NJ Saltwater Fisherman Forums
NJ Saltwater Fishing Reports and Information => NJ Saltwater Fishing Reports => Topic started by: Hotrod on June 28, 2008, 02:46:54 PM
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Point Pleasant Canal | Fishing Reports
Up to date Fishing Reports From The Point Pleasant Canal.
This first post, will consist of directions and access points to the Point Pleasant canal, and history of the canal, etc. That way it’s easily accessible and not buried within the thread. I will update it periodically. If anyone has an access point and directions, please PM any admin/mod, and we will gladly add it to this post so it can easily be referenced by all on the site that are interested.
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Easterly Side of the Point Pleasant Canal (Directions)
South end (at the Entrance to northern Barnegat Bay)
From the East side (Ocean side)
Take Route 35 either north or south(depending on what direction you are coming from) into Bay Head. Turn west onto Bridge Ave. Go 2 lights down Bridge Ave. and make a left onto Bay Avenue. Follow Bay Avenue down, and there are 2 spots to park and fish.
1. You can turn right onto Canal St. and it dead ends into the canal, with parking for about 6 cars right next to the water.
2. Continue to the end of Bay Ave. and you’ll come to the Condos. There’s public parking at the condos on the right hand side, private parking is marked as such. You will see signs that say ‘public walkway’ and you can access the canal from there. In addition to being able to access the canal the whole length of the Condos, there are 2 wooden fishing decks that are out over the water, and open to the public.
From the West side (Land side)
Take Route 88 either east or west, depending where you are coming from. Turn east onto Bridge Ave. Follow Bridge Ave down to Bay Avenue and make a right. Then use the information in 1 & 2 of from the east side (above).
North end (at the Mouth of the Manasquan River)
From the East side (Ocean side)
Take Route 35 North or South (depending on where you’re coming from), into the middle of Point Pleasant. Turn west on Arnold Ave. Continue on Arnold Ave past Clarks Landing till you see Captain Ed’s Place(a restaurant). Turn right at the corner of Captain Eds place onto Pinebluff Ave. Pinebluff dead ends at the Point Pleasant Canal. You have access there from the mouth of the Manasquan River all the way up to the Route 88 Bridge. A word of caution, do NOT park on Pinebluff between the Canal and the first intersection(Bradford), it is a fire lane, and you will be issued a ticket.
From the West side (Land side)
Take Route 88 East heading towards Point Pleasant. As you go over the Canal on Route 88, get in the left lane. First light over the Canal bridge, make a left onto Aronld Ave. Proceed to Captain Ed’s Place(about a quarter mile), and turn left onto Pinebluff Ave.
To be continued
Google map link to the Point Pleasant Canal area:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Point+pleasant+canal&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=62.619483,108.28125&ie=UTF8&ll=40.07331,-74.059396&spn=0.015041,0.026436&z=15
Historical Information on the Point Pleasant Canal:
http://mysite.verizon.net/ppbhistory/time_canal.htm
Tide guide and link for the Point Pleasant Canal:
As far as tides, I use the tide chart for the Coast Guard Station at Manasquan inlet:
http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/get_predictions.shtml?year=2008&stn=2812+Sandy%20Hook&secstn=Manasquan+Inlet,+USCG+Station&thh=%2D0&thm=12&tlh=%2D0&tlm=24&hh=*0.86&hl=*0.95&footnote=
Because the Canal drains the entire northern reaches of Barnegat Bay, the tide occurs about 3 to 3 1/2 hours LATER than at the Coast Guard Station. So I use the chart mentioned, and start fishing 1 & 1/2 to 2 hours AFTER any tide listed, when I can. This will give you 3 to 4 hours of fishable water, before the tide really starts ripping. This way you go from a tide/slack water/opposite tide. I prefer outgoing/slack to incoming, but can't be real fussy. Incidentally, slack water lasts less than 5 minutes there, and the tide then starts moving slowly in the opposite direction.
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t^
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love your reports t^
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t^
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Nice report Garry. You have a whole tread dedicated to the canal now. Keep the reports coming. t^
As far as the loop in the line and wind knots. The best cure for that is to flip the bail by hand instead of with a crank on the reel. After you flip the bail, keep tension on the line. This will eliminate any loops and then subsequent wind knots.
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As far as the loop in the line and wind knots. The best cure for that is to flip the bail by hand instead of with a crank on the reel. After you flip the bail, keep tension on the line. This will eliminate any loops and then subsequent wind knots.
Joe, I understand the concept, and I do do that, problem is when the water is running to fast, even doing that, you can get a small loop, and invariably a windknot, as you have to reel in quickly on the slack that develops as the line runs towards you.
Garry
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Gotchya Garry. I figured you would know that, but I thought I would put it out there anyway just as a reminder (many of the basics are forgotten at times)and I'm sure there are some who don't know about manually flipping the bail and it would help them.
I understand about getting the line taut quickly in the canal, you don't want it running on the bottom with all them rocks down there to get stuck on. TT^
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The tide was really to late this morning, water wasn't going to be fishable till 7AM. Wind is still blowing south, a little southwest maybe. Boat traffic minimal, water clear as can be, weed minimal also.
Started fishing at a little after 6:30AM, couldn't do a thing with the Fin-S, not even a bluefish. I had one strike that I never felt from a blue, because the Fin-S was slashed. So I put on a 5 1/2 inch rattling rapala floater, in white, and caught a striper about 18-20 inches. This one was out in the canal, not against the wall. Lost him at the net too, LOL, front hook of the rapala got caught in the net before I netted him and off he came, said to my self it's a good thing it wasn't a biggie, you'd be kicking yourself for sure for your ineptness. About a half hour later, caught another striper, about the same size, this one was against the wall, on the rapala. The fish appearred to be higher in the water column today, as the rapala only runs about 4 feet deep maximum. Started working my way out, casting the rapala as I worked out, I just about got a bluefish on every cast from the 88 bridge to Pinebluff Ave(where I exit). Saw a few of my friends, and they said they killed the blues at the mouth of the canal this morning, all you wanted.
Garry
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Another great report
NJDEVIL >:D
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t^
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OK, I'm back and there is a lot of catching up to do.
Way to go Garry, this is the time of year I love. Plugs and lures work on just about anything out there.
Happy Catching
Paul
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Nice report and catch Garry. Welcome back Paul. t^
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Thanks Joe, glad to be back man am I tired...
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Great report Garry! Nice catch! t^
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chrz You sure know how to fish that canal chrz
NJDEVIL >:D
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Great report...can wait to start reeling in those Weakies!
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Garry nice reports and some really great pictures t^
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Hi Garry,
New to the forum and just wanted to say how informative, interesting and entertaining your posts are about fishing the canal. I'm hooked and can't get enough!
I plan on visiting my Mom in Toms River this 4th of July weekend and was thinking about hitting the canal and giving it a try.
What are the best tides/times for fishing (end of falling or peak of rising???) And where can I get the tide chart for the canal??
Thanks and keep up the awesome info. The pics are great too!!! chrz
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Hi Garry,
New to the forum and just wanted to say how informative, interesting and entertaining your posts are about fishing the canal. I'm hooked and can't get enough!
I plan on visiting my Mom in Toms River this 4th of July weekend and was thinking about hitting the canal and giving it a try.
What are the best tides/times for fishing (end of falling or peak of rising???) And where can I get the tide chart for the canal??
Thanks and keep up the awesome info. The pics are great too!!! chrz
First, welcome to the site and thanks for the kind words. A lot of useful info here and a lot of good people willing to help here, I think you'll like it.
Also a warning, the Canal will be a ZOO on a holiday weekend, both in terms of fisherman, and more importantly, horrendus boat traffic, so don't let it disappoint you.
As far as tides, I use the tide chart for the Coast Guard Station at Manasquan inlet:
http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/get_predictions.shtml?year=2008&stn=2812+Sandy%20Hook&secstn=Manasquan+Inlet,+USCG+Station&thh=%2D0&thm=12&tlh=%2D0&tlm=24&hh=*0.86&hl=*0.95&footnote=
Because the Canal drains the entire northern reaches of Barnegat Bay, the tide occurs about 3 to 3 1/2 hours LATER than at the Coast guard station. So I use the chart mentioned, and start fishing 1 & 1/2 to 2 hours AFTER any tide listed, when I can. This will give you 3 to 4 hours of fishable water, before the tide really starts ripping. This way you go from a tide/slack water/opposite tide. I prefer outgoing/slack to incoming, but can't be real fussy. Incidentally, slack water lasts less than 5 minutes there, and the tide then starts moving slowly in the opposite direction.
I fish the canal almost daily, and pretty much fish according to the tides, however when the tides fall at bad times during the day, I have caught fish. I tend to do best when the tides fall very early morning at first light or before, and evening when the right tide falls close to dark.
If a storm is coming in, or a front, anytime just before that front, no matter what time of day is good, provided the tide is right so you can fish it. As I've stated previously, sometimes the water rips through there so hard, it's not fishable.
Garry
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First, welcome to the site and thanks for the kind words. A lot of useful info here and a lot of good people willing to help here, I think you'll like it.
Also a warning, the Canal will be a ZOO on a holiday weekend, both in terms of fisherman, and more importantly, horrendus boat traffic, so don't let it disappoint you.
As far as tides, I use the tide chart for the Coast Guard Station at Manasquan inlet:
http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/get_predictions.shtml?year=2008&stn=2812+Sandy%20Hook&secstn=Manasquan+Inlet,+USCG+Station&thh=%2D0&thm=12&tlh=%2D0&tlm=24&hh=*0.86&hl=*0.95&footnote=
Because the Canal drains the entire northern reaches of Barnegat Bay, the tide occurs about 3 to 3 1/2 hours LATER than at the Coast guard station. So I use the chart mentioned, and start fishing 1 & 1/2 to 2 hours AFTER any tide listed, when I can. This will give you 3 to 4 hours of fishable water, before the tide really starts ripping. This way you go from a tide/slack water/opposite tide. I prefer outgoing/slack to incoming, but can't be real fussy. Incidentally, slack water lasts less than 5 minutes there, and the tide then starts moving slowly in the opposite direction.
I fish the canal almost daily, and pretty much fish according to the tides, however when the tides fall at bad times during the day, I have caught fish. I tend to do best when the tides fall very early morning at first light or before, and evening when the right tide falls close to dark.
If a storm is coming in, or a front, anytime just before that front, no matter what time of day is good, provided the tide is right so you can fish it. As I've stated previously, sometimes the water rips through there so hard, it's not fishable.
Garry
Thanks for the info and the links Garry. Maybe I'll just stop by and check out the canal and get my bearings intsead of actually doing some hard core fishing...
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Hit the canal by the 88 bridge at about 4pm today. Started to fish "Gary style" with a 5in. Fin-S in "Arkansas shiner." Didn't have much luck with that so I put on a Bagleys deep diving crankbait and on the 2nd or 3rd cast got a nice 30in. bluefish. Didn't have a net so had to yank him up with the Fireline (ouch!). Not much else happened just a small hit and a lost Fin-S to the bottom. This is my 3rd time fishing here so I have a lot to learn still.
Gary, do the resident stripers Summer over in the canal or does the water get to warm. By the way great site here guys. Nice to see people that are actually willing the share information and not get all bent out of shape if someone says "too much."
Ed
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Congrats Ed, thats a great fish. While most of the blues in the Canal average 2 to 4 pounds, those school up. However, I don't know why, but there tends to be some large blues in the canal between the 88 Bridge and the mouth of the canal at the river. They are loners, they don't school up, and tend to lay right on the bottom.
Good choice on the crankbait, for only fishing the canal for the 3rd time, I'd say you're doing pretty good. Also, I find a net the most valuable tool I have at the canal. If you're looking for big fish, and don't have a net or gaff(with a LONG handle), you might as well go home.
I've found the stripers tend to stay all season, right into the fall/winter migration, I've never seen the water get to warm. Trouble is with the stripers, they are a hard fish to fool in the canal, and it's really mostly a live bait proposition. Livelined herring and eels are especially effective. The reason being that on the outgoing tide, a ton of bait goes through the canal from Northern Barnegat bay, and on the incoming the same thing happens from the Manasquan River, and both places are loaded with bait. The tide really rips in the canal, and the baitfish are pretty helpless in that fast current, thus, easy pickings for the stripers. They tend to see a lot of bait wash past them, without having to work for it, therefore, they are extremely picky.
Garry
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At this point I can't wait to reel in anything. I hope to get out Thursday night at Ortley Beach right before dusk. Anyone want to join me?
My daughter is going camping this weekend so I have to get her ready. After that I am free to hit the beach once it closes to bathers. I usually park in the 3rd Ave. Parking lot.
Paul
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Well, I don;t have a report from yesterday, because the big kahuna here had me slaving and typing in directions and links for the Point Pleasant Canal. He's cutting into my fishing time, LMAO, and if he expects more, I want a pretty secretary I can dictate to.
Hit the canal at 4:20AM this morning, tide was running much faster than it should have been on the outgoing, I'm sure the south wind had a lot to do with it. That south wind just won't quit. Daughter was at the beach yesterday afternoon in Spring Lake, and remarked to me that the water was very cold. Water was clear, and full of jellyfish. They were lighting up a neon blue color when my lure went past them, was pretty cool. Boat traffic was minimal till about 6:30, then it was a little higher than normal, and weed and cabbage was almost non existant.
Fished my usual spot close to the 88 bridge for an hour with the Fin-S and the Rapala, could not draw a strike to save my life. So I moved up closer to the 88 Bridge and fished the eddy there, and picked up my first bass on the Rapala about 5:20AM. About 24 inches, and put up a nice fight:
Worked a little further up the eddy and picked up a second one about 10 minutes later, smaller, about 17-18 inches:
And that was it for the rest of the morning, could not draw another strike from a striper. Bluefish were scarce, I did get one 2 pounder, and a 5 pounder in the eddy on a Fin-S. And a few Fin-S fish slashed up, but the blues weren't there in any numbers.
Spoke to my friend Joe(whose backyard I fish in most of the time), and he told me yesterday early evening, he fished the mouth of the canal by the river and caught a 36 inch gator blue, and another guy caught a 34 incher. He said his young son netted it for him, and was thrilled, but said 'Dad, we need a bigger net'.
So I quit about 9AM, but fished the wall all the way out with the Rapala, and couldn't draw a strike, left about 9:30AM.
2 fisherman on my side of the canal, at the mouth, and 2 on the other side, but no one appearred to be doing anything. One boat down there fishing early, but he didn't stay very long.
Garry
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Nice report. Those are some big blues. t^
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Hit the canal at 4:30PM this afternoon. Identical tides as this morning, and extended fast water due to the south wind. Water was clear, weed and cabbage heavy this afternoon, boat traffic moderate.
Fished the wall with the rapala from Pine Bluff Ave all the way to the route 88 bridge, looking for a hungry striper. Got one about 45 minutes after I started in the same eddy as the 2 I got this morning, fish was about 20 inches. Fished my favorite spot as the water slowed with the Fin-S, and nothing, worked the wall and the hole.
I figured I'd go check the westerly side for access and try it before the tide switched, so headed out and found access to the westerly side, I'll write up the directions when I get a chance. Worked the wall and several holes with both the rapala and the Fin-S from River Road to the route 88 bridge, had one bluefish bite a Fin-S off and that was the sum total of the action.
Fishing is way off, I'm sure due to the south wind, there's really no other reason for it.
Met a guy who just moved in on the westerly side, and he invited me to access the canal through his yard anytime, real nice guy. Also met another guy who peruses this site and recognized me, and said he's going to join now.
I was debating fishing the nite tide tonight, however, there is a good tide situation at 5:30AM tomorrow morning for a couple of hours, and Weather Underground is saying a 60 percent chance of thunderstorms from 11AM on tomorrow, so that may be what the fish need to go on a feed, will give it a shot in the morning.
Garry
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Nice report Garry. Good luck on tomorrow's outing. t^
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Good report Garry. I am sure that the change in the fronts have a lot to do with the bite being off. I fished Ortley this evening I tried all the usual holes not even a hit or a tap. This must be a good front coming through. Batten down the hatches boys its goina blow, Argh...
Paul
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Gary,
What kind of rapala are you using, an X-rap ?
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Hit the canal at 5:30 this morning. Water was clear, weed and cabbage almost non existant on outgoing, and BAD on incoming. Boat traffic only a little above normal(surprised me), and a few guys fishing at the mouth of the canal.
Started working the wall with the rapala at Pine Bluff Ave., right where I walk in. 3rd Cast, I get a good hit, turns out to be about an 8 pound bluefish, the best kind too, he gave me a great fight, and came off right at my feet when I brought him in. Worked a little ways up and got a striper about 20 inches, didn't get a pic because the pack was still on my back. Worked up to my spot and then to the eddy at the 88 bridge, and picked up another 20 incher in the eddy. Action died with the rapala, so I switched to the Fin-S and got another 20 incher right at my regular spot.
So by 6:15 I had 3 shorts, a good day already, considering what the south wind has done to the fishing lately.
Couldn't do nothing in the holes with the Fin-S, so I switched to a Storm Big Mac deep diver. I like the Big Mac, it's a deep diver, yet doesn't bend your rod in half diving down(and I use a light rod). Problem is it is poorly designed as to location of the hooks. I cast it this one time, and retreiving, it doesn't quite feel like it's vibrating right, and as I watch it come out of the depths, I can see the 2 rear hooks hooked together, prolly due to the fact that it isn't very areodynamic. Like this:
So as I watch it come up, a split second after I see the hooks, a bass follows it out of the depths and grabs it. I set the hook, but it didn't work, LMAO. Was real cool to see though. It was a better bass too, maybe even a keeper, but at least bigger than what I have been catching lately. I am going to remove the middle hook to eliminate that problem ever happening again, LMAO.
Tide started ripping to hard, and I left about 8:30, boat traffic had pretty well died, and only one person fishing from the bank that I saw. Probably due to the look of the sky and the fact that they're calling for thunderstorms this early afternoon.
Garry
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I've been fishing point pleasant canal just about everyday. I've been getting so many storm lures chewed up by monster blues its ridiculous. I've had a 15+ lb blue on the line just about everytime I go. For some odd reason, I never bring a net( Net is a MUST ). I'm going to start hitting the canal around 3:00 AM (tide dep.) in search of my weary striper. Today is the 4th so boat traffic was already bad at 8:30am. No luck incoming tide. This is my first time on this site and already getting good info from Garry.
"Keep the fish throw the old lady back"
Ren
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Gary,
What kind of rapala are you using, an X-rap ?
Ed,
Yes, I'm using an X-Rap SXR-12, at 3/4 ounce in the Glass Ghost(white) finish.
I also have the same lure, same finish in SXR-14 at 1 1/2 ounces, which I think might even be a better imitation of the baitfish in the area, but it's difficult to argue with the success I've had with the 12, but I'll try the 14 when I get the chance.
Garry
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I've been fishing point pleasant canal just about everyday. I've been getting so many storm lures chewed up by monster blues its ridiculous. I've had a 15+ lb blue on the line just about everytime I go. For some odd reason, I never bring a net( Net is a MUST ). I'm going to start hitting the canal around 3:00 AM (tide dep.) in search of my weary striper. Today is the 4th so boat traffic was already bad at 8:30am. No luck incoming tide. This is my first time on this site and already getting good info from Garry.
"Keep the fish throw the old lady back"
Ren
Ren,
Boat traffic really wasn't that bad considering it's a holiday weekend, I've seen it a LOT worse.
I mentioned in a previous post that there are some really big blues laying on the bottom in the canal. And incidentally, you don't have to tell me about plastic bait being bit off, I'm going broke on Fin-S fish, but it's the little 2 pound blues doing all the damage, they're to small to take the whole thing, and just bite them in half, and the canal is really infested with those little blues this year, worst I've ever seen.
Garry
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Gary,
What kind of rapala are you using, an X-rap ?
Ed,
Yes, I'm using an X-Rap SXR-12, at 3/4 ounce in the Glass Ghost(white) finish.
I also have the same lure, same finish in SXR-14 at 1 1/2 ounces, which I think might even be a better imitation of the baitfish in the area, but it's difficult to argue with the success I've had with the 12, but I'll try the 14 when I get the chance.
Garrt
Great, I have that exact lure and color in my surf bag. I'll be sure to give it a try. What did you think of fishing the westerly side ? At least it keeps the sun off during the hot afternoon. I went and checked it out at the end of River rd. but didn't put in much fishing time yet.
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First Welcome Aboard Ren, good report thanks.
