Fluke fishing in Great Bay continues to be the most productive fishing. Grassy Channel area is still the Hot Spot. Shad dart lures and light bucktail lures in 1/8oz and 1/4oz weights are the preferred lure choice. Yellow/white and red/white color combinations have been the ticket for some anglers. Others are using Top & Bottom rigs and Spin & Glow rigs which have been catching fish, too. There are two Fluke that must be mentioned! First is Eddie Stravitz's, with his 10 lbs 8 oz 28 1/2" Fluke. Second, the largest Fluke weighed in so far this season, which was Angelo Varrasi's on "Star Light II" with his 12 lbs 8 oz 30" Fluke caught in Grassy Channel on a Scott's Bait & Tackle top & bottom rig baited with Squid and Minnow. The pictures of the proud anglers with their fish are on the counter to oggle at.

The 1 1/2 pound Bluefish are still in Great Bay. Early morning boats that are trolling #3 Clarke Spoons are catching fish until the boating activity picks up. The mouths of Oyster Creek, Motts Creek and Big Creek are good places to start trolling. Look for bird activity in Little Egg Inlet and Grassy Channel. Bluefish like to hang out in these areas, too. Anglers fishing from the bank at Pebble Beach are catching a few fish each evening. The best catch of Bluefish from that area this past week was by Bill Trapp. In the picture on the counter, he is holding up 4 Bluefish, including the largest Bluefish weighed in the store so far this season at 13 lbs 5 oz 34".

Stripers are another fish that are still here! Jim & Misty Ellison weighed in their duo of keeper Stripers, 10 lbs 8 oz 32" & 13 lbs 15 oz 37", from Graveling Point on Memorial Day Monday. These fish weren't finicky and ate chunk baits of Mackerel. Other Stripers are being caught by boat anglers in the area of 120 marker buoy. They are drifting eels in that area just as if this was September.

There are Weakfish around, but anglers just aren't sharing too much information. A few were caught in Little Sheepshead this week and better quantity of fish are coming from the area near the mouth of the Mullica River. It is necessary to find pods of fish on the fishfinder along the ledges in either area before attempting to fish for them. It's hard to catch a fish that isn't there. Shedder crab bait is still scarce, so anglers are substituting Bloodworms, Sandworms, and baits soaked in Shedder oil. Small bucktails have been the lure choice as best as I can tell.

This is the last weekend before the new regulations take effect where anglers can catch no more than 1 Tautog per angler per day until September. So if Tautog fishing is your thing, this is the weekend to do it. Wrecks in the 8 to 10 mile range have been more productive. The better fishing could be due to a more stable water temperature or maybe there is just less fishing pressure offshore.

What do you mean when you say "Clam Stake"? What are all those dead trees in the bay? The dead trees or clam stakes are young cut cedar trees. The trees are cut to a point on the bottom and trimmed to leave a small bush at the top and are jetted into place with a powerful water pump. Their purpose is to mark the leased property line or outline the beds of Commercial clammers. When the trees are grouped very tightly, the clammer usually has clam seedlings under a fine mesh screen. The tight placement of trees doesn't allow boats to accidentally drift through the area and snag rigs or propellers in the screens. The area of Clam Stakes on the North West side of the Fish Factory in Great Bay just also happens to be great fishing grounds. Fishing in areas marked with clam stakes is permitted as long as anglers do not disturb the bottom or the trees.

Boy, the Gnats are really bad this Spring. It could be the wet weather we have been having or just a good cycle for the abundance of Gnats. There are a lot of good ideas that have all of us coping with the Gnats. The first is repellents. Avon Skin So Soft is a favorite choice, especially when using the product on smaller children. It is oily, and really can turn you into a human sticky fly tape. A great suggestion is to dilute the Skin So Soft with rubbing alcohol and put it into a good spray bottle, available at any garden center. When you spray the mixed product on it is a little less oily. Another great product for use on the kids is the Natrapel. It smells like a citronella candle and it works great. The Natrapel also mentions that it is safe on children. I have used Natrapel and am very happy with the results of the product. The only drawback is that it does evaporate and requires repeated application. Keep the bottle handy, it is really worth having on hand. For the hard stuff, that your really only supposed to spray on your clothes(but we all spray it all over our heads and bare skin arms) we stock: Cutter Regular, Cutter backwoods, Bens, Muskol, Muskol Ultra(tough stuff), Repel Family, and Repel Sportsman. The Repel Sportsman is our choice for the Gnats. The spray applicator has a very good one pass application. It gets the job done. Some products are too fine of a mist and you feel like your spraying the neighbor's boat rather then yourself. Each spray has different result for different people, so if one type doesn't work for you, then try another product. Don't want to spray insect repellent in your hair, but you have to do some work in the yard, are trying to fish from the bank, or the Gnats have just found you drifting slowly through the bay? Then the Gnat hat is for you. It is a fine mesh hat that you can pull down over your head and tie lightly around your neck. This hat really does work and is a must if your cleaning fish at the dock on those calm days. No hat? Break out that old large square fan that is in the attic or back deep in the garage. Put the fan right up on the fish cleaning bench and create an artificial wind that blows the Gnats away.