Happy 4 of July! A day of parties, picnics and Green flies! Have that bug spray handy; the early greenies are biting hard.

Fluke fishing is just so so. The joke of the week was "Can anybody tell me what a KEEPER Fluke looks like?" Some anglers were still making an ok day of fishing around Great Bay this week. Better reports came from anglers that were fishing in the Grassy Channel area in the deeper holes. Minnows baited on Fluke darts(shad darts) and fished with light tackle caught keeper Fluke for persistent anglers. Remember if it is windy, to slow the speed of your drifting boat. This can be achieved by a device called a sea anchor or by dragging a 5 gallon pail through the water. The resistance of the sea anchor or the pail pulling in the water reduces the boat's speed. The North West side of the fish factory, in the area we commonly refer to as the calm stakes and the Orange ball, is still the hottest spot for catching quantities of Fluke. Better fishing here has been occurring during the incoming tides, However, the ratio of keepers to throwback fluke is 20:1.

Weakfishing is a different story. Many anglers reported approximately 4 pounders again this week. One customer came in and bought a larger net! Yet, I still don't have a picture of these LARGE Weakfish. The key element to catching the Weakies in the mouth of the Mullica River was to anchor the boat along a ledge/drop off and fish small hook bait rigs, baited with shedder Crab, Grass Shrimp, Bloodworms or Sandworms. One angler, while anchored caught more Weakies fishing the river area by casting and retrieving a jig head and a plastic worm baited with shedder crab. He kept the worm moving and kept the fish coming into the fish box. The East side of the Little Sheepshead Creek bridge also proved successful for some anglers. Drifting and jigging plastic worms baited with Shedder Crab has always worked well in Little Sheepshead creek. There are a few deeper holes that can be fished while anchored, too. So keep the depth finder hummin' and lookin' for the fish hanging in the holes.

Several reports of good catches of Brown Sharks in the evenings this week. A 6' 9" approximately 135 pounder was caught by a surf fisherman, Jeremy McAffee, at the Coast Guard Station. Most of the sharks are in the 50 pound class and are around 5 foot long. At this point, this has been the best shark fishing in Great Bay in the past few years. Anchor the boat out in Grassy Channel or out near the inlet, but still in relatively shallow water and float out hunks of Mackerel bait. Chumming is not necessary but might give you an extra edge needed to catch a few. The sharks move into the bay to feed as the sun sets and the most active fishing period is usually until around 11:00pm. A 5 foot long steel leader rig with a 9/0 hook is a good choice for a rig for these sharks.

I wish I could tell you some information about some local Bluefish, but I can not. Some areas in North Jersey are having a banner year on Blues. I guess we will just have to wait until the fall.

Crabbing has been good. Most crabbers are working right off their docks. Some lagoons are still better than others. I suppose that it depends on how close you are to good marshlands that can continue to supply crabs on each incoming tide or how many of your neighbors trap the crabs before they get back to your trap.

All of us at Scott's Bait & Tackle wish all of you a happy and safe holiday weekend.