Second if the trebles are hooking up that way I would remove the middle treble, the blues usually go for the tail and the bass will go for the head so your covered either way.
Just use a split ring pliers to remove it and see if the action changes drastically, just by looking at it it should alter the swimming action to much.
There is another trick and that would be to switch out to single hooks and do away with the trebles altogether. It would be easier to remove them as well especially in low light conditions.
Happy Catching
Paul
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Great, I have that exact lure and color in my surf bag. I'll be sure to give it a try. What did you think of fishing the westerly side ? At least it keeps the sun off during the hot afternoon. I went and checked it out at the end of River rd. but didn't put in much fishing time yet.
Ed, I fished the westerly side yesterday from River Road, almost up to the 88 bridge. While I definitely appreciate being in the shade in the afternoom, frankly, I didn't care for the westerly side, I like the water flow on the easterly side better, but maybe thats just because I'm used to it.
Garry
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First Welcome Aboard Ren, good report thanks.
Second if the trebles are hooking up that way I would remove the middle treble, the blues usually go for the tail and the bass will go for the head so your covered either way.
Just use a split ring pliers to remove it and see if the action changes drastically, just by looking at it it should alter the swimming action to much.
There is another trick and that would be to switch out to single hooks and do away with the trebles altogether. It would be easier to remove them as well especially in low light conditions.
Happy Catching
Paul
Good advice Paul. I plan on removing the middle hook and checking the action, but I have been thinking of going to single hooks, as you mention. The other day, I lost a striper at the net because the front treble tangled in it, and he came off before I could actually net him.
Garry
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Garry,
Considering the holiday boat traffic was not too bad. (Yet) But, just enough for me to quit the striper search. For me, I have had too many lures destroyed while fishing closer to the condos with attacks by smaller blues. For some reason the blues seem to be alot bigger closer to 88 bridge. Only seem to be loners like you said. Have an awesome 4th and hope to see you out.
Ren
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Hi Garry, I have changed over to single hooks on most of my plugs and have had better hook up ratios I guess by changing over it gives the lure a better profile in the water as well.
Paul
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Hi Garry, I have changed over to single hooks on most of my plugs and have had better hook up ratios I guess by changing over it gives the lure a better profile in the water as well.
Paul
Paul, I agree, I think I need to do the same thing the more I think about it, at least for the few plugs I do use. Still like a single hook on a jig with a Fin-S the best though, LOL.
Garry
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TT^ grtn
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Hi Garry, I have changed over to single hooks on most of my plugs and have had better hook up ratios I guess by changing over it gives the lure a better profile in the water as well.
Paul
Paul,
Do you find that it changes the action at all? Have you done this to Bombers ? I tried it today on a deep diving plug but I haven't used it yet. I used 3/0 VMC Siwash hooks.
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Lost9340 and I decided to hit the canal this afternoon. Going over the Mantaloking bridge, I was pleased to see the wind coming from the north. Arrived at about 4:30PM. Tides are really messed up with this weather, water should have been to fast, and wasn't, and should have been fishable till about 8:30, but was ripping so fast by 7:30PM, I called it quits. Water was more turbid than it has been, weed horrendus on the incoming, and boat traffic higher than normal, but liveable.
Started working the rapala along the wall as I worked up to my spot, and Lost9340 went to his favorite hole. Worked almost all the way up to my spot and finally got a hit, a striper, about 22 inches, right against the wall on the rapala.
At about the same time, Lost9340 went up by the bridge near the eddy and connected with one about 18 inches, also on the rapala:
And that was it for the evening. Lost9340 met an older gentleman up by the bridge, who had been fishing bait for 8 years or something in the canal, and never caught a fish. So he told him what lures to use, and the guy caught 2 blues on a bomber. He is going to look at the site tonight. Saw my friend Scott, and fished with him for a while, but neither of us did anything. However, we did see a big striper roll on the surface, so they're in there. We need a change in weather, and wind. He is going to look at the site also. Overall, still a good day, good company, a good fishing spot, and a few bass caught.
Garry
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Nice report Wink. You are the King of the Canal. t^
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Good report as usual Garry. chrz
EdV, I have changed many over but I don't really use Bombers to much so I can't comment on them, but If the action is a little different it usually means that there is not enough drag on the tail. I would tie on some bucktail hair to the hook to give the lure a little more drag and that should make it wobble better.
Good luck.
Paul
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Hit the Point Pleasant canal this morning about 6AM. Water was turbid, weed low in the outgoing, boat traffic light. Worked the wall and all my favorite holes with the rapala, Fin-S, storm big mac, storm 6 inch rubber shad, and couldn't draw a fish. One Hit from a blue, he slashed the Fin-S. Blues were actually so absent, that I used the 6 inch rubber storm shad a greater majority of the time, and still have it in one piece, LOL. Conditions were ideal too, tides running more like normal, cloudy and overcast, and even a mild rain for about half an hour. Left about 8:15, I started fishing the incoming, hoping the opposite water flow would change things, but it didn't, and weed and cabbage was so bad on the incoming, it's not worth fishing once the water starts flowing, even mildly. Maybe tonight.
Garry
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Good try Garry. I am hoping to get out tonight if the rain holds up. It can be miserable at IBSP in the rain.
Paul
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???
I did not fish the canal yesterday 7/5/08 but did head out on the boat for some striper fishing. Plenty of bunker snagged outside mouth of the inlet on both sides but did not seem like anything was underneath them. We trolled for a while as well with no luck(Maybe next time). Also, I stopped by the canal today about 10:00AM and tried out the FIN-S with no luck. Getting a little frustrated today but looking to give the canal another shot later in the day. Garry have you fished the canal yest. or today? If so any luck?
Ren
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Hit the canal at 1:30PM today, as I had a favorable tide.
I attempted to fish it yesterday evening, and got there at 5PM, worked my way up to my spot, working the rapala against the wall as I went with no results, and when I got to my spot the skies opened up, headed for the truck, totally drenched, and that was the end of that.
Tide this afternoon was incoming to outgoing. Wind out of the northeast, and light, water turbid on the incoming and clear on the outgoing. Weed minimal on both tides for a change, it's been real bad on the incoming for the past couple of days. All the boats you could possibly want traveling through there. A lot of people fishing at the mouth of the canal, by the river, no one appeared to be doing much of anything.
Worked the wall up to my spot with the rapala, I had one hit, and didn't hook it, prolly a small striper, as it was right against the wall.
Worked my favorite hole from incoming, through slack to outgoing with the Rapala, Fin-S, Storm Big Mac, and 6 inch rubber storm shad, not a hit to be had, not even a bluefish. Fished till 4:15PM and left, as the water was ripping.
May head back tonight as I have some good fishable water from about 6:30PM to 10:30PM.
Garry
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Hit the canal about 6:10PM this evening. Same wind conditions, water clarity, etc, as early afternoon. Boat traffic down quite a bit though, and obviously, opposite tides.
Worked the wall of the canal with the rapala from Pine Bluff Ave, all the way up to the 88 bridge, and couldn't draw a strike.
Worked my favorite hole with all the same lures worked this afternoon, not a hit, not even a bluefish. Friend Scott caught one blue, about 4 pounds. Worked my way out casing the fin-s into all the holes, and not a strike. On my second to last cast, the Fin-S was slahed by a small bluefish, that was it. I left at 9:15. Still had fishable water till 10:30, but it was so dead, it wasn't worth staying. Hopefully things will start getting back to normal now that the south wind has seemed to stop.
Garry
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Good try Garry,
I have a few things I have to do during the day tomorrow and if the weather holds up I am going to try and get out tomorrow evening now that the crowds have calmed down.
I don't know about the winds it seems that they have been out of the south for a while and the NWS is saying that that trend will continue for most of the week. Oh well.
Happy Catching
Paul
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Good try Garry,
I have a few things I have to do during the day tomorrow and if the weather holds up I am going to try and get out tomorrow evening now that the crowds have calmed down.
I don't know about the winds it seems that they have been out of the south for a while and the NWS is saying that that trend will continue for most of the week. Oh well.
Happy Catching
Paul
Paul, good luck, I hope you do something.
I didn't look at a weather report, I looked at the sky, and then the flag going over the Mantaloking bridge. No matter what NWS is saying, I saw the wind coming out of the northeast, this afternoon, and this evening. I hope the south wind is done, but it's prolly not.
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I have the same feeling.
Yeah, I think it is just as good (NWS) as consulting the weather rock. The only thing the rock is never wrong... rofla rofla
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I was out on Barnegat Bay today and the forecast was for southerly winds, but it was blowing ENE for much of the day today. 5hrug
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Hey here is an idea if we all can chip in we could set up our own weather stations along the coast and just log into them for real time info. I do this with a number of sites now but most are not real time data.
The closest thing is the Weather Underground.
http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=08753
But I noticed that the re are a number of sites that come and go online and offline.
"NJ Saltwater Fisherman, real time weather for reel time fishing"... t^
Paul
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Hit the Point Pleasant Canal about 6:30PM this evening, had a good tide and good water till about 10:30PM. South/southwest wind, water clarity very clear on outgoing, boat traffic minimal, weed and cabbage minimal.
Fished the south end tonight, by the condos, figuring maybe the bass were more active down there, since I haven't been able to do anything at the north end lately.
Not a thing, not even a bluefish. I did have 2 Fin-S fish chopped off by bluefish, but that was it. Fish are there, I saw stripers rolling at dusk. Also saw several schools of smaller fish in the surface at dark, not sure if they were small blues, or hickory shad, but wouldn't take a lure, and hickory shad readily hit a 3/4 ounce hopkins shorty, so do blues(which I threw right at them), no interest.
Left at 9:15PM, didn't even wait for the tide to change, it was that dead.
Garry
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Not a thing, not even a bluefish. I did have 2 Fin-S fish chopped off by bluefish, but that was it. Fish are there, I saw stripers rolling at dusk.
Garry
Garry,
I've run into that problem when I used to fish the bridges on LBI a lot. One night the stripers were really feeding heavily on something, but I couldn't figure out what it was. They were rolling on the surface, just like you said. I was throwing everything I could at them, Fin S, swim shads, bombers, metal, etc. Then it dawned on me to try these tiny 2 1/2" Fin S that I had with me. I rigged one on the smallest jighead I could find (which was like 1/8 oz.) and tossed it in.
Bang! Just like that I was hooking up like crazy! One after the other! The only problem I had was that these jigheads were the freshwater style, so I lost a lot of fish when they straightened the hooks out. But I still managed to land a bunch that night in the 15 to 20 lb. range! t^
Maybe next time that happens you should try to downsize and see what happens. It couldn't hurt! ;D
Good luck!
-Bob
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Bob, thanks for the tip, will give it a try next time. I do have small saltwater jigheads, down to 1/8 ounce, just need to pick up the small Fin-S. What color Fin-S did you get them on?
Garry
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I think they were black with gold flake. I used to use them as teasers in front of the main lure, but they wouldn't take them that way.
Like you said about the Fin S I picked up for you, I don't think the color matters a whole lot. In this case, I'm sure it was the size of the bait and rate of fall that made the difference. I think they were probably keying in on the shrimp that gather under the lights.
-Bob
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Hit the Point Pleasant Canal late this afternoon. I haven't been going, because the fishing is SO off with this south wind, but I had a good tide this afternoon, so thought I'd give it a go.
Walked down Pine Bluff Ave to the canal, and started working the wall up towards my spot with the Rapala. Surprisingly, I caught a blue, right against the wall, thats unusual(or so I thought,LMAO). Worked all the way up to my spot, 2 more blues, no stripers.
When I got to my spot, I picked up a striper, right against the wall, small is the best way to desribe him, but nevertheless, at least it was a striper:
Worked the holes with the Rapala, Fin-S, and Storm Big Mac, could not draw a strike from a striper. Bluefish were annoying, to say the least, I caught at least a dozen of those 2 to 4 pounders, they even hit the Storm Big Mac.
So I was reeling in a 2 pound blue, when right at my feet, a much larger fish came out of the depths and grabbed it. I couldn't tell what it was, but I snapped the bail open and let him run with it. When I set the hook, nothing, so I reeled up, and it must have been a big alligator blue, because here is what I had left, LOL:
Water was clear, boat traffic minimal, weed and cabbage minimal, wind out of the southwest. Still slow and very off in my opinion, I think if the wind changes, things will get back to normal, but I must say, the bluefish were very aggressive today.
Garry
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Good report as usual,to bad you couldn't hook up with whatever chomped your blue in half,had to be a good sized fish,a striper would take that I think. t^
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Nice report Garry, them blues will tear up anything in sight, including their own. TT^
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Good report as usual,to bad you couldn't hook up with whatever chomped your blue in half,had to be a good sized fish,a striper would take that I think. t^
I agree, I think a striper would have no problem inhaling a 2 pound blue. However, it was obviously an alligator blue that grabbed it, stripers don't have the teeth to do that kind of damage. Hmmm, maybe I'll start livelining bluefish in the canal, LOL.
Garry
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Fished the west side today by River Ave. at about 4pm. Started throwing a small rapala magnum for a while but no takers. I wanted to see how a Bomber would swim with the water flow so I put on a chicken scratch long-a and gave it a try. I didn't think the bomber would get deep enough to reach the fish but after a few casts Bam! big fish on. Drag starts screaming and I had to tighten it up to land the fish. Was hoping for a striper but when I finally got it up I see a big blue at least 12 lbs. What a fight, this fish really kicked my butt. Now its time to land him and guess what, no net. This time I was prepared though, I brought a glove with me and wrapped my hand around the fireline a few times. Worked like a charm, no pain and the line held up fine. After that I got a smaller blue on the same lure and that was it . Left at about 5:30. Well no stripers but catching blues is still alot of fun.
Ed
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Great Report Ed.. t^
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Ed, great report, and great fish, there are some big alligators hanging in the canal, and while they lay on the bottom, they have no problem coming up for a bait. Like the one that cut my small 2 pound blue in half yesterday, he literally grabbed the fish right at my feet, I saw him grab it. And any large fish in there is a blast, when they use that fast moving water to their advantage.
I too attempted to fish the canal at 4PM today, water should have been good till 8PM or so. Got there at around 4PM, and before I started fishing, got a phone call, and wound up getting distracted by a very lovely brunette, I figuered the fishing has been way off anyways, so what the heck. I must have just missed you.
Managed to get back to the canal at 8:15PM, but the water was already running pretty hard. I worked the wall from Pine Bluff Ave to the 88 bridge with the rapala, and not even a strike. SO I tried some of my favorite holes with the Fin-S, but the water was ripping to fast to hold bottom effectively.
A lot of boat traffic for that hour, surprised me, water was clear on the outgoing, and a lot of weed and cabbage in the water.
Garry
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Ed, great report, and great fish, there are some big alligators hanging in the canal, and while they lay on the bottom, they have no problem coming up for a bait. Like the one that cut my small 2 pound blue in half yesterday, he literally grabbed the fish right at my feet, I saw him grab it. And any large fish in there is a blast, when they use that fast moving water to their advantage.
Garry,
Do you walk through all those brush and weeds and go all the way to the bridge ? If so did you ever have any problem with ticks or chiggers ? Maybe a few of us who fish there could meet up with weedwackers and do a little cleanup. I checked out under the bridge on the west side but the fence is higher there and plugging would be a little difficult.
I too attempted to fish the canal at 4PM today, water should have been good till 8PM or so. Got there at around 4PM, and before I started fishing, got a phone call, and wound up getting distracted by a very lovely brunette, I figuered the fishing has been way off anyways, so what the heck. I must have just missed you.
Managed to get back to the canal at 8:15PM, but the water was already running pretty hard. I worked the wall from Pine Bluff Ave to the 88 bridge with the rapala, and not even a strike. SO I tried some of my favorite holes with the Fin-S, but the water was ripping to fast to hold bottom effectively.
A lot of boat traffic for that hour, surprised me, water was clear on the outgoing, and a lot of weed and cabbage in the water.
Garry
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Do you walk through all those brush and weeds and go all the way to the bridge ? If so did you ever have any problem with ticks or chiggers ? Maybe a few of us who fish there could meet up with weedwackers and do a little cleanup. I checked out under the bridge on the west side but the fence is higher there and plugging would be a little difficult.
Ed,
Yup, I walk through all that brush. There doesn't appear to be enough dead wood on the ground for chiggers, and I've never had a tick on me there, although I do know a few who have gotten one or two.
Whereever the fence is to high, I simply climb over it.
I personally prefer the weeds and brush there, as it disappoints a lot of people from walking up into that area and fishing.
Garry
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Do you walk through all those brush and weeds and go all the way to the bridge ? If so did you ever have any problem with ticks or chiggers ? Maybe a few of us who fish there could meet up with weedwackers and do a little cleanup. I checked out under the bridge on the west side but the fence is higher there and plugging would be a little difficult.
Ed,
Yup, I walk through all that brush. There doesn't appear to be enough dead wood on the ground for chiggers, and I've never had a tick on me there, although I do know a few who have gotten one or two.
Whereever the fence is to high, I simply climb over it.
I personally prefer the weeds and brush there, as it disappoints a lot of people from walking up into that area and fishing.
Garry
Yes you have a good point there Garry. Less people is better.
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Hit the canal at about 4:15PM today. Water was moving to fast, and I knew that but had time to kill waiting for it to slow down. Water was turbid on the incoming, and a LOT of cabbage and weed. Boat traffic was heavy, to say the least. Worked my way up from Pine Bluff Ave. to the 88 bridge, working the rapala against the wall. Caught 2 bluefish, about 3-4 pounds each, no stripers. The striped ones always seem to feed on the outgoing, so I wasn't concerned, and it's been slow with the south wind anyways.
Worked the holes when the water slowed down with the Fin-s and plugs, couldn't draw a strike, except for a few bluefish chopping my Fin-S fish off.
Met up with friend Scott just before slack tide, he had been fishing at the inlet, caught 10 fluke in 2 hours, all shorts. Tide switched, and Scott caught a striper, on a rubber shad was about 20-22 inches.
Then I catch a small blue, about a pound and a half. Decided to liveline him. Started working him into the current, and thought I saw a bigger fish roll on him. Then Scott saw it, and said the fish that went after it was at least 30 inches, but in any event, he missed grabbing it. Worked him further down the wall in the current, and something grabbed it. Didn't run far, and when I reeled in, I had half a bluefish, chopped cleanly in half, just like the one yesterday. So the front half was still wiggling a bit, and I lobbed it back out. Took 10 steps with the current and something grabbed it and ran, he stopped, I counted to 5, and set the hook. The fish took off like I didn't have any drag, and I have the drag set at 7 pounds on a scale. Went about 40 feet, and the line went slack, the fish was obviously an alligator blue, and chopped right through my 50# mono leader.
Worked my way down towards Pine Bluff to head for home casting a Bomber, and caught one more blue, about 3 pounds. Left about 9:15PM.
Garry
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Garry you seem to have awesome action in the canal,I'm struggling to maintain the expense of this boat I sort of inherited from my son to fish open water,well not so open pretty much stay in the bay.been fighting this motor on the boat since last year,last time out not running good,had ordered carb kits on line,broke down and took carbs off tonite,kits came in today,going to clean and rebuild tomorrow,if it don't workout going to try to repower for next year,then I'll go your way try your type of fishing for the rest of this year,neighbor John who goes with me has great action off the jetties at long branch,he actually had more action then we had when we we went out Thursday.love my fishing but this boat expense is killing me,If it don't workout, will try it your way.your report was great as always t^always enjoy reading them Kez
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Kez,
Yup, I know about the expense killing ya. With college tuition for 2 kids, my boats are sitting in the yard. Typical economics, to run my Parker from my house to the river, fish for the day, and run back, I'll burn about 14-15 gallons of gas, and thats just fishing the river. To get in the truck, and drive to the canal, fish and drive back takes 1 gallon of gas. a trip a day, 7 days a week, adds up quickly, LMAO.
Fortuantely, the Canal is one of the few places you can fish more effectively from land, than a boat, and also has large fish in it. While they don't come easy, they are there, and I like the challenge. Real trick in the canal is to liveline live bait, herring, eels, bunker, bergalls, etc., I just prefer to fool them on artificials.
If you decide to fish the canal, let me know, I'll meet you there one day and show you around, and how I fish it.
