Barnegat Inlet head boats are doing very well catching the slammer Bluefish on their night charters. Plain steel leader 7/0 hooks weighted with large egg sinkers baited with bunker or mackerel chunk baits will yank these fish over the rails.

A lot of questions have been asked about the Striper fishing, like where, when and how. A few Striped Bass are being caught in front of the Coast Guard Station, mostly in the evenings. Just after the turn of the high tide and the first few hours of the outgoing. A lot of anglers are drifting with live eels. This is working, but rumors have it that the bait is too big for most of the fish in the area. It was mentioned to me that clams and bloodworms will catch a greater number of fish, but generally these fish will be shorts. So, if you like activity, try drifting an extra rod with an alternative bait. It's also possible to catch these fish along the bank from Big Sheepshead creek(ocean side) all the way around the sedge banks back past the Coast Guard Station using surface plugs and jigs-- like a bucktail with a plastic grub. Light boating activity is a must for the fish to become active feeders, so it's necessary to get out early or late.

In the past few years bay Shark fishing hasn't been too successful. However, I heard several shark stories this week. Best fishing time of the year was the second week of June into the second week of July. Most of the Sharks have been regular Sand Sharks, and today a customer reported catching a Brown Shark. It is commonly referred to as a Brown Shark, but is more than likely to be our Sand Bar Shark; who is a very toothy critter, and should be handled with care. Fishing for bay Sharks is best in the evening after the sun sets, yet it's still daylight and good fishing continues until about 11:00pm. The best area in the past, was in the area of 138 marker buoy. Anchor the boat and chum with bunker chum just outside of the Inland Waterway into Grassy Channel. Food value of these Sand Bar Sharks is good if you clean them quickly. My favorite way to prepare Brown Shark is to cut the fillet into dice sized cubes and boil them. Drain and rinse the cubes in a colander and chill in the refrigerator. Serve with tooth picks and cocktail sauce or make your own with horseradish and ketchup sauce, like you would use for shrimp.

Don't forget that Sunday June, 15 is Fathers Day. It's hard to buy anything for the avid fisherman, because if he wants it, he usually buys two! A great suggestion is to get dad a Scott's Bait & Tackle Gift certificate. The special thing about a Scott's certificate is that he can use it as a line of credit for multiple purchases. We just deduct each sale off the back of the gift certificate until the money is all spent. It sure beats trying to spend it all at once on stuff he really doesn't need at the time.