SANDY HOOK CHANNEL & ARTIFICIAL REEF
The various shipping channels crisscrossing Raritan and Sandy Hook bays -- especially the Sandy Hook entrance channel, and the nearby Sandy Hook Artificial Reef -- have deep water, and an abundance of forage that holds big fluke. The reefs and broken, irregular bottom abound in crabs, squid, cunner, fingerling sea bass, porgies, squid and other forage.

Drifting the channel edges and reefs keeps you on your toes, since to keep from getting fouled on bottom structure, you’ve got to keep your line perpendicular to the bottom. That structure holds the forage and in turn, attracts the fluke.

Much the same holds true for the grounds around the Shrewsbury Rocks. Last August 17, that’s where Monica Oswald landed a huge doormat fluke weighing 24.3 pounds and measuring 38 1/4 inches long!

She hooked the huge flatfish on a SPRO bucktail jig and strip of squid, rigged in a manner very similar to what I’ve recommended earlier.

AROUND THE LOBSTER & SEA BASS POT BUOYS
Along the length of the Jersey, Delaware and Maryland coasts, there are thousands of patches of rocky bottom or ridges where the water is substantially shallower than surrounding waters and where bait tends to congregate. Drifting across this bottom is highly productive.

I’ve known several topnotch flounder anglers who actually go forth before the season opens. Using their Global Positioning Systems, they enter every pot buoy that they find in the 30- to 70-foot depths. These buoys are set because either lobsters or sea bass are in residence over this bottom. You’ll lose a few rigs on this type of bottom, but there will be big flatfish as dividends as well.

Make sure to watch for a pair of buoys, which mark either end of a set of traps resting on the bottom. Plan your drift to go on either side of where the pot lines are resting on the bottom. Flounder will often forage about on the bottom adjacent to the traps, and it’ll take only a couple of drifts to tempt strikes from hungry flatties.

If a couple of drifts fail to bring strikes, just move on to the next set of GPS coordinates. By day’s end, you’ll likely have some heavyweight keepers in your cooler.

TACKANASSEE’S RED CHURCH
The rocky bottom off the red church in Tackanassee has long been known as a great hotspot for blackfish that love rocky bottom. Here, the mounds of rocks extend up from the bottom like miniature mountains.

This area is also a favorite fluke haunt, albeit one where you’re apt to lose a lot of rigs. The key is controlling your line. Always keep it perpendicular to the bottom, just twitching your rod tip to give some action to the jig and strip combo.

If you’ve been accustomed to just drifting small baits across sandy bottom, no doubt you’ve received just subtle strikes from small flounder.

Not so when you’re jigging the rough rocky terrain. Here, summer flatfish fully 2 feet in length will wallop your jig or trailing strip bait with reckless abandon.

Toward this goal, make certain that all your gear is in order, with a moderately set drag. Should you be fortunate to hook a doormat -- generally defined as a fluke weighing 10 pounds or more -- it’ll test your tackle to the limit. Any flaw will result in the loss of a beauty.

Believe me, the combination of rough bottom and heavyweight fluke isn’t meant for 10-pound-test line.