Garry
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I headed down to the canal last night and did'nt even get hit! But I did go to the inlet early that same day and caught a 5 fluke at the start of incoming tide(no keepers). It seems to me that the best time to fish at the inlet is right in the beginning of incoming tide. I have not been doing very well in the canal for the past week or so. There was alot of traffic in the canal this morning. I headed to Pine Bluff at about 3:30 AM and had a few strikes but nothing on. So I decided to go to the condos and try my luck there. There was a man next to me fly fishing and scoring alot of small blues but no Stripers in sight. I was surprised to see the blues hitting on metal b/c thats a first for me this year(I'm usually getting my rubber demolished). No Alligator blues either. I headed back to pine bluff at around 6:30 AM and fished until 9:30 AM and still no sign of anything except smaller blues. When all was said and done I landed 11 blues but not one striper. I had fun but a little dissapointed.
Ren
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Garry,I'm not ready to give up yet,thanks for your offer,if things don't work out I'll give you a shout. Kez
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Hey Wink man that guy Scott I think is my brother(back Dodge PU and lives in Point) We grew up just behind the Ocean Road School and fished the canal since the we were old enough to ride our bikes more than 2 blocks from the house 1975 or so. I fish with Scott at the inlet a lot my daughter doesn't seem to like fishing at the canal much. The canal has always been a great shore fishing spot from fluke, snappers, black fish and the many bass I have taken out of there. I have even done good in Dec. for stripers and blues. Yesterday there were what I thought were shad all over the new 70 bridge breaking the surface. I was down there for the shark weigh in yesterday. Only 1 small thresher. Mabe I'll run in to you. Later Chris t^
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Hey Wink man that guy Scott I think is my brother(back Dodge PU and lives in Point) We grew up just behind the Ocean Road School and fished the canal since the we were old enough to ride our bikes more than 2 blocks from the house 1975 or so. I fish with Scott at the inlet a lot my daughter doesn't seem to like fishing at the canal much. The canal has always been a great shore fishing spot from fluke, snappers, black fish and the many bass I have taken out of there. I have even done good in Dec. for stripers and blues. Yesterday there were what I thought were shad all over the new 70 bridge breaking the surface. I was down there for the shark weigh in yesterday. Only 1 small thresher. Mabe I'll run in to you. Later Chris t^
Chris,
Yup, thats the exact same Scott we are talking about, LOL. Tell him to join the site, I told him, and he hasn't done it yet, I need more fishing reports besides mine on here, and we're just moving along now. Also have Ed V and Ren giving us some real good reports. So if we could get some from you and your brother, would be good. This sticky is taking off, a lot of reads and a lot of guests viewing it. Cmon guests, lets join up and put in some reports here. Scotts reports(and yours), would be highly appreciated. Hope to run into you down there.
Garry
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Garry,I'm not ready to give up yet,thanks for your offer,if things don't work out I'll give you a shout. Kez
No problem Kez, I'm always around.
Garry
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I headed down to the canal last night and did'nt even get hit! But I did go to the inlet early that same day and caught a 5 fluke at the start of incoming tide(no keepers). It seems to me that the best time to fish at the inlet is right in the beginning of incoming tide. I have not been doing very well in the canal for the past week or so. There was alot of traffic in the canal this morning. I headed to Pine Bluff at about 3:30 AM and had a few strikes but nothing on. So I decided to go to the condos and try my luck there. There was a man next to me fly fishing and scoring alot of small blues but no Stripers in sight. I was surprised to see the blues hitting on metal b/c thats a first for me this year(I'm usually getting my rubber demolished). No Alligator blues either. I headed back to pine bluff at around 6:30 AM and fished until 9:30 AM and still no sign of anything except smaller blues. When all was said and done I landed 11 blues but not one striper. I had fun but a little dissapointed.
Ren
Ren,
Good report, and good try. The striper fishing has been slow there lately, but they are there. I think I've only caught one, in the past week. Boat traffic was horrendus on Friday, so I skipped the weekend. Will hit it next week and see whats happening.
Garry
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garry,
i'll be leaving toronto for south jersey tomorrow, hopefully i'll get a chance to go fishing with you. can you pm me or email me: dapbmw at rogers dot com
cheers,
dave
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Hit the canal about 4PM today, couldn't understand why the water was running so hard. SOOOOO I went home, and discovered I read the tide chart wrong. Got something to eat and headed back around 6:30PM. Water was turbid on the incoming, and weed very bad during the hard running water. Boat traffic minimal.
Water was a little clearer at 6:30, and the weed was down also. About a dozen guys fishing from Pinebluff north to the canal entrance, didn't look like anyone was doing anything. Worked the wall from Pine Bluff up to my spot with the rapala and picked up 3 stripers along the way in about 45 minutes, all shorts, smallest about 18 inches, largest about 22. Lost a fourth. Didn't take any pics because the camera was in my pack, on my back.
When I got up close to my spot, I caught a 2 pound blue on the rapala, and this time was prepared, LMAO. Unhooked him, took the rapala off, put on a wire leader with 2 hooks I made up, and livelined him. Had him out in the slight current(was almost slack water), fighting the rod on the surface, and it took all of about 5 minutes of his struggling for something to find him and grab him. I let it run, counted to 5 when it stopped and set the hook. GOOOOOD fish, I could feel it right away. Landed him where I stood,and it was a big alligator blue, 36 inches, 13 pounds 7 ounces:
Worked the wall up at my spot with the rapala and did nothing, then used the Fin-S and picked up another small striper against the wall.
Action then kind of died on the slack, and didn't pick back up on the outgoing, which surprised me, cause usually I do good on the outgoing tide, but either way, I'm certainly not complaining. Hopefully this south wind is done, and things will start getting back to normal.
Left at about 10PM, even though the water was still fishable, just nothing happenning.
Garry
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Good report as usual Garry... grtn t^
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Hit the canal at 2AM, as I had a good outgoing tide, and didn't feel like sleeping. Weed minimal, water clear, and not a boat from 2AM till 5:45AM. Grand total of 5 boats when I left at 6:30AM. Fishing was slow, caught one striper around 3AM, about 24 inches, and caught a second at 5:45 when the first boat went past me. Both against the wall on the rapala. Could not get a hit in any of the holes, using the usual assortment of lures. But not one bluefish caught, and not one Fin-S chopped up by a bluefish, so it was a good morning, LOL. I need a nap.
Garry
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Good report, enjoy that nap.
NJDEVIL >:D
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Great report Garry. Its nice to hear that the stripers are being caught this week ( It gives me the incentive and motivation to want to get there) You are the Canal Master! I too went to the canal last night. I guess the alligator blues are still in there judging by your report and also the guy next to me caught a 37 incher. I unfortunetly did'nt have any luck and the mosquitos were so bad that by the time I left it looked like I had the chicken pox LMAO. ( Left the bug spray in the car ). I am going to try tonight at about 6 PM and see whats happening.
Ren
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Nice bluefish t^
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Nice reports guys. t^
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Not much to report this time. Fished the west side of the canal the last 2 days on my way home from work. Started at about 4pm both days and got the big skunk. Fished mostly swimming plugs but tried metal and soft plastic also. Weeds were bad yesterday but no problem at all today.
Probably won't get back there till next week.
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Hit the canal last night at about 7:30. Water was running to fast, and I knew it, but had time to kill, and didn't want to fish real late. Weed and cabbage was very bad during the fast running water, water semi clear, boat traffic medium.
Worked my way up the wall and didn't do anything, water was really to fast and to much weed. There is a backwater eddy by the 88 bridge where fish tend to hang during fast water times, so I went there and got a short striper on the rapala, and lost a second right at the net:
Left about 10pm, water had slowed down by then, but it was pretty dead.
Hit it again this morning at 5am. Had real good water. Worked all the way up the wall with the rapala, and couldn't draw a strike from a striper, or anything else for that matter. I did have 3 alligator blues follow the lure all the way in, but no takers, the big blues are definitely there. But as I have stated before, live bait is the way to go. Chris livelined a bergall and got one of the alligators, gave him a great fight. Chris isn't exactly a computer geek, LMAO, but his wife is going to join and post reports for him. She said she'll post a report later and put in a pic, she's a good girl, had coffee for me when I stopped over to shoot the breeze. They live right on the canal, and Chris fishes it regularly. She wasn't exactly a happy camper about being awakened at 6:30 am to take pics, but she's a pretty good sport, and her reports on what Chris is catching in the canal will be appreciated.
I quit fishing about 8am, as again, it was pretty dead actionwise, but live bait definitely wakes the big fish up in there.
Garry
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Good job Gary, the stripers there have been avoiding me so far but I'll get one eventually. I also have to get another X-rap like the one you have. I lost mine on the fence due to operator error.
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Nice report Gary, as usual.
Ed, too funny about the fence. I almost lost a plug to a Buick on the new Belmar bridge. Don't ask me about that. ;D
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Im starting to feel that I'm wasting good fishing time all those nights I go to the inlet. Any tips for fishing in the canal?
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Im starting to feel that I'm wasting good fishing time all those nights I go to the inlet. Any tips for fishing in the canal?
Greg,
If you read my reports in here, you'll see how and what I do, I have no secrets(daughter says I'm a lousy liar, LMAO).
But a couple off the top of my head:
1. Use the tide chart for the Coast Guard Station on the Manasquan River, and fish 2 hours AFTER any tide, this will give you about 4 hours of good fishing, anytime otherwise, the water is running to fast to fish effectively.
2. Avoid weekends and boat traffic, LOL.
3. Most stripers are taken working the wall, casting parallel to it and working a lure back to you, and I mean right against the wall. Xrap, size 12 in Glass Ghost finish is very efective for the stripers, so is a 5 & 3/4 inch Fin-S in either alewive or arkansas shiner finish.
4. Those 2 pound bluefish that bother you to death there and chop your Fin-S fish in half make great live bait when livelined for the alligator blues that are in there.(just use a stinger hook, because the alligators tend to chop those 2 pounders in half, and take off with the back end).
5. When weakfish are in, a 4 inch Fin-S(in pink) is the only game in town if you want consistent results.
6. Any livelined bait, ie. herring, snappers, bergals, eels, will out fish lures 10 to 1, but again, as long as you have a good water flow, as I mentiond in #1 and the water isn't running to fast.
7. And maybe most important. Have a good quality net with a heavy duty deep mesh bag(I prefer 42 inches deep) and a long handle, remember the water is a ways down there, and there is a fence. And NEVER let that net be out of arms reach, or one day you will regret it, and remind yourself for months on end what an inept idiot you were. (Don't ask me how I know this).
Garry
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Thanks for the pointers. I enjoy reading your reports. I have notice you are an avid canal fisherman and I was hoping you would share the knowledge, haha ;D I have to get out there now and try and catch some fish.
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No fishing today(maybe later), need to play Mr. Mom, cause as I've stated previously, the kids like to be fed and watered occassionally, and like clean clothes. Took a little scouting trip to the inlet, which I wrote a post on. In the process of my scouting trip, I stopped at Garden State Marina, as I needed a few packs of Fin-S fish. Ran into an old clamdigger, whom I highly respect, and whose knowledge of fishing in the area is vast, he's been here and fished here all his life, and is quite adept at pulling big bass out of the canal on artificials, much more so than I am. I'm only fishing stripers because weakfish aren't in, stripers aren't exactly my specialty.
Anyways, when this guy talks, I listen. In the course of the conversation to me, he announced, that once the bass get into their summer pattern in the canal(which they are now) It is strictly a nighttime proposition for the big ones, on the last of the incoming to the beginning of the outgoing. He says thats the only time they feed. Just info I thought I'd pass along, like I said, when this guy talks(which is rarely), I listen.
Garry
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Thanks...very interesting!! I am sure he knows best! One day, instead of hitting the Inlet, I am going to try the Canal. Only fished there a few times when I was younger! Thanks for the great reports as usual and good luck!!
TT^
P.S. Completely "understand" the Mr. Mom days
;D
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Good scouting trip Garry.
Mr. Mom has been my life for almost 19 years now. She is going to college but it is here at OCC about 10 min from the house. We just cleaned and rearranged my studio around to fit another artist in there. Now I have to order another easel for her and she will be all set.
As far as me, I guess it will be another 2 years that she will be in the nest.
Happy Catching
Paul
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Im starting to feel that I'm wasting good fishing time all those nights I go to the inlet. Any tips for fishing in the canal?
Greg,
If you read my reports in here, you'll see how and what I do, I have no secrets(daughter says I'm a lousy liar, LMAO).
But a couple off the top of my head:
1. Use the tide chart for the Coast Guard Station on the Manasquan River, and fish 2 hours AFTER any tide, this will give you about 4 hours of good fishing, anytime otherwise, the water is running to fast to fish effectively.
2. Avoid weekends and boat traffic, LOL.
3. Most stripers are taken working the wall, casting parallel to it and working a lure back to you, and I mean right against the wall. Xrap, size 12 in Glass Ghost finish is very efective for the stripers, so is a 5 & 3/4 inch Fin-S in either alewive or arkansas shiner finish.
4. Those 2 pound bluefish that bother you to death there and chop your Fin-S fish in half make great live bait when livelined for the alligator blues that are in there.(just use a stinger hook, because the alligators tend to chop those 2 pounders in half, and take off with the back end).
5. When weakfish are in, a 4 inch Fin-S(in pink) is the only game in town if you want consistent results.
6. Any livelined bait, ie. herring, snappers, bergals, eels, will out fish lures 10 to 1, but again, as long as you have a good water flow, as I mentiond in #1 and the water isn't running to fast.
7. And maybe most important. Have a good quality net with a heavy duty deep mesh bag(I prefer 42 inches deep) and a long handle, remember the water is a ways down there, and there is a fence. And NEVER let that net be out of arms reach, or one day you will regret it, and remind yourself for months on end what an inept idiot you were. (Don't ask me how I know this).
Garry
Went out to a couple different places to get the Xrap 12 but I couldn't find it anywhere in the glass ghost color. I ended up getting the 10 and the 14 in glass ghost just hoping the 14 isn't too big.
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Went out to a couple different places to get the Xrap 12 but I couldn't find it anywhere in the glass ghost color. I ended up getting the 10 and the 14 in glass ghost just hoping the 14 isn't too big.
Greg, the size 14 isn't to big, and will work just fine, I have one and use it, I just prefer the 12, because despite the 14 weighing 1 1/2 ounces and the 12 weighing only 3/4 ounce, the 12 seems to cast better for me, and further, I assume because of the slimmer aerodynamic shape.
Incidentally,I'm not real happy with the durability of this lure in context of quality for the price, despite it's fishcatching ability. I've had one that wasn't sealed properly, and salt water invaded the body of the lure and corroded it, and 2 that the plastic swimming lip broke off. I sent all 3 back to rapala, we'll see what they do about it.
Garry
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Hit the canal this afternoon at about 1PM. End of the incoming to the beginning of the outgoing. Winds southwest, boat traffic moderate, weed and cabbage liveable, water a bit turbid, cleared a little as it became outgoing.
Caught a small blue on the rapala, and livelined him, took a while as the fish weren't in the mood to hit, but a big alligatoer blue fineally took him and ran with him. WHen I set the hook, nothing, just dead weight coming back in, the alligator chopped his head off in front of the leading hook, very unusual. Caught one more small blue, livelined him to no avail, worked the wall with the rapala and couldn't raise a striper to save my life. Then caught one slightly larger blue, about 4-5 pounds. Left at about 4:15PM as water velocity increased.
Garry
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Not a bad catch....thanks for the report!
TT^
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Thanks for the report. I'll probably hit the canal Wed. or Thurs. Also Garry when can we expect some weakfish to start making their way into the canal.
I hear they are making their way into the bays now.
Ed
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Good report Garry,
you may have do the evening/night gig for the stripers.
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Went out to a couple different places to get the Xrap 12 but I couldn't find it anywhere in the glass ghost color. I ended up getting the 10 and the 14 in glass ghost just hoping the 14 isn't too big.
[/quote]
The x-rap 12 (sxr-12) in glass ghost are in stock at fisherman's headquarters: 609-494-5739
www.fishermansheadquarters.com
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Great report as usual Garry.. TT^ Thanks chrz
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Hit the canal for the evening tide on the 21st, figuring since I caught a striper in the afternoon, they'd turn on on the evening tide. Well I was wrong, LMAO, could not draw a single hit.
Hit it again last evening for the evening tide, worked the wall from Pinebluff up to the 88 bridge with the rapala, one strike, one fish, a striper about 20-22 inches.
Hit is this morning at about 7:30Am, as thunderstorms were predicted, and I figuered the fish would turn on before the storm. Fog heavy, visibility about 200 feet, wind mild out of the northeast, water clarity good, boat traffic minimal, and weed and cabbage liveable.
This morning convinced me that the fish are there, but I only managed one striper for the morning. Worked the wall with the rapala from pinebluff up to the 88 bridge. I watched 5 stripers chase the lure and try to nail it at my feet, needless to say, I didn't hook any of them, but it was cool. Was more like they were just playing. The 6th one I didn't see hit the plug, but he was quite serious about eating breakfast LOL, so I got him, about 20-22 inches:
Then I caught a small blue(2 pounder). Livelined him out struggling on the surface. I watched an alligator blue about 36 inches come up and take him, I had him 20 feet from the wall and on the surface. He went down with him and suddenly the line went slack. Somehow, he managed to rip the hooks tight out of the small blue, perhaps his nose was inbetween the leading hook and stinger, don't know, but it was exciting to see, and at least the fish are there.
Then at the end of the outgoing tide, I went down to the mouth of the canal and worked a pink Fin-s hard for weakfish, fished till about 10am with the fin-s and couldn't draw a strike. Fished it till the incoming was running to hard to fish effectively.
People keep telling me there are some weakfish in the Manasquan river, canal and northern bay, but I'm not catching any, and not seeing any caught either, so if they are there, they must be far and few between.
Garry
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Great report as usual. Thanks!
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Great report as usual. Thanks!
whs
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Thanks for the report!!
TT^
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Nice report Garry. As often as you fish the canal and area, if there were weakies there, you would have some by now. t^
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I have'nt fished the canal much this week but did fish it on the weekend. I met my father there and started fishing about 1:00 pm started with the FIN-S and not even a hit. My father seemed to think that he could catch some fluke at the mouth of the canal but I seemed to be weary. To my suprise he caught 2 keepers 19 1/2 and 21 inches and 3 shorts. I did'nt do good that weekend and have not hit the canal since. I have been fishing the inlet starting about 9:00 PM which I have had some good luck with. Every night at around 8:30-10:00 PM (tide Dep) the shad have been coming in and i've been having some fun with that. They are not the biggest fish in the world but when you have a 6 hook rig with 3 fish on at the same time it could be cool. I made up a few rigs with 6 hooks a 1/2 ounce weight at the bottom baited with small curl tail worms(yellow or green seem to work best). Also, I have been using white swimming mullet GULP which the fluke seem to be loving. I caught 3 fluke last night and 8 shad within 1 1/2 Hrs ( Works for me )..But I do miss the canal.. It is just so much more peaceful over there and I rarely have someone getting tangled with me rgmn ..LOL ( Inlet gets to busy and 1 out of every 20 people actually know what there doing.. 5hrug ) But all is well and I will hit the canal a little bit later ..Judging by Garry's report it seems like its worth a try...Good Report Garry.
Ren
Keep the fish...Throw the old lady back..
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Nice report Ren.
That inlet does get a bit crazy at times with all the people there. t^
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Nice report. I fish the Inlet occassionall when I can! Haven't been there to see any bait coming in. Have you tried livelining any of those shad??
Good luck!
TT^
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Nice report. I fish the Inlet occassionall when I can! Haven't been there to see any bait coming in. Have you tried livelining any of those shad??
Good luck!
TT^
Ren, if you're catching shad, and have an areated livewell I'd catch a few, take them over to the canal and liveline them. Liveline them an hour before slack tide till an hour after, trust me, you will be rewarded.
Garry
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Garry,
How are you rigging the bait you are live lining, or are you just sending them back out on the lure you caught them on??
Thanks
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How are you rigging the bait you are live lining, or are you just sending them back out on the lure you caught them on??
Thanks
Because those 2 pound blues are a large meal, and because the alligators tend to chop them in half, and are content with the back half, I use a 60 pound wire leader with 2 hooks, and attach one hook in the meaty part right behind his head, and the stinger hook behind the dorsal fin. I just make em up and crimp the whole thing together myself with berkley wire leader material and the crimping sleeves. You have to use wire, those alligators have no problem chopping right through a 50 LB mono leader.
If those big blues weren't in there, and I was targeting stripers, I use a 30 LB mono leader, with one 4/0 mustad 92553 hook. Herring or eels I hook through both lips, larger shad I hook in the meaty part right behind his head.
