The Largest Fluke of the season was weighed in this week, tipping the scale at 8 pounds 7 ounces 27". Dana (Mike) Sledden was the proud angler and he was kind enough to tell us that he landed this whopper down in Grassy Channel.  Action has been good around the area of the Fish Factory for the boaters trying to find a decent drift in spite of the wind.  Early morning or evening fishing is still recommended, as the afternoon winds continue
to rock the boat. :)

If you read the internet page or listen to me ramble at the counter, I have been warning of the impending rush of Gnats due around May 1. Well, the wind never stopped blowing or the Gnats were just plain late. Anyway, make sure you dress appropriately with long sleeve shirts and pants or keep that can or two of bug spray handy. Our favorite choice of spray for keeping the Gnats away is the Repel Sportsmen. Be careful not to spray lures, bait boards, knives, your hands or anything that the fish can detect. The repellents will repel fish better then it does bugs!

A few anglers have been asking about the Tautog action on the ocean wrecks. There isn't any information to report. The windy conditions have made the ocean too rough to navigate safely much less enjoyably. We have Green Crabs in stock if anyone would like to try to sneak out on the ocean this weekend. Next weekend is the last weekend for reasonable quantity of Tog, after that, the seasonal limit becomes one fish per angler. Go with Clams for bait as well, since the water surely is warm enough to catch some Sea
Bass.

Bill Figley, the big guy on the artificial reef management project, dropped off the latest issue of the Reef News. It gives some neat details on what the project has been up to which is both educational and entertaining at the same time. They’re near the front counter if you’d like one!

Wednesday night, between 6:00pm and 7:00pm on the very beginning of the incoming tide, the Weakfish came to life in Grassy Channel. I don't believe that there was any one thing that caught the Weakfish, it seemed like every type of bait and lure worked. The newest craze has been Green Crabs for bait. Anglers learned last summer during one of the weeks when the Shedder Crabs became scarce that Green Crab bodies cut in small meaty chunks will catch Weakfish when soaked in shedder oil and tipped on lures like bucktails and Fin-S fish lures. Other anglers have been using small hook rigs like you
would fish White Perch with and they are using live Grass Shrimp for bait. If you have an extra rod holder that you can put another rod out without the line getting in the way of your other rods, drift an Andrus 1/0 floating bucktail with about a 2 foot leader to the sinker and bait the floating bucktail with a 2 inch piece of Bloodworm or Sandworm. The Worms work well in the early spring, but as soon as the little Sea Bass move into the Grassy Channel, then you can't keep a bait down long enough to catch anything else.