FOR the first time this year, fluke fishing in the New York Bight could be called excellent, although due to the weather it came too late for the weekend.

Jimmy Giordano, from Bernie’s Bait and Tackle Shop in Sheepshead Bay, said there was a body of fish that stretched from Coney Island into Gravesend Bay and the Narrows. The best spots the past few days were at Norton’s Point, the lower end of Ambrose Channel, the Shrewsbury Rocks and the 21 Buoy by the Verrazano Bridge.

Frank Ruperto fished aboard the Big M Express on Monday, catching 20 fish and keeping eight; the day before, the ratio was much better. The wind was a big problem over the weekend, making fishing difficult at best.

Those who fished inside Jamaica Bay over the weekend stayed away from the nasty seas and found some decent weakfish action. Anglers using 3 x 3 rigs found weakfish to eight pounds in the Floyd Bennett Channel, at the Marine Parkway Bridge as well as at the seaplane ramps.

The bottom boats from Sheepshead Bay continue to do a job on the porgies; the past few days it’s been at the New Jersey reef, where the scup get to well over three pounds.

*

It was almost 25 years ago that I was handed the outdoor column here at The Post and I was overwhelmed to say the least, but help came from a very unlikely source. Jerry Kenney, the outdoor columnist for the Daily News, reached out to me and pointed me in the right direction.

As many of you know, Jerry died on Friday from a heart attack at the age of 77. Over the past 25 years, our paths crossed many times and we always had a great time together. In the beginning, he showed me whom to trust and whom to avoid. He made it easier for me, and that is saying a lot for someone from the enemy’s camp.

He was more than a colleague, he was a friend, and I will miss him.