Garry
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Every night at around 8:30-10:00 PM (tide Dep) the shad have been coming in and i've been having some fun with that.
Ren
Keep the fish...Throw the old lady back..
What tide is most favorable for the shad?
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The shad seem to be in no matter what tide but they come in much larger schools during high tide..Hit the inlet today and there was way to much seaweed to even attempt to fish.. Also, I stopped by the canal at about 4:30 just to check it out( Outgoing tide but moving slow ) Did'nt fish then but made a stop at Mantoloking bridge..( Heard the weekies made an apperance there ).. Tried out the pink FIN-S and bucktail with no luck..Did'nt stay long though.. Hopefully something will happen soon b/c these shad are'nt cutting it.. I don't have a livewell for the shad but it is definetly a great idea to drop emm in the canal..I tried to bring 2 the other day (live) but its not easy to keep em alive with a 5 gal bucket..LOL. nosmly By the time I got them there they were stone dead.. Well see what the weekend brings ;)
Ren
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Hit the inlet this morning at 5AM and decided to break tradition and liveline shad in the canal instead of using lures. The plan was to catch some hickory shad at the inlet and then head over the canal with them. Of course that was the plan Friday morning also, but when you get the skunk on catching the bait, the rest of the plan quickly goes down the toilet.
Anyways, I found the shad this morning and quickly had 5 of them in the aerated bucket. Arrived at the canal about 6AM, tried a single hook setup with a mono leader, hoping for a striper.
First shad was quickly bitten in half by an alligator blue. Being thick, I stuck with the single hook and the same thing happenned with the second shad. So I smartened up with the 3rd one and went to steel leader and the stinger hook setup. The blue ripped this shad right off the hooks. 4th shad gets hit, I let him run with it, count to 5 when he stops, set the hook, and bingo, big fish on, LMAO. That fish was strong, he pulled out about 40 yards of line on his initial run, he just headed south right down the middle of the canal. But that run tired him, and I worked him back to me, landed him where I stood. Was one of the alligators, about 34-36 inches, and between 13-15 pounds. No pics because I leave the pack in the truck when livelining, the 5 gallon bucket full of water and shad is heavy enough. 5th shad died on the hook as the tide went slack, and no one was interested anymore.
2 times when I put the shad in the water, I watched a blue come right up to my feet and look at it, was cool. Saw the 3rd fish take the shad.
Water clarity excellent, boat traffic almost non existent, wind non existant, weed and cabbage quite livable. I fished the last hour and a half of the incoming.
The big alligators are in there, and in numbers. Most of them seem to be concentrated between Pine Bluff Ave and the first curve of the canal, to the south of Pine Bluff. However, it's definitely a live bait proposition. I struggle with lures and catch one occasionally, and livelining shad, one right after the other wants them. I should have started with the wire leader and stinger hook in the beginning, but was hoping for a striper, and I don't like using wire for stripers. Still a good day, plenty of action, and a good one landed, no complaints here.
Garry
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Nice report
NJDEVIL >:D
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Nice action and nice size alligators... good report as usual. thanks.
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t^Good report Garry..I also hit the canal this morning..Got there at 430 AM and tried the condos started with white bottomed bomber and hooked up with a striper on 3rd cast.. He put up a good fight for a 24in striper. TT^.(I thought he was a monster)..Stayed there for about an hour Bass were rolling all over...Tried the FIN-S with no luck and could'nt get another hit..Left there and took a short ride to the marina Bass rolling there as well. Made several casts at that location with no luck( Picky fish) 5hrug ..I need to try out some new lures ..( Maybe if gas prices ever go down I could eventually afford some new ones...LOL)..Stopped by the inlet and fished with killies for a while..To my surprise, caught 2 Stargazer ( Have pics on my phone..hafta learn how to get emm)..the first one was a monster I thought I was snagged but the beast started to finally come up...IT kinda looked like a cross between a bulldog and Rosie Odonnell ..LOL..Didn't measure but my guess 17in..Cut up some SeaRobin baited the hook and ended with 7 fluke biggest at 17 1/2 in..Not my most ordinary day but definetly cool and a bit different..
This is not the one I caught but to those who may not know...well here IT is...WOW shocking~~~
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Nice reports Garry and Ren. Nice catches. t^
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cant stargazers gave you an electric shock?
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cant stargazers gave you an electric shock?
Was thinking the same thing myself. They also have 2 poisonous spines!!
IT kinda looked like a cross between a bulldog and Rosie Odonnell ..LOL
rofla hhppy rofla hhppy
Nice reports Garry and Ren!! Nice catches also! Love those alligator blues. It's also nice to see the Inlet coming alive. Hopefully the start of some better fishing.
Thanks
TT^
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Gymrat, I don't think thats true, but I don't know for sure.
Ren,
Nice report, good catch. I tried for shad late this afternon on high tide at the inlet, and couldn't find any. Had to cut it short because daughter needed her taillights fixed, but lots of people hooking up with fluke at the end of the incoming. Mostly shorts, but a few keepers landed also.
Best plug thusfar for me this year for stripers in the canal has been the Rapala X Rap, size 12, 3/4 ounce in Glass Ghost (white basically) finish.
Thanks for the info on the north end of the canal, haven't been there in a while, as the 2 pound blues were harrassing me to death there. I know there's a bunch of stripers down there, I'm thinking since those alligator blues are at the north end, and very aggressive with the shad, maybe I'll bring some shad down to the south end, and see if a striper will take one over there. I haven't heard anything about alligator blues at the south end of the canal. And this is of course, all conditional on me finding shad to catch at the inlet, LOL. May have to give it a shot tomorrow morning, we'll see if I can get up.
Garry
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This is what I love about this site, all the stuff you didn't know that you didn't know. 5hrug I have never heard of or seen a stargazer before. After gymrats comment I did a ggogle and learned the following:
This fish possesses a special talent: it is able to create electrical currents from a specialized organ located in a pouch behind the eyes. The rate of electric discharge depends upon the temperature, with a maximum of 50 volts. It is used primarily to fend off aggressive, threatening fish rather than for prey capture.
Importance to Humans
Because of the stargazer's ability to produce electrical currents, live specimens of this species should be handled with care. If approached by a diver, it generally will not move unless disturbed. Here is what it looks like on the bottom... Neat Stuff! TT^
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Hit the inlet this morning at 5:15, right at high tide armed with my bait bucket and looking for hickory shad. Found them right away, first cast, 2 shad on. Picked up 2 more, then got a windknot, and by the time I got it out the shad were gone. However, in the process of trying for them, I caught my first tern today. That little sucker went after the sabiki rig on the cast and managed to hook himself. He enjoyed biting me as I gently got the hook out of his wing and released him.
Got over to the canal at about 6:15. I had the last hour and a half of the incoming. Water clear, wind west, boat traffic minimal, and weed and cabbage liveable.
Broke tradition again today, and livelined with a small Garcia Ambasseduer baitcaster on a 6' 6" freshwater graphite musky stick, a Quantum Iron X. Dropped the shad in the water, and immediately watched a blue come up and inspect it. Took about 15 steps walking the shad in the current, and bang, a blue grabs it. The usual run, count to 5 when he stops, set the hook and big fish on. This one was really strong, and gave a heck of a fight. He was bigger than the one I caught yesterday, you could easily see the difference, I'd say he was 17-18 pounds. Second shad I took about 30 steps, and he gets hit. Another gator, this one was about 12 pounds I'd say. 3rd shad died on the hook, and nothing would touch it, they seem to want a live bait thats struggling. 4th shad I walked about halfway to the curve south of Pine Bluff and bang, another blue takes him. I didn't wait long enough for him to swallow it, had him on for a second, and he bit the shad off right behind the stinger hook. Was out of there at 7:59AM. Was a good morning.
Garry
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Nice report and a good morning
NJDEVIL >:D
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Good going again Gary. Those stargazers can be dangerous, I always use the Boga grip on them as they can give you a good jolt. It is fun to watch them after being released in the surf they bury themselves in the sand as soon as they hit the bottom.
Happy Catching
Paul
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Great report. I still have yet to get out there. Damn work. haha
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Nice catches again and great report!
I had only recently heard of stargazers after reading a column in the APP Fishing Section on fluke in the surf. Funny that someone caught two of them after just reading about them.
TT^
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they usually discharge on the hookset, takes about 15 mins to recharge. its like being hit in the hand with a hammer,hard. becareful.
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Hit the inlet last evening, about 5PM, and had a hard time finding the hickory shad. Caught 1 and a friend caught 2 and gave them to me. Hit the Canal at dusk, and livelined those shad till 11:30PM, could not draw a strike. Walked them from Pine Bluff north to the canal entrance, and south almost to the 88 bridge, nada, zip.
SOOOO I caught a few winks and hit the inlet at 4:45AM this morning. Shad there by the thousands, they had 2 1/2-3 inch spearing balled up right at the end of the parking lot by the old Cafe. Had a hard time catching them on the sabiki cause of the spearing, but I managed to get 10 of them. I think a teaser rig with 2 1/2 Fin-S in Arkansas Shiner finish would be good when they're feeding on the spearing, but I couldn't find them at my local bait shop this morning after fishing.
Shoprite Eddie was a bit skeptical about blues that big being in the canal when we were talking last evening at the inlet, so after watching me catch the shad this morning, he followed me over to the canal to watch. I think I made a believer out of him, LMAO.
Got to the Canal about 6AM. First 2 shad right at Pine Bluff were hit immediately, and I lost both blues after having them on a short time. The shad were bigger this morning, running about 15 inches, and I realized I needed to give the blue more time to swallow it.
3rd shad was hit 30 steps south of Pine Bluff, he ran far and I let him go in free spool, and when he stopped, I waited till he moved again to take it out of free spool and set the hook. Bingo, big fish on, and Eddies saying 'holy christ' when the fish came out of the water about 75-80 yards south of us, LMAO. Blue was about 12-13 pounds.
4th shad was hit halfway from PineBluff to the curve in the canal, exact same scenario, and another blue about 12-13 pounds.
5th shad got hit up at the curve, same scenario again, but this one was about 8-9 pounds.
Unfortunately, the shad were really to large for the areated buckets, and the other 5 died, but I had 3 good blues out of 5 baits, and was out of there at 6:59AM.
Shad came into the canal from the river this morning also, Eddie was watching blues chase them right out of the water on the west side as I was playing my fish, I saw 2 of them doing it.
I went to an Ambassadeur 5000 on the muskie stick, with 150 yards of 30 lb power pro on top of 30 yards of 30 lb mono backing, and wanted to test it out this morning, as the 4600 I had on it yesterday morning was binding up under the drag heat and playing the big fish. The 5000 performed flawleesly and I'm confident now that should I hook into a 40 lb striper in there, I'll have no problem landing it on this outfit.
The blues appear to only want to feed early morning from what I can see, and fortunately, the Hickory shad show up at about 5AM in NUMBERS at the inlet. I haven't heard of any of the big gators at the south end by the condos, so if I can run into some smaller hickory shad, I'm going to head over there and try livelining them for a striper. If I see any consistency that the gators are not feeding at night, I may start livelining eels at the north end at night for stripers. I like eels a lot better than shad, much easier to keep alive for long periods of time, and the bass in the canal love them, but unfortunately, those gator AND pesky 2 pound blues love them even more. Right now I need a little nap, LMAO.
Garry
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A very entertaining report and a well deserved rest is in the cards! Enjoy the nap & thanks for the report. t^
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Great reports as always Garry. t^
I usually need a nap after reading them. ;D
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Another great report and alot of fun.
NJDEVIL >:D
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Nice report and nice catch!!
Thanks.
TT^
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Good report Garry,
Hopefully I could get a livewell to get the shad over to the canal soon... You seem to be doing awesome with those shad in there and it's definetly a good idea to bring them near the condos..I can't wait to hear the news...Have not fished yest. or today ( Spent the night in A.C. ~Good time~ wallet just a little lighter now LOL) rgmn .. I will prob. get out to the condos tomarrow morning..
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Good report Garry, man I have got to get over there. I keep farting around on the beach, I do well but not as good as you are though.
Paul
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Hit the inlet at 5Am this morning, and the shad worked up the wall like clockwork, LOL. I killed them with my hand tied sabiki rig with the 2 1/2 inch Fin-S in Arkansas shiner finish, had 3 on at once several times, and when the shad were there, I literally couldn't get the rig back in without at least one on it. Here's what it looks like:
Picked through the shad I was catching but really couldn't get any small ones, So I headed over to the canal to the north end with 5 of them for the bluefish, because I didn't think they would make it to the south end, they're just to big for a 5 gallon bucket.
Water was clear, tide incoming, weed non existant, and boat traffic nil. Shad number 1 got hit immediately by a big gator, I had him on for about 30 seconds, and he hit something sharp, down deep and cut my braid. Second shad was chopped in half behind the stinger hook, 3rd shad was ripped off the hooks by a gator, and fourth shad I nailed a blue about 8-9 pounds, one of the smaller ones in there. Fifth shad died in the bucket.
This all took place withing a 30 minute period. Blues were boiling all over the north end of the canal this morning, chasing shad, they appear to be in there even thicker now. My friend 'Cigar Tony' was fishing a rubber shad for a striper, and a blue bit it right off, so perhaps if they are in there thicker now, more competion might make it easier to get them on plugs or rubber shad.
Again, 4 shad livelined, 4 hit immediately. I say the blues are in there thicker now because today, I never had to take more than 15 steps walking the shad to get a hit on them. Got there at 6:15, I was through the 4 shad before 6:45 and done.
Garry
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Again nice report
NJDEVIL >:D
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Nice Garry. Always fun to catch the blues. t^
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Nice report, thanks!
TT^
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Yeah, looks like the blue spawn is over and they are coming in with a feeding vengeance.
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Good stuff there Garry. TT^ Your reports are always a great read chrz
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Hit the inlet this morning at 4:30 AM. Plan was to catch hickory shad, go to the north end of the canal and catch a blue, then go to the south end and liveline a shad for a striper. Put the large live bait tank in the truck yesterday(50 gallon with a 850 GPH aireator).
Shad arrived like clockwork, but didn't stay long, about 15 minutes. I managed like 8, which was more than enough. Went to the north end of the canal. The shad were dying on me, don't know why. Wound up with only 2 fishable shad, therefore never got to the south end of the canal.
Water was clear, tide incoming and to strong to easily fish but doable, wind non existant, weed and cabbage liveable, boat traffic medium.
First shad was hit about 20 steps from Pine Bluff, friend Sam was walking with me. He lurks here and read the reports, LOL. Fish runs, stops and I wait till he moves again to throw the baitcaster in gear and set the hook, as the shad was about 14-15 inches. Bingo, big fish on, and he takes off south and across the canal. He ripped out a lot of line on his initial run. Sam was a little skeptical about the outfit I was using, but after seeing it in action, said it was like a 'musical instrument', LMAO. Fish is 200 feet south of me and across the canal, and here comes a boat, right down the middle of the canal. Sam sprints up ahead and waves the boat to the other side(man he could move for an older guy, even with boots on). Thats the kind of stuff that makes fishing fun and interesting in the canal, tough fishing and always an obstacle (like a boat, or MANY boats, LMAO), and friends helping each other out. Anyways, my outfit made short work of the fish, brought him in, wrapped the 50 LB leader around the small stick I carry and hefted him over the fence. I figured him for 12 pounds, maybe 13, Sam insisted he was bigger.
Fished shad number 2 and got a hit halfway up to the curve, fish ran, stopped, and that was it. Somehow, again, an alligator managed to rip the shad right off the hooks. And that was it, as the rest of my shad died.
Sam wanted this fish so kept it for him, and while I watched him fish, I went to the truck for my scale, as he was still saying it was bigger. Well, Sam was correct, 14 lbs, 8 ounces.
Nice morning with good company between the inlet and the canal, life is good.
Garry
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t^ grtn
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Good job on landing the fish. Sounds like you need a traffic cop out there for the boats. TT^
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t^ lol...good report garry..
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Nice catch and report...as usual!
TT^
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As far as the shad dying...have you ever tried the Frabill Aqua-lung tablets? They condition and oxygenate the water for up to nine hours. I've used them with great success on freshwater bait and also killies.
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Took a little scouting trip this morning at 10AM, to see if any friends were around and if anyone was doing anything.
Mantaloking bridge was pretty full, people crabbing, and a few people fishing, but didn't stop there, just rode past.
Stopped at the inlet, then the canal. Water clear, wind south, tide just starting at the outgoing at the inlet, incoming at a decent pace at the canal. Weed and cabbage medium both places, boat traffic fairly heavy.
Plenty of short fluke and sea robins to be had at the inlet, a friend I know did catch one keeper fluke earlier in the morning before the water went slack.
Only one guy fishing the north end of the canal. He caught 2 porgies, so looks like they are starting to show there. Also stated that a guy caught a weakfish earlier, about 22 inches, 4 pounds from what he described to me.
Those porgies at just legal size would make a great bait to liveline for the gators in there, and a lot less trouble than trying to carry live bait from the inlet. Just a nice size too, you wouldn't need a stinger hook. He was catching them on sandworms.
Think I will put in an effort to catch weakfish next week, and try to determine what kind of numbers are around there, they appear to be just starting to come in, amazing how late everything is this year.
Marty, have never used the product you mention, I have used 'herring keep'. Oxygen is not an issue with the aireated pump I have, and may all become a moot point if I find weakies next week, but thank you for the tip.
Garry
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Nice report, thanks! I am hoping to get out at some point this weekend or next couple of days at night and do some weakfishing as well.
Good Luck!
TT^
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Nice report, thanks! I am hoping to get out at some point this weekend or next couple of days at night and do some weakfishing as well.
Good Luck!
TT^
Yup, I know what you mean. I don't generally fish weekends, however, I'm sitting here, reading a tide chart, seeing a good tide this evening at the canal between 5pm & 8pm, and my favorite weakfish rod is staring at me saying 'take me fishing', just like my kids used to when they were small, so somehow I'm smelling a weakfish expedition to the north end of the canal this evening, LMAO.
Garry
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I always have lots of intention to go fishing! Somehow something or other always gets in the way or delays it. Evening into night fishing on the weekends are not so bad here, but during the day....forget it!!
TT^
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Decided to hit the canal late this afternoon, looking for weakies. Stopped at the inlet first, to see if anyone was around. Just a few short fluke being caught, and the tide running about an hour later than normal, due to the new moon I guess.
Hit the canal at 5PM, and water was running kind of fast, but fishable with difficulty with a one ounce jig. Fished till about 5:45 when a looming thunderstorm with lightning in the distance made me decide to go back to the truck(just as the water was getting nice and fishable). Started fishing again at 7PM, and fished in earnest till almost 9PM when the water was running to fast for my liking. Concentrated on the very north end of the canal where it meets the river, and only jigged pink Fin-S, looking for weakies. 3 Fin-S bitten off by small blues, and that was it. However, it was nice to be using my favorite weakie rod and jigging pink Fin-S, knowing they are starting to come in.
Water clear, wind south, boat traffic heavy, and weed and cabbage fairly heavy this evening.
No one else fishing land, 3 boats working the river just before dusk, and the talk is weakies. One guy says 'fish on', a guy from another boat yells, 'is it a weakfish?', first guy yells back no, a small blue.
At dusk, 2 younger guys come fishing down by me, they are fishing for 5 minutes, and one of them hooks into an alligator blue, on a gulp bloodworm, no less, LMAO. He had to follow the fish up past Pinebluff and out of my sight, he's telling his friend to run to the truck and get the net. They come back, and no fish? Guy said he got it to the side of the canal and up to him and it broke off, so I told him they were in there and to rig up with wire and a 50 lb mono shock leader. Would have been nice if they managed to land it.
Garry
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Good report as always Garry t^
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Great report again!
TT^
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WTG Garry......you gotta launch "Garry's Canal Guide Services!"
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Thanks, as always, for the kind words guys.
Garry
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Hit the inlet at about 6pm last evening. The plan was to socailize with grumpy old men a bit, catch a shad or 2 and go to the south end of the canal and try for a striper.
Shoprite Eddie is there and tells me the shad were there a half hour ago. Finally see very small schools here and there, seemed I'd have my line out, see shad breaking in a different direction than my line was, and by the time I reeled in and cast, they were gone again. Finally got one, and one was all I needed.
Hit the south end of the canal at dusk, I livelined that shad till 11:15pm when he managed to get off the hook. Nada, zip, the shad was getting nervous a few times, but no takers.
