. There he is. What's up, man? What's going on, Daniel? What's the word, man?
15:06What do you got today? Oh, we got the fresh flounder fillets, which I told you, and we also
15:11got one whole one in the deep. Terrific. Terrific. How they look? They look good? They fought good.
15:16You got to really do the endgame for us here. Hopefully it won't be too much of a fight back
15:21here. All right. Let's get cooking, all right? Show us what to do. All right. All right, Josh,
15:26looks like we got the fluke on the plate here. I don't know if I caught that one or Mickey. If
15:30it's a smaller one, it's got to be Mickey's. But you're going to show us what to do here,
15:33right? One of the best things for me about being a Jersey boy is how close we are. And like,
15:39you feel this fish. It's like, it's just out of rigor mortis. You don't want to get
15:44to them too fast or they're actually too hard. Right. And then when you go to eat them, they're
15:49almost crunchy. Fluke has two different, in my opinion, it's got two different personalities.
15:57And what I'm hoping to do today is show you both. The first thing I do is I pop the head
16:03off here. You want to make sure you get all this blood out. You don't want it to stain
16:08that beautiful, pristine color of the fluke. And then you just run your knife right down
16:14here. And the bones kind of show you what to do. One good thing about fluke is they're
16:19relatively easy to fillet. They come off into both halves like that. It opens up just like
16:24a sandwich almost. You know, with the ceviche, for me, it's like, it's really you're just
16:29showing off the freshness of the fluke. So I start from the tail. And then we're just
16:38going to slice nice. Wow. Nice pro stuff right there, brother. In pieces. We have
16:44this like this. Unbelievable. It looks like a work of art, like a painting coming together
16:49all at once with all the little pieces. I mean, that's kind of why I do what I do.
16:55You guys, it makes me excited to share this side of it from the guys who catch it. Right.
17:01You know, it's rare. I don't get to see enough, pal. Well, we're going to be getting you out.
17:05If you're cooking like this, we're getting you out on every single trip. All right.
17:08You know, we'll go, me and Mick will try this out to begin with, and then we'll start prepping
17:12the other fish, see what happens. All right. Wow. Unbelievable.
17:16This episode of Saltwater Underground with Nick Hanushefsky is brought to you by
17:29at Nick Hanushefsky on Instagram, Grundon's, Savage Gear, Bubba, Shimano, Grumpy's Tackle, and Fisherman's Supply.
17:40What I'm going to do now is show the other side of the fluke, which is what I was trying to talk to Nick about.
17:46While these guys are eating the ceviche, we're going to make a cooked fluke preparation.
17:51Being a Jersey guy like I am, I know what swims around here. We're super blessed with abundance of shellfish,
17:58oysters, clams, fresh squid. So I like to think about taking this fish that doesn't have a lot of flavor,
18:06bringing it back to its natural surroundings with all of these great things that swim with it.
18:12We're going to pinwheel this thing a little bit and then create a taller piece to work with.
18:20All right. We're going to season these guys up with a little salt. I am a sucker for the old bay.
18:27All right. So I got my brush. I'm going to take a little bit of egg wash. It's just a beaten egg.
18:34And then we're going to throw this shredded phyllo on it.
18:42Let's make sure our fluke is cooked. Oh, you see how that went through nice?
18:47Oh, it's perfect. Perfect, perfect. That's it. This is the dish I made for Nick and his buddies.
18:56I'll call it crispy fluke with sea scented spinach and rose cove oyster cream.
19:06This is unbelievable, man. All right.
19:12Josh got it going. Number two. Look at this. Number two.
19:16Oh, my God in heaven. This is insane. This is so delicious, man.
19:21You like that one? This is really, really good. I can't believe it.
19:24It's that fish you guys caught, man. It's just about letting it be its fresh self.
19:29You've got to go out and learn how to fish yourself instead of going to buy that at a store
19:34because the procurement of that fish, you know, not only do you understand where it came from,
19:39you have the respect of going out and catching that fish.
19:42All the time, effort, knowledge, spirit that it takes to go find and catch that fish and hunt it down.
19:49Essentially is what you're doing when you're fishing is hunting the fish.
19:52And then to be able to take that so you'll understand that fish and what it took to get that
19:56instead of just going to the store and buying it.
19:58Right. Amen. I'm serious. Amen.
20:01Cheers up to fishing, boys. Yeah.
20:03Once again, guys, thanks a ton for everything.
20:05You guys rock and roll, man. Thanks for catching the fish.
20:08Thanks for cooking it again, you know.
20:10Anytime.
20:12That's how it rolls, right?
20:13Yeah, man.
20:15What elevates a good fishing experience into a great one?
20:20Without a doubt, pulling in fish after fish to load the cooler definitely helps.
20:24Plus, having a pro chef as a friend to cook up the catch doesn't hurt either.
20:29But there's something more than that.
20:31Greatness comes when you share the total experience among those that started out as fishing friends,
20:36but now you can call family.
20:38Yeah.
20:39And along the Jersey Shore, there's no lack of either.
20:42Returning way too.
20:43Returning way too.
20:46Returning way too.
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