Garry
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Hit the Manasquan Inlet at about 4:45 this morning. Wind west/northwest, water clear, cabbage and weed minimal, and boat traffic minimal. Tide was in the last stages of outgoing.
No Hickory shad surfacing anywhere. About 5:30 I started blind casting for them, and mananged to pick up 4 as friend Scott(aka Gulp on here) joined me. Made a quick decision to head for the canal and liveline them before they died. Scott was hesitant, said he didn't have a strong enough pole, I told him his fluke outfit would work just fine. So off we went.
Tide was outgoing and fairly strong at the canal, tides are still falling an hour + late. We both started livelinging, Scott working south from Pine Bluff, and I worked north. We worked those shad back and forth, and could not draw a strike. Tide went slack and just as it started to change, Scott watches a gator take his shad just under the surface and run with it. I told him to give it plenty of time to swallow it, don't hit it till he stops and then moves again, and wait for the boat to pass. We are about 100 feet apart. Bail closes, line tightens up, rod is arced in half, and bingo, big fish on, LMAO. I head for the net while trying not to hurt my shad and get up to Scott.
Fish gave him a great fight on the freshwater outfit he uses for fluke with 14 LB. test. I think he was more thrilled at seeing the gator circle the shad and take it than actually landing it, it's definitely heady stuff.
I net the fish and he's got it. Fish was 31 inches even, and 10 pounds 9 ounces, real nice alligator. Took a few pics and tried to release it, but it wasn't making it, so he became fluke bait.
Just for comparison, here's a pic of both the predator, and the prey, I measured the shad, they are 15 inches long:
Nice morning with good company, and a good fish caught. Action was very slow though, from the shad to the alligators. Had a hard time finding shad, and we both livelined for over an hour before Scott got the hit, usually it only takes 10 minutes or so. Only difference I could detect was that it was an outgoing tide today, in comparison to an incoming all last week. And Scott got the strike just as the water switched to incoming.
Garry
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Nice report! t^ t^
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good report as always,nothing like the action of a big blue on a light outfit. t^
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wink-man,, I just started reading this board and have gotten a kick outa your canal reports and stories, all good stuff. I have to let you know slight envy is in me,I live local and have fished both ends w/o success yet. Now I wonder a few months ago there was a cinder worm hatch under darkness,bass were popping all over the mouth/river, I kept watching a fella hook-up and happy laughter on the east side w/ others,now I kinda think it may have been you along w/ others.Wishing you continued success.
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Nice report as always Garry.
Congrats to Scott on landing that alligator on his freshwater outfit. t^
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Sounds like it was a great time! nice photos!
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Nice report Garry! You are definitely the "Canal Man!!" That's a nice blue...great how you can fish for bait and then fish for the real thing. That is some real fishing.
TT^
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Hit the inlet at about 7PM last evening, tides are falling at bad times, but figuered I'd give it a shot anyways.
Caught 2 Hickory shad and got to the canal at dusk.
First shad was hit right away, working halfway up the wall from Pine Bluff to the first curve going towards the southerly end. Fish ran with it, stopped, and never moved again. Felt weight on the end, so reeled in and the gator just bit the shad off behind the stinger hook and went his merry way.
Fished the second shad till 10:30PM, and the water was really running to fast to fish it effectively, but it seems that IF you're going to get action in the evening with those gators, it's up till dusk, and they seem to turn off after full dark.
Garry
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Now I wonder a few months ago there was a cinder worm hatch under darkness,bass were popping all over the mouth/river, I kept watching a fella hook-up and happy laughter on the east side w/ others,now I kinda think it may have been you along w/ others.Wishing you continued success.
Rick,
Welcome to the site, and thanks for the kind words. I think you will like it here, good site with good people willing to share lots of information.
In regard to your comment above, I remember that cinderworm hatch well, it was in mid May. I heard about it from everyone, but unfortunately I was tied up and not fishing, so it wasn't me laughing and enjoying out there at that time, LMAO.
Garry
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In regard to your comment above, I remember that cinderworm hatch well, it was in mid May. I heard about it from everyone, but unfortunately I was tied up and not fishing, so it wasn't me laughing and enjoying out there at that time, LMAO.
You probably WISHED it was you that he heard, though!! rofla
Nice report! That Canal is a great producer!!
TT^
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This is going to be a generalized report of the Point Pleasant/Manasquan Inlet area.
There are plenty of fluke to be had right in the wash at Point beach in the early morning, tide doesn't much matter. Also this morning, spike weakfish were mixed in.
The inlet wall is producing fluke, mostly shorts, but some keepers, live killies or white gulp 4 inch mullet is the way to go there. Incoming tide appears much better than outgoing.
The rocks at the inlet are producing better fluke and some weakies. Lost9340 and Joey are fishing it right now, they have 5 keeper fluke between them, or Lost9340 has 5, can't remember all this stuff. Also, Joey had a weakie on over 24 inches, and lost it trying to lift it on the rocks. They said it was a good one, over 24 inches for sure. They also hooked a few large rays fishing for fluke on the rocks. This is going on mid day,they didn't start fishing till about 11AM.
Weakfish are at the north end of the Canal where it meets the river. I know a reliable source thats catching them, and he got one 30 inches. It's an after dark game around the change of tides, like usual, has to be, otherwise the water is running to fast to get to the bottom, but after dark is the key right now.
Large bluefish are still plentifull in the canal. What I've diiscovered is, they only want to feed at the start of an incoming tide. All last week, I had no problem drawing a strike on the livelined shad, and looked at the tide chart, on each morning, there was an incoming tide. Monday, Scott got one and we livelined for 2 hours till he got the hit, and it was at the start of the incoming tide. Today, I started livelining shad at 6:30am, didn't get a strike until 10:10AM, which was when the water went from slack to incoming. Had the blasted blue on for a bit and he came off, I guess I didn't have him hooked to good.
Plenty of hickory shad at the inlet, they show up much more reliably in the mornings, about 5AM, anywhere from 5 to 8:30PM in the evenings.
They are not always on the surface, sometimes they feed on spearing below the surface, and they're actually there, and people don't realize it. For example, this morning, they weren't jumping. I saw one little dimple about 20 feet out off the wall. Dropped the sabiki rig 20 feet out, let it sink a little, jigged it once and had 2 shad on. Second cast was a duplicate of the first, 2 more shad, then I left for the canal.
I will be on a lot less between now and the end of August. I have to help daughter get ready, packed and move her up to Boston College at the end of August, so I'll be missing a good bit of what appears to be prime fishing time occuring during that period.
Hope this information helps.
Garry
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Great report! Sounds like some good fishing happening.
Sorry you have to miss out on prime fishing, but it is definitely for a great reason. Good luck to your daughter in college!!
TT^
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Hi Garry,
We got to do what we got to do. I know from where you are coming from on this one. College starts for my daughter on Sept 3 and she is going nuts which makes me go nuts and she is only going to OCC for the first 2 years. Are you going up there to help her get settled in?
If so have a safe ride maybe on the way back you can stop off and do some surf fishing. I hear if you drive along the north shore of Boston, there is a rocky shoreline with deep water.
Food for thought... t^
Paul
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Hit the inlet this afternoon about 5-5:30PM. Met Ren from here, along with his son and Dad, was a pleasure to meet you guys.
First cast with the sabiki for shad, I get a short fluke, right on top, go figure?? Lost9340 stopped down also, but I had 2 shad in short order and headed for the canal to try to prove or disprove my theory on those gators.
Started livelining at 6:45, in good light, and in an outgoing tide. Couldn't draw a strike with the shad. I livelined it through slack to incoming, (incoming started about 9-9:30PM), and continued till about 10:25, and could not draw a strike on the incoming in the dark. SO it appears those gators prefer to eat on an incoming tide in daylight. Wasted to much time testing that theory, and made a half hearted effort for weakies after that, but water was already starting to move to fast, so I called it quits. Will give the weakies a serious shot as soon as I can.
Garry
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Hi Garry,
We got to do what we got to do. I know from where you are coming from on this one. College starts for my daughter on Sept 3 and she is going nuts which makes me go nuts and she is only going to OCC for the first 2 years. Are you going up there to help her get settled in?
If so have a safe ride maybe on the way back you can stop off and do some surf fishing. I hear if you drive along the north shore of Boston, there is a rocky shoreline with deep water.
Food for thought... t^
Paul
Yes Paul, I know exactly what you mean, and yes I'll be going up there to help her settle in, I just hope my pickup is big enough for all her stuff, you know how girls are, they travel heavy with 'stuff', LMAO.
Think I'll just bypass those Mass. waters and head back to the waters I love.
Besides, there's got to be something wrong with Mass. Any state that keeps electing a Kennedy, who doesn't believe that we the people have a second amnedment right, guaranteed by the constitution, I have a problem with. But I digress.
Garry
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Any state that keeps electing a Kennedy, who doesn't believe that we the people have a second amnedment right, guaranteed by the constitution, I have a problem with
whs
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This is so true.
Enough said... chrz
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Fished the west side between the bridges today and caught nothing for 2 hours. Cabbage minimal, boat traffic below avg., current really picked up towards the end.
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Is there a minimal size on nothing.. how do you cook those ? :)
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Is there a minimal size on nothing.. how do you cook those ? :)
Don't give them any ideas...next thing there will be regulations on getting skunked rofla hhppy!!
I think how you cook nothing...it's called Gorton's in your grocers freezer rofla hhppy!!
TT^
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Its quiet in here with gary gone. I was gonna try and get out there tomorrow being that im off but of course its supposed to be crappy all day.
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Certainly has been! I have been getting out and doing freshwater fishing...or at least trying. Weather chased me away early tonight. I guess I can't complain too much...weather has been pretty good this summer.
TT^
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Yeah, you can almost hear an Echo o o o o o o o o o o.
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hhppy
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I Heard that they have been catching trigger fish in the canal in recent weeks..Anyone hear of this?? Also, what is this about a great white caught off Seagirt? I have been fishing the inlet mostly and have seen a good amount of keepers being taken out..Been telling myself to get over to the canal but have'nt been in a while
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Great report Garry. Looks like you two had a very nice day. That's what it's all about.
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Fished the west wall of the canal between the bridges from about 2-3:30 today and caught one nice size blue about 8lbs. Caught on a fin-s right at slack tide. Was peeling line of the reel, good 50 yard run. Lucky didn't catch somebody's prop.
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Nice catch!!
TT^
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That's a succesfull day in my book. TT^
How much do you add/subtract at the canal from the inlet tide ?
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add 3 hours to sandy hook, i've heard 2 from the inlet
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That's Nice Garry. And you have a very beautiful Daughter!
Boston. Good for her!
Thanks for the kind words Rod. The 2 ex's were throwbacks, LMAO, but that little girl of mine is definitely the best keeper I'll ever come up with.
Garry
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Fished the west wall of the canal between the bridges from about 2-3:30 today and caught one nice size blue about 8lbs. Caught on a fin-s right at slack tide. Was peeling line of the reel, good 50 yard run. Lucky didn't catch somebody's prop.
Nice catch, glad you landed yours, we didn't fare quite as well. You have to nail one of them when the water is moving at a good clip, and they go with the water flow, then can peel out a lot of line on their initial run, and then you have to try to pump them back to you against the current, great fun. Again, congrats on a fine catch.
Garry
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The girly girl decided that we haven't spent much quality time together since she's been so busy, and that we needed to take a day to fish together, and today was picked and Dad was about to go on a guiding expedition with the girly girl. She used to be small and I liked her that way, but things keep changing and she's not that small little girl who used to have troube peering over the storm door anymore to see me coming in from work.
Garry, great report as usual! Nice catches as well.
Good to see you got to get out and do some fishing! Especially spending the time with your daughter!! It's nice to see your daughter hasn't forgot about her dad in all of her busyness. She'll miss you as much as you will miss her when she leaves for college.
Congrats to your daughter on Boston College...no small feat. She studies like her father fishes!!Best of Luck and a safe trip to New England!!
slt
TT^
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Well, the water as still. Luckily I was able to steer it towards me. I was tossing a pink 4" fin-s on a 1/2 oz. white jig-head. I hooked it right in the middle of the canal while I was letting the bait hit bottom.
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That's a succesfull day in my book. TT^
How much do you add/subtract at the canal from the inlet tide ?
I use the tide table for the Coast Guard Station on the Manasquan River and add 3 to 3 1/2 hours for slack tide in the canal. I generally start fishing the canal 2 hours after any tide at the Coast Guard station, and that will give you about 1 1/2 hours of that tide, to slack water to 1 1/2 hours of the opposite tide till the water becomes to fast it fish it effectively.
If you play your cards right, start fishing the inlet an hour before any tide at the coast guard station till 2 hours after, then take the 5 minute ride to the canal to fish for 3 to 3 1/2 hours as I described above, and you have 6 to 6 1/2 hours of good fishing in very fishable currents at both places, with the ability to catch a nice variety of fish at both places, as we did today. We just hit the inlet right at slack, according to the coast gurad station, wasn't going to be there at 4:30 am this morning, 5:30 was good enough.
Garry
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This might help with tides and times...although Garry's method is spot on every time!!
http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/get_predc.shtml?year=2008&stn=5204+Delaware+Bay+Entrance&secstn=Point+Pleasant+Canal,+north+bridge+&sbfh=%2B1&sbfm=46&fldh=%2B1&fldm=28&sbeh=%2B0&sbem=48&ebbh=%2B2&ebbm=10&fldr=1.3&ebbr=1.5&fldavgd=170&ebbavgd=350&footnote=ac54 (http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/get_predc.shtml?year=2008&stn=5204+Delaware+Bay+Entrance&secstn=Point+Pleasant+Canal,+north+bridge+&sbfh=%2B1&sbfm=46&fldh=%2B1&fldm=28&sbeh=%2B0&sbem=48&ebbh=%2B2&ebbm=10&fldr=1.3&ebbr=1.5&fldavgd=170&ebbavgd=350&footnote=ac54)
TT^
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nice report as usual and you had a great day with your daughter TT^,missed your reports,canal board quiet with out you,just getting back myself with new motor on boat,giving it a shot tomorrow morning for the flatties. Kez
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Hey Gary, I was with my daughter in that exact spot at the canal last night until around 8:00 or so. Only 1 hit on a storm shad. The bluefish were blitzing across the chanel closer to Brielle. Tried pink finess style Gulp and white nothing. My daughter saw your pics and I think she was jelous. Later Chris
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Sounds like it was a great day! Good to hear from you again! TT^
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Fantastic report Garry. Wish your daughter good luck in college. My daughter starts Sept. 3rd but she decided to stay close to home and go to OCC the first two years and them transfer (she hopes) to Moore College of Art and Design in Philly.
Paul
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My daughter starts Sept. 3rd but she decided to stay close to home and go to OCC the first two years and them transfer (she hopes) to Moore College of Art and Design in Philly.
Paul
Paul,
Good Luck to your daughter too! There is nothing wrong with OCC and then transferring. She has good taste in schools as well! Wonder where she gets her artistic talent from?? The most important thing isn't where they are going to school, but that they ARE going to school!!
TT^
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TT^ grtn
I just hope her dreams will be realized. I have seen so many kids go off to college and either not make it and drop out and others try so hard and realize that what they studied was just not what they thought it was and go to work for peanuts at a job totally un related.
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Fished the north end today and caught around a 3# blue. Fished between 3pm and 5pm using a 1/2 oz. rat-l-trap in p-nut bunker pattern. Saw an older couple fishing and pulled up several bergalls and two short blackfish on clams. Forgot my pliers at home so I used theirs in trade for the fish. Never seen a happier old lady in my life. ;D Also saw a family fishing the tip there keeping short fluke. Didn't have it in me to say something tho.
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Gary You are "THE MAN" went to the Canal 1st time Sunday 8/23 and had a blast catching Black Fish. They were not keepers but I had a ball....Thanks slt
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Ah.... Great Bob!!!
And welcome to the site t^
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Welcome Aboard Bobduffysr,
Nice to have you aboard. I see you have made use of the board and had a good day of catching. If you have any questions don't hesitate to throw them out there there are plenty of very knowledgeable people on that love to share.
Again Welcome Aboard.
Happy Catching
Paul
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Welcome! Garry certainly knows the Canal and Inlet and can help you get on fish! Glad to hear his info helped out...as it always does. Good Luck and nice catch!
TT^
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I finally got out to the canal today. Tried to go at 8 but the list of things to do was bigger then i thought, however finally around 1:30 I got out there. The current was slow pretty much the whole time I was there, clean water and minimal boat traffic. Only caught one striper, about 20 inches. Great fight however. Had a bluefish come up and shred my buddies fin-s but that was about all the action for the day. Planning on going out maybe later to night. And thanks to Garry for all your advice!!! t^
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I've been taking Garry's advice but I'm hard pressed finding a rapala x-rap. Any suggestions. I've been using a rat-l-trap which has great action but no offers from any stripers. 5hrug
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I was in the same situation with not being able to find any however I went to the sports autority in brick and they had the xrap glass ghost in 10 and 14 but no 12. So i bought both the 10 and 14 and so far have only used the 10 but I like it.
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Nice report. No luck at the Inlet tonight either.
PM sent to Greg and Capt about Xrap!!
TT^
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are shads still in the inlet?
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Not tonight between 1945 and 2130 hrs! No bait fish at all!!
TT^
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Anyone heading to the canal tonight or tomorrow?
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with the presumed boat traffic this weekend, I doubt many will be fishing the canal at all
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i will be there next weekend
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Welcome Marcos! Look forward to your reports. Nice to see another land fishermen in the area.
No Canal...hit the Inlet on the incoming and it was basically unfishable. Nothing there to be had anyway!!
TT^
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I went against every rule and went earlier today at 12. I had the itch but I had other stuff to do afterwards so I was only there for 45 minutes. Caught a nice 3# bluefish but that was it.
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Nice! The rules don't always have to apply! Against my better judgement I went out to the Inlet yesterday evening...and as bad as it was, it was better than sitting home. A few expletives while driving, a few laughs while fishing and it was all good!
That is what makes fishing nice...
TT^
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Going against the rules at times has it's advantages. You can NEVER catch a fish if you are not out there fishing. My thoughts are; Go when you have a chance, no matter if it is supposed to be good time wise or not. chrz
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I agree. It was a good time with the wife and her grandfather, who by the way thought I was trying to kill him because of the steep slope he had to walk down. Haha
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Went back to the canal tonight around 11:30 with 2 friends. Just another 3 hours without catching anything. The current wasn't bad at all, however the water was a bit cloudy. probably a good 6 inches of visibility. Hopefully next time!
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Good try...any baitfish running through there??
TT^
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There were a few small schools going through. Not much though
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had afew triggers following my baits on the SGR, and heard of one in the Glimmer Glass. I have been around the manasquan side of the wall alot lately... it seems the fluke catches are declining and the night hickory shad is less dynamic, but every night i have tried i have got afew fish on double-teaser rigs.
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Yeah, the bait seems to be very limited through there now. Thanks for the info and rpeorts. Need a few cool nights all in a row and I think we will start seeing fish run through the area more often and more frequently! Hopefully, the Tropical Weather won't interfere too much??
TT^
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I sure hope not.
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Fished the north end of the canal today from 1400 to 1530 with no success. Timing was great, lots of slow water to fish. No cabbage but boat traffic was as bad as i've ever seen there. 5hrug I dealt with the 20-30' boats cruising through but when i saw a tug, lobster, sail and pleasure yacht all over 50' come thru in about a 5 minute span, I decided to call it quits. Not one bump.
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Nice try...maybe they are moving farther into the Bay b/c of the storms??
TT^
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Yeah, the bait seems to be very limited through there now. Thanks for the info and rpeorts. Need a few cool nights all in a row and I think we will start seeing fish run through the area more often and more frequently! Hopefully, the Tropical Weather won't interfere too much??
TT^
Big swells might push some bigger fish through the inlet.
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Big swells might push some bigger fish through the inlet.
That would be GREAT!!
TT^
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Out at the canal earlier today around 230. Conditions were nice, tide going out, very little boat traffic, only thing that wasn't so good was the wind. Took me a good hour before I got my first hit. Had him on for maybe 20 seconds and next thing I know my pole cracked and I lost him. >:( The water was starting to rip through there after that so I decided it was time to quick. Gonna set up my other pole and head back tomorrow morning. t^
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Good report! Stinks that your rod broke. Must have been a bigger fish??
Good Luck! I might venture out there tomorrow??
TT^
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Yea it was a downer. I want to say it was a decent size fish but I dont know. Not to knowledgeable in how big the fish are that run through there. I do know however that It was bigger than the 3# blue I caught in there a few days ago. haha. It caught me off gaurd and I though I was going to end up in the water cause Im the idiot that Has to stand on the other side of the fence just to get a whole 2 inches closer. hhppy I'll probably be at the end of river ave tomorrow.
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What type of setup are you fishing with??
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I was using a light 6'6 with 15lb test I believe.
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Its sort of like my beater rod that goes everywhere with me. Like my beater guitar. All the good stuff stays home haha. only bring it out on special occassions.
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Big swells might push some bigger fish through the inlet.
That would be GREAT!!
TT^
Yeah. I remember last fall during the noreaster fly fosherman were cathing teen size bass from the dog beach
Never know, right?
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Hit the canal around 9-1 today, went west side north of 88 bridge and west side south of lovelandtown bridge......NOTHING.
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I was out there for about an hour today around 1 or 2. Tried a few hundred feet either side of Pinebluff. Couple other people out as well, didn't see them take anything either.
Hit the inlet before that, around noon. Got the skunk there too. Saw three guys bring in short fluke, maybe 12in. Saw A LOT of bait moving inland.
There was a guy diving the inlet from the restrooms out to the rocks, he came up and said there was nothing down there.
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maybe next week after the storm. hopefully I can get out to the surf.
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Few toggies around today mostly short maybe 1 keeper
All released , caught on greenies.
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Hit the canal today around 4pm at Pinebluff Ave...not even fishable. Grass by the bushel basket and a ripping outgoing tide! Hit the canal as well, nothing, nothing and more nothing. Didn't see anything caught, although one gentleman lost a keeper at the rocks before he could net it!
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fished the area via boat friday evening... tons of nutz around... had one nice bluefish at about 6 or 7 lbs and afew weakfish, right around the 13 inch minimum (all were released.)
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Nice catch...starting to pick up a little more now. Good sign!
TT^
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plenty of life today on crabs i caught 28 blackfish today 3 of which were keeper size to mikeys 7 rofla rofla >:D
also had blues chasing the tog up
all released
incoming tide
Cluck you chicken canal challenge coming soon.
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Hey Capt, I think I saw you out there. Were you on the west side just opposite Pinebluff Ave?? If it wasn't you, someone was hitting the Tog there too...I counted at least 20 or so thrown back! Nice catch, either way!
Hit the Canal about 1830 hours on the incoming. Very little current, no weeds, no boats and a few people out fishing. Fished Pinebluff Ave, north of the Rte 88 Bridge on the east side of the canal. Started with the Rapala and worked it along the wall...nothing! Saw some action south of me on the top of the water, so I threw a popper on...still nothing. Saw a few pods of bunker and mullet go through. Smaller pods were going towards the Inlet against the current. Threw the Rapala under them without any luck. Stayed about an hour until dark.
Got talking to a younger guy who works on the Dauntless. Had a good chat with him about just about everything fishing related. He definitely knew his stuff and seemed to have learned a lot working on the boat.
TT^
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that was me and mikey
wish i knew that was you wouldnt stopped by and say hi.
Will be down there often between charters and doing maintenance.
Close to my boat so excuse to get away for a few hours.
Did see some big blues and 1 striper
that chased our small blackfish to the wall
First time i ever had that happen in all the years fishing in the canal
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COOL!! I stopped down there as an after thought. I was surf fishing most of the afternoon. Only my second time down at the Canal. How do you get to the West side where you were?? That way next time I can stop over and say hi.
I saw you killing those Tog every other minute. I had a feeling it might be you. I figured whomever it was, definitely knew what they were doing...especially since no one else was catching a thing. I think I needed to be there about 30 mins earlier. Wish a couple blues or bass would have followed my lure ;D!
TT^
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Just Cross Over Rt88 make right
follow to end make right park at dead end t^ t^.
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Happen to stumble upon a pair of black pliers? I can't find mine, i think my buddy left them there. ???
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No, sorry.
:-\
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NW Side
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I was on the NE side...Pinebluff Ave
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Tried at end of out going and beg of incoming
No good dirty water, went and did some fishmonger boat work
Came back at end of incoming
clean water
Drop and reel for 2 hours with toy togs to 17 in
caught around 40 with 3 or being keeper size all released
went through 1/2 of a 5 gallon bucket of greenies.
seen no bass or blues caught
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Nice catch again!!
TT^
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Damn Jerry, is there anything you can't catch? ;D
Nice going. t^
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Capt Joe...it was hilarious yesterday. I didn't know it was Capt Jerry over there, however the way he was hooking up with fish, I thought it might be, if it wasn't him I knew the person was definitely experienced. Guys I walked past and a couple on lookers couldn't believe how many fish he was hooking up with. Cast, 30 seconds to a minute and set the hook, reel in, release the fish, rebait and do it all over again! Some other guys were getting frustrated they weren't getting anything and were fishing bait too. Of course, they didn't know what he was fishing with and they certainly were not using crabs. He was quite the talk at the Canal last night slt! I always like to give credit where credit is due and Capt Jerry is the Tog Master there at the Canal(I'm sure on his boat too!). Very impressive...
TT^
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I would love to pick his brains and get half the knowledge he had. Perhaps one day. TT^
He had probably forgotten more than most know about catching fish. To Captain Jerry. chrz slt
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hey Capt Joe and Grooven why dont ya guys come down 1 day
we can meet up and fish
Have some laughs,
good warm up for the ocean togs.
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Capt Jerry, that would be great. We will have to pick a time and place. The coffee and bagel is on me. t^
No Rod, I don't do donuts. ;D
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Sounds good! NEVER tog fished before and never caught tog before so...
TT^
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Are the bait shops selling crabs? Definitly going this weekend.
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only Brielle t^
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Damn Jerry, is there anything you can't catch? ;D
Nice going. t^
(http://smilies.sofrayt.com/fsc/thumbs-up.gif)
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only Brielle t^
I dont know about anywhere else but Bogan's definitely has them
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Damn Jerry, is there anything you can't catch? Grin
Nice going. thumbs up
I would be very careful on how you answer that question on here... grtn
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Give a call to Chuck at Gates B&T at the inlet. He may be stocking them now.
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Get them from the guy at the 88 Bridge Tackle shop/ Rancher house near the cultasack. Seems like a good guy too. I bought a "dozen" once and it seemed closer to 20.
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Took a trip down to the canal this morning. Stopped by bogan's for some crabs as you guys mentioned. This was my first time trying for blackfish. Started fishing by 9 am water was pretty calm and to my suprise boat traffic wasn't too bad until around 11:00 or so.
First cast and I had one on before I hit bottom. When all was said and done (ran out of bait) I caught over a dozen blackfish between 10" and 13". Everyone there was bringing in blackfish all morning. Guys next to me seem to be doing just as well on clams. This was my first trip down there in many years I hope to make it down there at night within the next few weeks.
Bill
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t^ geat report.
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Nice catch!
TT^
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Good report thanks, I'm jealous... t^ grtn
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Whens garry going to show up around here again ???
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I've been wondering the same thing 5hrug
hope all is well...
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I think a lot of us were wondering the same thing.
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was across from the state police from 10 till 1 in the morning. one mid size blue on a 5 inch bubble gum fin s
was there sunday night picked a 31" striper on the out going. same bait..
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Nice catch!
TT^
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Good catch rb. I'm new to the canal and just started using fin S. Threw it out a few times when I was there this past weekend. Ended up trying it with a 3/8 lead head on it. How are you guys fishing them?
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I use weighted jig heads! Just enough weight to hit bottom. Some days 1/2oz, some days a full ounce. Experiment and see what works the best.
If you are throwing them and you don't want bottom, you can go lighter or as much as you need to cast with and do a continual retrieve??
However, that method may just get your Fin-S chomped on by blues. First method of retrieving and bouncing it off the bottom for weakfish and bass!
Good Luck
TT^
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Good catch rb. I'm new to the canal and just started using fin S. Threw it out a few times when I was there this past weekend. Ended up trying it with a 3/8 lead head on it. How are you guys fishing them?
Yeah 3/8works well. Just make sure it has a strong enough hook. also, be sure you hook the lure right... in the head and out the back.
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Thanks for the info. I almost tried a carolina rig, it worked pretty well in freshwater for largemouths. Need to get down there again this weekend. Hopefully Friday night.
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was over by the state police
back at it.... 1 small blue on a 5" ark shiner fin s
1 oz jig head right off the bridge... around 7.
small blues all over the place beating up the bait fish... going back out around 1130 hope to get some bass or weakies
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Thanks for the info. I almost tried a carolina rig, it worked pretty well in freshwater for largemouths. Need to get down there again this weekend. Hopefully Friday night.
Same concept, just different bait. In saltwater a Carolina Rig = Fishfinder Rig and is used more for live bait techniques. Texas Rig would work on the Fin-S, probably just as well, however weighted jig heads seem to be the key. I keep a few of each size in my lure bag and pick one based on the current.
Eventually the bass should be moving out and you may see more action at the Inlet as opposed to the Canal, so keep an ear out for that. As Fall approaches and the Fall Run progresses, a lot of those bass will move out and into the ocean.
Good Luck!
TT^
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was over by the state police
back at it.... 1 small blue on a 5" ark shiner fin s
1 oz jig head right off the bridge... around 7.
small blues all over the place beating up the bait fish... going back out around 1130 hope to get some bass or weakies
Nice!
How was the current through there??
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last night across from state police... 9/17
nothing not a bit a hit a nibble...
be back at it today and tonight, if theres any action
you guys will be the first to know!!!
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Went out today around noon acros from state police. A lot of bait fish in there.
Had a 12" blue that was lost as it surfaced and a small sea bass. Stopped up by Pine Bluff after that, bunch of guys up there. one guy was hitting small sea bass every cast. Someone said they got a blue.
Current was rather calm the whole time.
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Great Reports! Good to see more people fishing the Canal!! Nice try and good catches. Thanks for the info.
TT^
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Thanks for the info. I almost tried a carolina rig, it worked pretty well in freshwater for largemouths. Need to get down there again this weekend. Hopefully Friday night.
Same concept, just different bait. In saltwater a Carolina Rig = Fishfinder Rig and is used more for live bait techniques. Texas Rig would work on the Fin-S, probably just as well, however weighted jig heads seem to be the key. I keep a few of each size in my lure bag and pick one based on the current.
Eventually the bass should be moving out and you may see more action at the Inlet as opposed to the Canal, so keep an ear out for that. As Fall approaches and the Fall Run progresses, a lot of those bass will move out and into the ocean.
Good Luck!
TT^
I think a carolina rig is more like a drop shot though i may be wrong...
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I think a carolina rig is more like a drop shot though i may be wrong...
A Carolina Rig and a Drop Shot Rig are basically two opposite ways of rigging. A Carolina Rig is a weight first rig, i.e. the weight is in front of the bait. A Drop Shot Rig is a weight second rig, i.e. the bait is rigged in front of the sinker.
Here are some pics. The sinker weights, leader lengths, hook sizes, etc. can be whatever you need them to be.
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whs
In saltwater a drop shop would = a basic bottom fishing setup or a hi low type setup minus 1 hook...although some people get fancy and use more than 1 hook when dropshotting.
TT^
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I will be out there around 11am at the end of river rd, maybe move around abit if its slow. ???
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Good Luck!!
TT^
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Went to the canal this morning (9/21) for some C&R Tog with my brother-in-law, 2 of his teenage sons and thier friend.
Got there at slack tide with 3 doz green crabs and had steady action with Tog and a couple of small Sea bass.
The kids had a great time and everyone got a few for about 2 hours until the current started moving pretty good. We got 3 or 4 that were keeper sized but threw them back anyway.
Attached is a pic of me with the "pool fish".
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Nice t^ t^
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Nice report B&B. Great day of catching! t^
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Sounds like a nice day of C&R. t^
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Great day B>B t^
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t^ grtn slt
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TT^
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Hit the canal this morning at 6AM, prolly should have been there at 4:30AM as that was slack water. Worked the north end at the mouth of the river for over an hour with a pink Fin-S looking for weakfish, and not a hit, not even a bluefish. Met up with Sam shortly after, and his results were about the same as mine. Then he tried for tog, caught one, and then disappeared, I think he went to the south end of the canal, he mentioned he might. So I worked up the wall casting a Rapala to see if any stripers were around. Worked all the way up to the 88 Bridge with zero action on the rapala, and fially, at the eddy just north of the 88 bridge, I picked up a striper, about 22 inches. Fished till 10:30 or so, and that was it, one hit, one fish.
Seemed slow all the way around, the only action was tog, and Shoprite Eddie and Kim said even though they were catching, it was slow compared to last week. Couple of other guys catching tog also, crab or clam, didn't seem to matter, it all worked. Cigar Tony worked up the wall also, after me as the water quieted down, and he did nothing also. His friend caught one small blue, and that was it.
Cigar Tony tells me he and friends have been getting stripers in the Manasquan surf early mornings, using a broken backed Bomber, even a few making it over the 28 inch mark.
Chris tells me he's been bailing blackfish in the canal(but not this morning), and he's getting some large blues using live mullet with a bobber, just throwing it out there during slack water as he fishies for tog.
So all in all a slow morning, but was nice to finally catch a fish and see some of the guys, and find out whats been going on. May give it a shot this afternoon, slack water on the incoming is 5-5:30PM. If I go, I'll report later.
Garry
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good report as always and also good to see you back in action t^
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Fine report as always Garry t^ Good to see ya back in the saddle again chrz
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B&B nice catch of Togs. Gonna give it a try hopefully soon, if I am not too late as usual. Been hitting the surf more now!
Garry, good to read your report. Glad to see you got some fishing in!
TT^
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t^ Good report Garry. chrz.I hit the canal yesterday afternoon after the inlet Grandpa wanted to catch some tog..Caught three short fluke in about an hour then made way to pinebluff.. As we pulled up some one was being nabbed by Fish and Game..I guess he kept a short tog b/c Fish and Game threw it back in after a few words and a hefty fine... rgmn ouch.....Caught 8 tog in half hour and also tried the FIN-S ( Nada ) The traffic was pretty high and there weas alot of people fishing. Got to make it out there again this week..
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Hit the canal again at 5PM. Water was still incoming due to go slack. Brandon was fishing tog right at the entrance of Pinebluff, so I was talking to him and casting a shad to see if any blues were around, nada. Went to the mouth of the river at slack water and worked a pink Fin-S looking for weakfish, and nada again, LMAO. I left at about 6:30 as Lost9340's car died and I had to go fix it. It was extremely slow, outside of guys fishing for tog. Lots of people fishing tog, and catching also, either clam or crab seemed to be working fine. Didn't see any other fish caight except for juvenilie sea bass on sandworms at the mouth of the canal.
Garry
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Fished between the 2 bridges today in mikeys new spot didnt have much time had to do something on the boat..
MIkes spot was infuego sick bites on the incomimng tide
Lots more keepers size tog in this area...
Caught around 50 in 1hour 45 min
Bruce had 20 mike 15
We kept our 3 fish all 16inchers
Had aleast 8 more keeper size released..
Tuckers also fished down the south end and did well...
Seen one of the biggest trigger fish caught by a guy fishing a high low wit clam. It was over 4lbs... Sick looking...
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Nice report and nice catch!
TT^
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Nice catch Capt Jerry. t^
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t^
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Nice t^ TT^ t^
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I need to get my arse over there rgmn
Good catch and I think I have an idea of where this spot is >:D ;D
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Nice catch Jerry. I may head down there again this weekend. Thought about bringing my Dad. He hasn't fished in years and would love the action those little guys are providing.
Correct me if I'm wrong, I believe I read this here. Slack tide is about 1-2 hours after the inlet?
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The Canal is usually slowed down closer to 3 hours!
Although, they are catching on the incoming so 1-2 hrs after the Inlet may be better!!
TT^
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biting better on the moving tides
Middle 1/2 till end of the tides....
just add a little weight.
good luck
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was fishing with mom dad and erin, 2 nights ago.
mom got a 24" and dad got a 36" around 9 pm
pics will be up soon. last night nothing...
be back at it tonight
rgmn
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Nice catch!
TT^
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Sweet... t^
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was fishing with mom dad and erin, 2 nights ago.
mom got a 24" and dad got a 36" around 9 pm
pics will be up soon. last night nothing...
be back at it tonight
rgmn
Nice catch RB, stripers I am assuming?? What bait or lure? Looking foward to seeing the pics. Hard to fish the canal when I am up here in Beantown, on my daughters laptop, LMAO, but I'll be back on tuesday, and hopefully find some time to fish.
Garry
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yeah sorry guys fish were caught on 5 3/4 fin s
was out there again last night. caught 1 small striper. same thing, on a fin s .
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mom&dad
fish
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dads 36" 15 pounds
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Nice catch! ;D Great to see your whole family goes out fishing together! t^
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Good going RB and Mom & Dad. Nice catching... t^ slt
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Nice bass out of the canal!!
TT^
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nice catch! TT^
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Awesome!!>
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fished last night....
lost 1 small striper on a black plug.. didn't see any other fish caught. I left after slack, when the outgoing started.
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Another nice catch!! You are really sweeping them up in the Canal.
TT^
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picked mom up and tried my hand at beach fishing......
i suck at it lol!
just cant seem to get over the second set of rollers
not to mention all the crap in the water... I was throwing my 12 footer with a abu 7000, eight ounces with clams and i could not get it to hold? got soaked i smell like low tide and my mother was laughing at me....... beach not so nice !!!!!!! rgmn
going back to what i know
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Surf fishing is fun!!
TT^
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yeah i could see how it could be fun... i need to learn how to do it first! I have always wanted to learn how to plug and fish clams
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i hit the canal sunday with my old man. had to see it with all the hype. we fished sandworms,i had pronbally 10 black fish and 6 seabass nothing to brag about. they were all small,but fun on 6lb test. the water really rips threw there. we had alot of fun.
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yeah i could see how it could be fun... i need to learn how to do it first! I have always wanted to learn how to plug and fish clams
Yeah, you picked a rough week to go out! If you have never done it, give it a shot at low tide and/or when the waves aren't 4-6+ feet every couple of seconds!! It is a lot of fun!! Nothing better than fishing on the beach, getting lost in the "noise" of crashing waves, sand between your toes and water up to your knees!!
TT^
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Nice catch SR! The Canal is a pretty neat place to fish! Lots of variety in there. Just wish they had better parking or public parking at even one location 5hrug.
TT^
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Hit the canal at about 1PM this afternoon, right at slack tide. Fished the very north end at the mouth of the river with a pink Fin-S, looking for weakfish, and nada. Friend of mine told me he caught 3 approxamately 24 inches 2 weeks ago there on live spot, and hasn't seen a weakie since. The 2-4 pound bluefish were noticably absent also. Water was a bit turbid, wind mild out of the southwest, weed minimal and boat traffic minimal.
So I worked up the wall with the rapala up to the 88 bridge looking for a striper against the wall, and nada on that too. Then worked an alewife Fin-S in a couple of my favorite holes looking for a striper, nada on that also. No runs, no hits, so I couldn't make any errors, LMAO.
Seems the only game in town in the Canal right now is tog. Plenty of people fishing them, and catching also, including more that one keeper per person and being thrown back. Green crab and clam both appearred to be working equally well.
While fishing today, I found a kayak laying in the weeds. Kayak appears to be in excellent shape, missing a few parts. I asked around, and no one had any knowledge of it, nor was anyone there the owner. I don't know if it was abandoned, or stolen and stashed there, or what, but since no one there had any knowledge of it, or claimed to be the owner, I took it home. I'm posting this here so that if anyone had this kayak stolen, or misplaced, or whatever, they can PM me and if they can describe it in detail, I will gladly return it to them. I figuered I'd take it home before someone made off with it and try to find who the owner is or what the story is on it, so if it belongs to anyone, PM me and let me know.
Garry
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sweet gary,good lookin. nice to see people lookin out for others. i'm sure someone is missing it,hope this has a good ending.. t^
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Good try Garry! Nice you grabbed the kayak...someone is missing an expensive item there!
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Hi Garry, You might want to also put that in our Kayak Forum as well as there are a few guys that are avid Yakers and might know something or someone that was ripped off.
Paul
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Ok Paul, will do.
Garry
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t^
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if its a yellow ocean yak it probably belongs to the second house in from the end. I've seen it sitting right on the edge of their back lawn and thought it wasn't a smart idea on their part. 5hrug
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Oct 2nd
Tog being caught on incoming. Had a short window and caught three nice ones on greenies, fat 12 to 13.5 inches, no keepers then it looked like smaller ones caught on slack tides.
What a blast.
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What's up Doc? Welcome aboard and thanks for the info! t^ slt
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Welcome! Tog are still hot in the Canal! Nice catch and thanks for the report.
TT^
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Might hit the canal tomorrow and see if I can get any stripers or blues that may be lingering. We'll see. Or maybe head to the beach, haven't made up my mind yet.
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Thanks. This was my first time fishing the canal for tog. How long is it good to fish for them. Do they move out or theoretically can they be caught all winter?
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Tried my luck for some stripers last night...started out around 8:30 at pinebluff and headed out around 11 or so. Nada, but I tell ya it was better than sitting home. Peace and quite. Could even hear a few small fish breaking water. Try that on a weekend afternoon. Than the River Belle made its way out. Looked like a light parade coming through.
Next adventure will be my first try at surf fishing, probably Belmar area. Now back to more reading at the Surf.
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welcome to the site Doc t^
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Nice try!! Surf fishing is fun...if you don't expect to catch fish ;D!
TT^
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Well, the canal tog had a case of lockjaw today.
Fished the end of slack and the start of the incomming this morning for a couple of hours with my brother in law, nephew and his friend.
Managed a few hits and one tiny tog. Ran out of hooks and sinkers before the bait was gone...
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Good try! Even the only game in town has decided to stop biting hhppy!
TT^
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Surf Fishing is fun, but it's better when you land something ! rofla
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New to fishing in the canal. When is it generally better to fish in it, incoming, outgoing or slack tide? BTW, saw someone fishing this afternoon who was picking away at some blackfish. 1 was about 13 1/2 inches.
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welcome grtn
The canal has been a big hot spot for tog. The tog prefer moving water. Bass, blues and weakies can be found around slack water. Winkman has posted some valuable info in some of the previous threads about different methods for targeting these species in the canal. Good luck and enjoy the forum. chrz
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Welcome Ru_dio..
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Can anyone tell me how long can we expect the blackfish bite to be good at the canal. This is my first year fishing for them.
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I was able to get out and fish the south end of the canal.... I worked the entire area and found some nice fish on the Bay Head side....
The bait fish in the back area is just nuts...
The entire south end of the canal... with a good in-comming tide works for me... even with the kayak it was easy fishing,
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I was able to get out and fish the south end of the canal.... I worked the entire area and found some nice fish on the Bay Head side....
The bait fish in the back area is just nuts...
The entire south end of the canal... with a good in-comming tide works for me... even with the kayak it was easy fishing,
Ahh what a tease ;D how nice fish we talking?
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Might be giving the canal a shot Sunday morning.
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Good Luck. grtn
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Hello !!! Anybody out there ???
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Can anyone tell me how long can we expect the blackfish bite to be good at the canal. This is my first year fishing for them.
anyone have this answer?
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Gary definetly would of had this answer.. This post has not moved in some time. But for some reason I dont think he will be back... :'(
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I only started fishng there last year, so I'm far from an expert but according to my log it was over around the end of Oct last year.
Hopefully we'll get better info from the regulars..
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Sorry Rod,
I cant help with the blackfish question... But I have fished the canal for years... before I started kayaking.. I always did my best fishing in late November and December... The canal is one place which is overlooked by many
The canal has always been a place.. that most will fish a couple times... not produce...then never return.. For those who fished this fast moving body of water know what a great place it is...
Dave
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Usually slows up by the time the bag goes up :'(
Usually last until nov then becomes picky fish are still able to be caught, but it starts to depend on tide and water temps more..
The drop and reel all day action usaully slows up to where there bite for an hour or so on the tides...
Usually is the same type thing every year, fish can be caught there until dec when the water start to get to cold
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hey guys what happened to the forum that was titled "Point Pleasant canal fishing reports" ? or can i just not see it?
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I removed it.. Looked like everyone still liked putting their report in this thread..
I can make one so you can post unique reports to the forum if you want. yes.. No..?
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Gary definetly would of had this answer.. This post has not moved in some time. But for some reason I dont think he will be back... :'(
why did I mis something? 5hrug Been rather busy of late, would hate ti think we lost him as a member >:(
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To make a long story short.. He got mad at us / Admin / Mods and will not return. We edited a word/term that we found ( Not appropriate for some of our members or sponsors to read) ( for lack of a better explanation) and he got pretty upset.. I tried talking to him.. with no luck.
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Well that is a shame that he has left nosmly! He certainly has a lot of expertise and experience fishing the Inlet and Canal, which is not an easy place to fish. Only time will tell...time usually repairs a lot of things. Unfortunately, with no disrespect to Garry or anyone else, I have learned that NO MATTER who, what, where or when you can be replaced. It might not be easy, but you get replaced and things move on.
Hey Garry if you read this, hope you might reconsider as I know many of us enjoy reading your reports and appreciate the help you giive us grtn! If not, I would understand and respect your decision(as I have no other choice :P)!
Off my tiny little step.
TT^
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Thanks Garry for all your useful posts on this site and good luck to you grtn
there goes another one .... 5hrug
pretty soon this will be a non fishing site as to the actual number of fishing posts are very minimal!
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Its called life Brian.
I know I have not been able to get out that much lately so my posts have been down but this site is rich in a lot of other ways and in my opinion the variety of topics and characters makes it more interesting.
You have to remember that the change in seasons always bring about a lull as both fish and fishermen have to change their tactics to survive both to live and to catch. Slow times are normal.
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I removed it.. Looked like everyone still liked putting their report in this thread..
I can make one so you can post unique reports to the forum if you want. yes.. No..?
I dont really care, just curious TT^
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Basically I started reading this post to listen to reports and to report as well.. But since Ive been on 90% of the Canal reports were from Garry..It is possible but I highly doubt that anyone can give a better series of informative reports..I believe things happen for a reason though .From the way I see it, it seems as if alot of ppl want to fish but never actually get out. 5hrug
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I know I spend more time kayaking now then fishing the canal, But this is a GREAT post that should keep going and going, If I cant get out in the kayak.... I will be fishing the PT Pleasant Canal.... Thats for sure.
The post here are great lets try to keep it going OK guys.....
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Man that sux... that guy helped ALOT of people catch some nice fish...
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This weekend was the best time to hit the canal.... We had a strong North East wind which made fishing the surf impossible... The canal had a flood tide which caused heavy flooding to the back bay and marsh areas....
it even caused streets to become flooded on 35 south last night.
The bait fish had a very difficult time swimming in the hard current.. and the bass were all over them...
With all that water being inside the bay... it only has one way to go... back out.... so for the next couple days.... Fishing the north end would be the best... being all that bait will be sucked out with the heavy flow of water.
Look at it this way... The surf will take a couple days to clean up... so if your looking to fish... Why not give it a shot...
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Caught a beautiful large black today, and find them to be plentiful here on the canal!! Saw the "watcher" catching the illegals on Sunday on the other side which had quite a bit of activity and marching them along with their illegal bounty towards the street!
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Welcome and nice catch! The Canal is a big spot for the CO's to patrol. There is a lot of illegal fish kept there for some reason. I hope they try to educate them as best they can, instead of just punishing them 5hrug!
TT^
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Thanks for the report. and Welcome to the site t^
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Fished the canal from 1600 to 1800 today and got the royal skunk. Fished the north end amongst all the toggers. Threw a wild eye for the most part, then switched it up with a x-rap. Conditions were good, low amounts of vegetation, and next to no boat traffic ;D. Not many tog coming over the fence either, slow pick of shorts.
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Nice report!!
TT^
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Bay Head end of the canal
I did have a chance to get out and fish the Bay Head end of the canal on Wednesday night...
The wind was way to strong to go out with the kayak... So we just fished the Dock at the end of Bay Ave and over at the yacht club... We had bass up to 36" with only one at 28"....
We used the 5" Storm shad in pearl which seemed to be all they wanted.... The bait in the back is still thick... If Saturday night does become nasty and fishing the beach is a problem.... I recommend the canal for your fishing go to spot.
If you plan on fishing some place other then the two ends... The Bridge Ave or the 88 bridge should also work very well.... Work the wall...
Cast out and let your soft plastic bait swing into the wall... The bass will be holding up tight to the wall.... So hold on to your rod.
I have taken bass in the canal up to 40 pounds in November... Dont let this place fool you when it comes to bass fishing... Stay with it...and dont give up
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If you mean down by the ramp im surpised/impressed.
I just picked up a solid keeper sized on a pink zoom at the bridge at 2 mins to slack
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so here i am sitting in my living room watching a bunch of out-of-towners grabbing their share of underweight and undersized black! about 8 guys all together on the eastern side of the canal.... 5hrug
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That doesn't surprise me! I think the out of towners are foreign immigrants who don't know any better. Most of them do not speak English and come from countries where there are no fishing laws or rules. That's why if the CO's would educate them, it might help. In their defense, where they come from, when they are hungry and want to eat, they go catch or hunt their food. That is their way of life, so they think they can do the same here. They look at it as an almost free meal. Kind of can't blame them there!
Now, if they know they are breaking the rules...they should be punished. There is no excuse for that 5hrug!!
TT^
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They know what they are doing. My mom works with a few immigrants and they always talk about keeping short fish. That has been going on for about 10 years now.
I think if they truly did not know about size regs they would be baffled as to why people are throwing fish back. It's the same people at these spots all the time.
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Canal Bass, taken a few from this mold and design. The pic isnt picking it up well but they are thick.
(http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll194/SharkHart/canal10-23.jpg)
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Nice fish...good to see some more action in the Canal!!
TT^
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Nice clean bass.
Fished the canal from about 7am-8:30am. 5oz bank sinker, dropper, #5 snelled Virginia hook, green crabs.
One FAT 14.5 inch keeper, some toy togs up to 12inches or so.
Met Foul Hook from this site. He had one that was 13 and 7/8 and the usual mix of shorts.
I left them biting. Foul Hook, hope you got the big one and nice speaking with you.
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Nice catch.
It is always great to unexpectantly meet someone from the site. Finally put a face to the name. t^
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Cool!! beans t^
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damn and I stopped going to the canal because I thought all the bass moved out of there this time of year. Nice catch!
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went down to canal with mikey and mikey. drop and reel for most the day burned up 3/4 of a bucket of greenies...
only 2 keepers but well over 100 fish...
Good times!!!
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the ones asking about the canal fishing here is a little insight
blackfish are generally always in there all winter. there are 3 spots i know of that you can generally pick up keeper after keeper. if you see anyone keeping short fish call the warden immediately as there is always one hanging around at the canal. place needs to be cleaned up of the scum.
weakfish really didn't make an appearance at all this year. everything was hit or miss and more on the miss side.
blues are still hanging in the canal mostly at the north end. my father(wink_man) was fishing eels looking for some larger striper's than we have been catching and pulled in some alligators.
striper's have been hot. catching loads of them with good size. caught several keepers just yesterday in an hour and a half.
hope everyone has a great fishing season i know i will.
Edited ( Hotrod )
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I hit the canal today from 4-630pm. Had no luck in my search for stripers and blues. The other hundred people there were catching blackfish. mostly shorts. Maybe its time to hit the beach.
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Good try Greg!!
TT^
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Fished the south end of the canal today from 1500- 1800 using a pearl white storm shad and again got skunked. I think I have given up on this place. I figured I have put in a good 20 hours fishing the canal during this late summer/early fall season with different approaches and haven't picked up one bass yet. 5hrug
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Good try, again!
TT^
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You shoulda bin dare yesterday... rofla rofla hhppy hhppy chrz
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in my opinion it is one of the toughest places to catch them. The window of opportunity with the ripping tide make its tough. The lure must sweep through a zone to get them to hit. The way that water moves limits your time it's in that zone.
The uniform configurations and depth of the canal doesnt help you any either was they have no reason to be in certain places. They seem to mostly ignore the bridge pilings unlike other ares also.
Most guys use a heavy lure to combat the current but then the tide suddenly slows down and that heavy lure may now not give you the sweeping angle needed. What I found to work recently is stay light, 1/2 oz and just fish the tide change. Casting the jig at 10 oclock or 2 (depending on tide) to the other side and if you get a hit its going to be between 10/2 and 12 if that makes any sense. if it goes past you highly unlikely it will get hit.
However it mostly appears to be a zero to one or two fish place per tide, but you have some chance at a "good" fish.
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in my opinion it is one of the toughest places to catch them. The window of opportunity with the ripping tide make its tough. The lure must sweep through a zone to get them to hit. The way that water moves limits your time it's in that zone.
The uniform configurations and depth of the canal doesnt help you any either was they have no reason to be in certain places. They seem to mostly ignore the bridge pilings unlike other ares also.
Most guys use a heavy lure to combat the current but then the tide suddenly slows down and that heavy lure may now not give you the sweeping angle needed. What I found to work recently is stay light, 1/2 oz and just fish the tide change. Casting the jig at 10 oclock or 2 (depending on tide) to the other side and if you get a hit its going to be between 10/2 and 12 if that makes any sense. if it goes past you highly unlikely it will get hit.
However it mostly appears to be a zero to one or two fish place per tide, but you have some chance at a "good" fish.
With the stripers I have had the best luck right along the wall. Along the wall as in 6 inches off of it. And ive been lucky with blues in the middle of the canal, using a similar approach to you 10-2 oclock reasoning.
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Just got back from the canal, snuck over there for an hour(dont tell the wife.) Didn't catch anything but it was a great day to be out. Decent amount of boats going through there too and Mr Strauss from Pt. Beach had his marine bio class out there doing something, so there were like 20 kids all lined up on the fence. I only brought the glass ghost xrap out with me and tried along the wall, in the middle and walked from the north end to river rd but no luck. Current started to pick up so I left. Maybe tomorrow inbetween working I'll try again.
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Good try...way to get out there and fish!!
TT^
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I fished canal for tautogs @ el-12 and same results as usuall.Pleanty of shorts up to 13,no keeps.Whos taking them ???
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Thanks for the report beans.. and welcome to the site.. The little Chinese lady.. they take them t^
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Thanks for the report fryed...togging looks like fun there. Haven't tried it yet. I am usually looking for bass or blues when I get up there!
TT^
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Will try again today before slack again.Too many boats for the big guys yesterday,maybe it'll slow down today.
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Tautoging still great at canal.Tried old reliable spot today and got my keeper + a bunch of 12-13".Fun time.Lots people out today with same results.Back to reality tomorrow t^
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TT^
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Nice catch, again!
TT^
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t^ grtn
Welcome Aboard and it sounds like you will fit right in our little ban of slightly used fishermen. Any questions fire away and if you can add anything please do so.
Again Welcome Aboard.
Happy Catching
Paul
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HELP!
I've been fishing the canal for Blackfish and doing pretty well during the day. I want to take my dad and uncle tomorrow night for stripers. Do I have a good chance of catching them now by the Route 88 bridge or docks at Bay Ave? Does it matter if you fish during incoming, outgoing or slack at night or can you fish and get fish during any point of the tide? Thanks for sounding ignorant but I am completely new to fishing the canal and I'd love to catch stripers there than have to run to Mantoloking and try to catch them in the ocean surf.
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You best bet is to fish the Canal around 3 hours after a tide at the CG Station on the Manasquan. That will still give you some water movement and bring the bait through there. With that being said, I have not had much luck, the 6 or so times I fished it this summer. If you look back at posts, there are a few guys who have had good luck there and have caught several fish. Stripers seem to hug the wall, so you need to work along the wall. Soft plastics and Rapala swimmer seem to do the best.
Good Luck!
TT^
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Fished 10:30 am to 1:30pm.
Incoming to slow incoming. Fish picked at the baits, only one short until it began to slack off and then you could hook them. 3 to 5 ounces, # 5 Virginia hooks, green crabs. A bunch of shorts to 13.5 inches. Rolled a nice one that just crushed it out on the ledge. My line was on the bail instead of in the roller. Set it and popped the bail and then the line drifted and a short took the place of the keeper.
Most of the fish just barely hooked on the outside of the lip. Could not get them to crush it like two weeks ago.
Seems like less fish as I had to put it in a variety of spots to come up with about 10-15 shorts or so.
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Nice catch!!
TT^
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Fished 10:30 am to 1:30pm.
Incoming to slow incoming. Fish picked at the baits, only one short until it began to slack off and then you could hook them. 3 to 5 ounces, # 5 Virginia hooks, green crabs. A bunch of shorts to 13.5 inches. Rolled a nice one that just crushed it out on the ledge. My line was on the bail instead of in the roller. Set it and popped the bail and then the line drifted and a short took the place of the keeper.
Most of the fish just barely hooked on the outside of the lip. Could not get them to crush it like two weeks ago.
Seems like less fish as I had to put it in a variety of spots to come up with about 10-15 shorts or so.
Great report t^
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TT^
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Tried the togs again mon,tues before and during slack.Old spot mon(good)mouth of canal manasquan tues(no good)Things have slowed down quite a bit :PBack to steak and ales this week
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Nice...thanks for the report!
TT^
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Thanks for the report FB t^
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t^ grtn
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Tried the togs again yesterday before,during and after slack.Bite was best during slack but it moved through very fast.None in my bucket this time though the guys across from me looked to have better luck by the 88 bridge.Will try again today or tomorrow
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t^ grtn
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Good try!
TT^
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Anyone fishing the canal tomorrow (Saturday)?
Maybe for some tog....
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i was thinking of giving it a try saturday.... see what happins
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Tried the togs again after a short layoff in canal.Slack was good(2:00) for about an hour.Had a nice handful to 14" none in bucket again.Caught them though.They are still there.Time for a head boat.
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good to hear you put a bend in a rod t^
better than what I did today.....work.
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Nice...yeah the togging by boat has been excellent!
TT^
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I'm having a great fall/winter season on my boat out there TT^
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When in the spring is the canal good?
Last into summer?
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Fishdoctor.... Im not sure what your fishing for in the canal.... But for me... I have caught bass in the canal from March - December
The canal is a great place to fish and offers a very large range of fishing all year round... I have even come across bluefish around the first week of April...
Hope this helps some
Dave
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Blackfish specifically but that is good to know.
Thanks.
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Like Kayak1 said, you can usually get fish in there in the very early spring and continue through December 31st...at which point the striper season closes and not too much life in there.
Blackfishing seems to pick up in the later summer there. Seems to pretty much end in the winter through the spring and by August you can usually start getting shorts in there. By the end of August until Togging season opens, it is usually decent fishing in there. I'm sure there are still tog in there and some probably stay year 'round, you just don't get many people fishing for them in the Canal and the catch rate is not as high as in the Fall.
TT^
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Thanks.
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The canal is a funny place to fish... some days are much better then others.... Keep fishing it and the rewards can be big
Just don't give up.....
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Yep. Thanks.
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Has anyone been fishing the canal lately? I was just wondering whether any fish have been moving through or when they start to.
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Late responce but i did here of a few short stripers being picked and have seen more than a few boats drifting and trolling through there with no visual catches
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Thanks for posting the report... grtn
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i caught a bunker in there, yes he hit my jig too. Its a little soon for activity in there but very soon, bass blues tog
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Lunker or Bunker ????
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unless it was a plankton jig. More like a herring,
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i know the difference between a bunkeranda herring. i caught another bunk toniht in a different location. thy do as defense mech tis tim of yar
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Went and fished the canal this morning. The weather wasn't so bad, but the fishing was. Not a single hit. 5hrug
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Good try! Even the bays in OC area are a little slow still. If you don't mind venturing, try fishing the Raritan for some better luck!
TT^
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went today ...nothing doing yet
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Good try! At least you got out.
TT^
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Fished the Condos yesterday eve. Caught 2 blues one around 2 lbs and another close to 6 long and skinny typical for this time of year. I was only there about an hour. The guys throwing metal which from what I could see was most didnt catch anything. I was using a X-Rap 4 3/4" olive green it has some nice flash figured that the blues hit most anything but it might give me a better cance for a bass.
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I tried for bass at the switch of the tide last night, nothing doing but rain. Went deeper into the bay later on, between storms and hammered some bass with keeper sizedan schoolie
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tried the slack under fullmoon sat night ,fish were there,all blues fun any way
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Nice try FB..
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Went down to the condos Friday Eve (nothing and nobody there) then tried the end toward the river on the old hospital side. Incomming very fast until dark. Many blues just at the surface with nothing more than a couple of followers. About 10 people on either side not a fish caught during the last hour of light. I would guess that once it changed it probably got good. I forgot my light.
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Good try!
It shouldn't be much longer before the Canal gets going good again! We just need some more bait to hit the bays and bring the fish!
TT^
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has any 1 been here latly??? havent heard much from here.. im thinkin bout goin 2maro night if the rain hold up
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Only 40% chance of rain so get out there and hope to see a report of a good catch. ;D
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Im gonna try and get out there tuesday or wednesday. Last hoorah for trout this week so taking a co worker out with me tomorrow for that. Then on to the Canal!
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lots of blues & bass in canal . slack tides the best time
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Thanks for the post Kev. t^
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t^ grtn
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wat tide chart do u use for the canal?
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I think it's been said that it runs about one and a half hours behind the inlet tide TT^
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Check out the first post in this thread. There's a real detailed explanation of the canal.
It's about 3 - 3.5hrs off from the inlet. So if you start 1-2 hrs after the Inlet tide, you'll catch the end of that tide, slack and into the new tide in the canal.
I'm gonna try to head out there today if i can finish the chores I have to do.
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Fished there this morning through the slack tide with no luck.
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Good try!
TT^
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It really depends on what you're doing. The running tides are what you want when fishing shads deep. Let the lures sink and sweep across the deeper water and twitch. Poppers are working too. Lots of small fish this year. Just go fishing ;D
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Hit the canal yesterday morning.....nothing.
Then hit the inlet for a while....nothing. Did see a few short fluke caught. Weather was nasty.
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Artificials are a night time thing in here . Live bait rules during the day ;D
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went out at about slack tide absolutly nothing.. guy next to me had 2 small ones on bait
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Tried today w/herring and the yellow eyes were here nosmly lost a few baits then decided to leave.
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heading there now with the wife! She usually catches something, more than I do anyway. haha.
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Looking forward to a report Greg. we don't hear much from the canal anymore
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well, not much of a report to give but its a report I guess. Water was clean and clear and current not to bad, incoming tide, moderate boat traffic, caught nothing! Only stayed for about an hour and a half, wife wasn't feeling well,(6 mos. preg.) It was still a great day out and we were the only two there, on the river side anyway.
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Nice try! I remember the "wife is pregnant" days, especially all summer. Good luck!
TT^
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When do the blackfish start to bite well?
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The Blackfish will show up into the Canal end of August. Bite usually gets really going in September middle to the end of the month. However, a lot of those fish will all be juveniles and too short to keep. You might get a few keepers in there every now and then.
Capt Jerry P, is the Togmaster...and he does very well when he fishes the Canal. I watched him land fish after fish after fish for over an hour! I was so impressed that I stopped fishing on the opposite side!
TT^
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Thanks. Last year I fished October into November and did okay with a few keepers and lots of action.
I just love doing it so wanted to find out best time to get started. Since I drive a little I'll start in September and see what happens.
Yeh, I am sure he could school me pretty good, ha, ha
Love those crisp fall days and catching blackfish.
Oh well back to fluking
Thanks again.
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Those togs are there!Great catches from the rails 1 hr before,during and after high slack.Clams have been good so far yet no keepers.
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Good to know.
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Hit up the canal again tonight around 6:00. Fished for about an hour till I finally caught something. My first ever striper haha. Yea thats right I said it, never caught a striped bass before. Actually caught 3 of them within a half hour. All shorts of course, didn't measure the first one in the photo but the other 2 were 17 and 19inches. Great time! And I somehow snagged a tiny starfish with my lure on the 7th "last cast before I go".
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nice catch chrz
working against the I'm assuming ?
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nice catch chrz
working against the _____ I'm assuming ?
Fill in the blank please, haha. My guess is "wall". Yes I was, so far against it I got snagged once and took me a good 20 minutes to get it free. Didn't want to lose the lure because I packed lite (only brought 2) and it seemed to be lucky haha. The star fish I snagged in the middle, guess he was just floating by.
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Good job Greg.
I'm yet to catch a striper. now I'll have to try that much harder.
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Did anybody read the first story on the home page?
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w00t congrats t^ t^
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Nice catch!
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Did anybody read the first story on the home page?
Yea however I think Im gonna fly the BS flag on that story. 5hrug 14 yo at canal at 3am by himself, on a bike? Sounds fishy to me. rofla
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I got that from Capt Rich 5hrug No reason for him to make it up.. I'm not sure if he was alone..
t^
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I thought the same thing at first. But if you reread it, it doesn't say he was alone or on the bike at 3am. Just that he brought it to the shop on the bike. Maybe he was out with dad overnight and came to the shop on the bike the next day. Rich's shop is quite a ride from the canal on a bike carrying a big fish. We don't know the whole story.
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The Blackfish will show up into the Canal end of August. Bite usually gets really going in September middle to the end of the month. However, a lot of those fish will all be juveniles and too short to keep. You might get a few keepers in there every now and then.
Capt Jerry P, is the Togmaster...and he does very well when he fishes the Canal. I watched him land fish after fish after fish for over an hour! I was so impressed that I stopped fishing on the opposite side!
TT^
Ahh almost time for the Cluck u Blackfish Chicken Challenge at da canal TT^
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I thought the same thing at first. But if you reread it, it doesn't say he was alone or on the bike at 3am. Just that he brought it to the shop on the bike. Maybe he was out with dad overnight and came to the shop on the bike the next day. Rich's shop is quite a ride from the canal on a bike carrying a big fish. We don't know the whole story.
I don't like to read things fully Im a little too quick at calling people out, maybe I'm just jealous haha, you saw the size of that guppy I caught in the canal!.
I think he threw it over his shoulder and held on to its tail while making the long hike back to rich's place. haha.
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im goin down this weekend... u can only keep 1 black fish right now correct?
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That is correct. One blackfish a person. nts nosmly
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Lot of boats Saturday the 5th. Got an almost keeper (blackfish) twice before the boating onslaught occured and then just picked em up against the wall. About 15-20fish. A lot of scratchers which is odd for this location, had to wait them out but eventually got most of the fish that bit.
Fun day and a free boat show!
Oh, the usual, green crabs, size five Virginia hook snelled and 4-5ounce bank sinkers worked good.
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Went out last tuesday I believe. Stopped at rich's place. He set me up with all the goodies. First time trying eels so he helped me out with setting up the rigs and how to use them. Thanks man! Your customer service tops that of the other place that I dont go to anymore! Anyway, nothing on the eels, had a bluefish I believe that was tearing them up but I couldn't hook him. However I caught A few Stripers and 2 Blues on the A17 green tail. Shorts (like 18-23") but still a great time!
Heading out tomorrow sometime if the rain holds off.
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Good action at the Canal! Nice catches guys. Too bad you couldn't hook into any big bass on the eels Greg.
TT^
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wat did u catch the stripers on greg??
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Yea, I'll get the big ones today maybe!
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wat did u catch the stripers on greg??
A17 with a green tail on it. Also caught some on a dark purple bomber later in the evening.
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Caught the big one earlier this morning. Well not a striper but a Blue! almost 26 inches. Biggest fish I've ever landed so far! Took forever to reel it in, I think my gear was too light. 6 foot medium pole. Took me about 15 minutes before I could even start reeling in any line. Too afraid I was going to break the line so I just stood there for a while holding the pole.
Tide was coming in still. I believe hightide for the inlet was at 10:44. I started at 10. Current was quick and the water had alot of junk in it. I knew it was going to be a good time when I got there and I saw the blues jumping around every so often. Caught five within 45 minutes, all on the a17 with a green tail. They were all around 12-15 inches. Then I caught the big one and I was tired and happy so I threw a couple more casts and left when I ran out of coffee!
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Nice catch!
What type of line are you using and what lb test?
TT^
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Way to get em Greg. Now I got the canal itch.
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Now I got the canal itch.
Gross! :P
;D
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Now I got the canal itch.
Lamisil & talcum powder ;D!
TT^
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Well played sirs. t^
I must be tired, I didn't see that one coming.
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Well played sirs. t^
I must be tired, I didn't see that one coming.
rofla
I think if I can get out this week/weekend I might hit the Canal...not many times a year it is full of life like it is now!
TT^
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The big togs are there!I had 1 keeper tues,wed @ 15" before slack even came on intide.Clams have still been working for me.Also went to manaquan inlet with the kids for fun and caught at least 30 sea bass,all shorts,where the walkway meets the rocks.
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Now I got the canal itch.
Lamisil & talcum powder ;D!
TT^
rofla rofla rofla
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I was using 15LB mono thats been on there for about a year.....time for a respool! haha.
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I was using 15LB mono thats been on there for about a year.....time for a respool! haha.
If you respool and want to splurge a little...try one of the braids. I like Sufix or Power Pro. You can go a little heavier than you normally would with mono and still have plenty of line. I ended up going from 14lb mono to 20lb PP on my Bay setup. A little heavy for what I am doing, but never have that question of "if it will hold," especially in the Canal or Inlet with some of the big blues and bass. I have lighter tackle if I want to use it too... ;D
TT^
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Where Are you located? Going down to fish the canal early next week.
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Capt. Rich's place is on rt. 88 in Bricktown.
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Stopped over at -------- to pick up some crabs from Capt. Rich this afternoon. The shop is coming along nice t^. Talk to Rich for a few minutes then I was on my way to the blackfish spot I always fish at the canal. Fishing was slow. Had a couple of bites at the end of the flood tide. The best bite was on the slack tide and then died off again on the start of the ebb tide. There was also some action going on at the surface, either blues or bass crushing bait fish while is was there the whole time. Thanks again Capt. Rich for giving me your only pair of scissors t^ and also for the spider crabs that you threw in the bucket. I'll be back over next week for another shot.
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I was using 15LB mono thats been on there for about a year.....time for a respool! haha.
If you respool and want to splurge a little...try one of the braids. I like Sufix or Power Pro. You can go a little heavier than you normally would with mono and still have plenty of line. I ended up going from 14lb mono to 20lb PP on my Bay setup. A little heavy for what I am doing, but never have that question of "if it will hold," especially in the Canal or Inlet with some of the big blues and bass. I have lighter tackle if I want to use it too... ;D
TT^
I have PPro Braid on my surf setup. Might spool the canal setup with it. Then the only question I will have is: Is my pole going to snap? haha. This weather washed out my canal plans for today and tomorrow. Maybe Sunday if it's not so bad I will get out there or the beggining of the week. We shall see.
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Then the only question I will have is: Is my pole going to snap? haha.
Yeah, that is the only thing you have to worry about...can your rod and reel handle it :P.
TT^
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I'll be there tomorrow! going to cut out of work early. Its suppose to be my day off anyway!
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He was right!Manasquan river side is loaded with the blues,etc and my seceret spot for the togs has been off the charts.The crabs are the best bait for them,Yesterday was with the family there and we all had a keeper,YUM!My biggest fish was 17 1/4".A MONSTER for the canal.Never seen so many big togs there ever,it's really been great fishing!I will try to have a pic posted,not real good on the comp.
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Now is the time to fish the Canal! Nice catches...
TT^
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going to canal now. doesn't look too promising with low tide and all.
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wehres the can al tide chart? i need to get there asap lol
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its 3-3.5 hours after the tide at the coast guard station in manasquan inlet.
http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/get_predictions.shtml?year=2008&stn=2812+Sandy%20Hook&secstn=Manasquan+Inlet,+USCG+Station&thh=%2D0&thm=12&tlh=%2D0&tlm=24&hh=
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Like capt rich said,stop in and get his fresh crabs and then hit the cansl @ 4:00
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Only stayed for 25 minutes. Way too many boats and you Black fish people were all over the place like tourists!!! rofla
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If I couldn't make it any easier ... ha ha ha rofla ... This week is gonna be good for night bassing. Come get your eels $16.50 per dozen this weeks sale NJSWF members ..... just remind me when you guys come in .... I may run down there and give it a shot I close at 3 I was thinking about waiting till 4 to close since its such a nice day ... Who know One thing I know is i'm going out tonight and gonna kill the stripers
Good luck Cap! slt
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Yeah, they are reading the hot action here and wanted part of it...it was a great day to get out and fish!
TT^
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Sorry Capt. Rich you are a little to far; when I fish IBSP I use the guys along the strip. TT^ grtn
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Canal toggin' ;D!
TT^
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Yeah I'll be out there tomorrow. I hope things go the way I planed them. If not it will be just another day in paradise... :P
Happy Catching
Paul
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Hey,
Fished the canal last weekend across from the State police...got there right before the incoming tide early in the AM. Schoolie stripers were hitting baitfish and hit a xrap a few times before I tried for the blackfish. Caught 10 or so and missed more than that. Two keepers ...one was 17". Put up a nice fight in that current.
Goodluck to you all ;D
Bill
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wats the best bait goin on now? and wat bout time i heard from 1 hour before slack and hour after?
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Nice job NJ Player! Capt Rich is right...fish the Canal while it has life.
Anyone want to babysit 5hrug hhppy!
TT^
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Went tonight around 5:30. Buddy caught one 14" Black fish. I however caught nothing except maybe west nile with all those mosquitoes out tonight. Threw everything I had at them and some eels but nothing worked. Probably would have down better if I stuck around a bit when the tide started to go back out but got tired.
Rich, What time do you close? Stopped by a little after 5 I believe and nobody was home, figured you skipped out to go fishing! Haha
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Thanks Sorry we just don't have the floor traffic to stay open past 5 during the week please feel free to call ahead I will always wait for a customer. I live rite down the street and would come open up for any customer especially a NJSWF member as long as
I'm in town .... You were a little off on the tide .... I heard the bite heated up around 7:00 from a regular he had 4 keepers and 30 or so shorts and saw some bass busting ..... The morning bite was great yesterday many keepers , Bass and Blues ..... chrz
TT^
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Got some live bait for capt. Rich and hit the canal around 730ish pm till me and a few buddies finished a bakers dozen and got tired of hooking nothing but the bottom rgmn. saw some regulars drifting the canal as well and nothing hitting for them also :-X. Hope the weekend holds better luck. my vacation is almost over.... nosmly
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Good try! Weird...fishing has been good all week. One of the downfalls to fishing the Canal and the Inlet...the snags. Although, that happens any time you are bottom fishing.
TT^
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Thats why I like a little bit of a moving current. Just slack off and it usually lifts out of the snag.
A little too much current this a.m. and dirty too but I am happy. (too late into tide and new moon) Got my keeper early on to a standing ovation from some boaters, an on the line fish, a short and a sea bass.
The keeper kind of slants my mood, slow but nice cool morning and the fish do seem bigger.
Last time a whole crab dented by the sinker was the ticket. This time a half with the shell was good. Actually got the seabass on a whole crab but think it was laready wacked a few times by a tog.
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finally made it out today to get some fishing in. i have been layed up due to the fact that i broke my back, somehow i broke my l5 vertabrea in half. so doing anything has been tough,but this morning i got medded up and was determined to get me some blackfish. i headed over to -------- and got my green crabs,while i was there i met a fellow njswf member straycat. i asked if i could join him and follow him to the canal. i was by myself,and with my back was looking for some company. he gladly accepted and i followed him over to his spot. the action was pretty good. he landed 3 or 4 before i could get a good hookset. my reaction times arent what they were at the moment but i eventually got it down and landed 10 or so. it was a great time and we both went home with a keeper. i couldnt have asked for more. thanks to this site i met another great fishing friend,we exchanged numbers and i am sure we will fish again.
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It was nice to meet you surfrocket, we'll do it again sometime. As soon as you left I landed another keeper 15in so my tally was about 2 dozen togs caught with 3 of them being keepers, so it was a great day of fishing along with meeting another fishing buddy. Guys see Rich over at Jersey Outfitters for bait and tackle.
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Nice catch, hope you ffeel better t^
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Nice job guys! Sounds like a great outing.
Man SR, I can only imagine how much pain you are in. I have bad back/spine injuries, but nothing broken. I do know, no matter what you do, it hurts. Don't over do it either. If you don't let it heal properly, it will give you problems for the rest of your life. Hope you are feeling better and have a quick recovery.
TT^
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Ken how the hell did you do that??? If I can help in any way give a call. Get well soon my friend.
Happy Catching
Paul
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Off to the canal now...
I drive a black Jeep Liberty and will be in the area accross from the state police if anyone's going to be around to say hello...
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Stopped at JHO. Missed Capt. Rich but got a dozen crabs and some hooks and headed off to the canal. Was with my BIL and nephew.
Got there a bit tardy for the slack tide but had good action for about a half hour. The size of the fish was nicer that usual. Mostly 12 - 13 inchers. It slowed to a pick once the current got going. Ran out of crabs after about an hour and called it a morning at about 8:30.
Great weather to be outside this morning.
Couple of pics. My BIL Dave and Nephew Eric.
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Nice outing...
TT^
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Hit the canal today for teh first time...Got a dozen greenies from ---------...started fishing around 11 AM got 1 then moved to a different spot and landed 8 tog in about an hour from 12:30 to 1:30...probably missed just as many...I will be back
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Nice job!
TT^
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i never see any of u guys around except for wink...lots of small black fish around
jfp
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Rich, I picked up the crabs Fri. afternoon and had great action. I took my neighbor with me who just goes freshwater fishing and this was his first time fishing the canal and he loved it. We caught about 60 fish and kept our 2 fish limit. Rich, I'll be by the shop during the week to grab some crabs.
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Nice catch Stray Cat!
TT^
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A little slower this morning for some reason but still pulled some nice blackfish and a porgy.
Cocktail blues were busting for very short sporadic periods.
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Nice catch!
TT^
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i never see any of u guys around except for wink...lots of small black fish around
jfp
Im there alot, park on river rd in the camaro. usually wear jeans and a black shirt. Where's wink? never see him there
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Fished the canal today for about 1/2 hour. Pulled 4 tog, 3 13's & 1 16 , which is the one I ate for lunch. ;D <'((((><
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Nice catch!
TT^
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t^
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Fished the canal today for about 1/2 hour. Pulled 4 tog, 3 13's & 1 16 , which is the one I ate for lunch. ;D <'((((><
Nice going on the 16 incher. I was there today also, fished from 10am to 1pm, caught about 35 fish. Only 1 was 14 inches, I let him go looking for a bigger one but it never happen. The action got really slow for me around noon time.
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I haven't been to the canal in months, and never tried for tog.
Have to get over there next week.
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I haven't been to the canal in months, and never tried for tog.
Have to get over there next week.
Nows the time to go. Just bring extra hooks and sinkers with you. Today I took a beating losing sinkers.
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16 inch is a super fish for the canal. I took my first 14 and a smidge last time to hedge my bets, glad I did the next biggest one was on the line if not under.
Got to love fall in the canal!
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Hit the canal again with Chris and had good action along with new friend Rob. We are definitely spoiled. The action was a little slow it was drop and reel for only an hour today at the high tide. 5hrug
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The tog are there, if you don't get hits for a while, move a little, the fish move around within the canal. A friend said they were catching bigger ones at the Manasquan Inlet, but there was not as many as the canal, you had to really work for them, but again, they WERE bigger. ( I actually seen proof ) TT^ <'((((><
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Fished the canal Sat am for a very brief period of time. Good action on cookie cutter shorts all round 12" maybe one at 13inches but they were fighters. Another group did get their keeper on the west side of the canal.
Heard same thing about inlet rocks having bigger fish.
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Been hearing about the great blackfishing so my son and I headed over there to make a few casts. Only fished the canal once before. Gotta say.....MAD DOG BITE AND NEVER LOST A SINGLE RIG!!! Never even casted out. Dropped straight down 2 ft out from the wall.
My 11 year old once again put me to shame as he easily swung 2 dozen+ (close to 30) toggies over the fence in just over an hour, including 3 boxers which were returned to see another day. I managed to catch my share (15).
Man.......that kid can fish!! He's a professional sniper when you put a rod in those tiny hands. Love ya buddie!!
BTW....heard from a gentleman who had been there earlier that he witnessed some guy leaving with a 5 gallon pail filled with blackfish, most if not all being undersized. Cm'on people...step up and say something when you see this going on!
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Awesome! TT^
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BTW....heard from a gentleman who had been there earlier that he witnessed some guy leaving with a 5 gallon pail filled with blackfish, most if not all being undersized. Cm'on people...step up and say something when you see this going on!
The game wardens need to be down there patrolling more.
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Nice going! Your boy is a fishing machine! Congratulations! t^
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That is a common thing with the shorts at the canal and I do remind those guilty of all rules and regulations!The warden's have been there a pleanty and I've seen them right pleanty of tiks to no avail.
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Been hearing about the great blackfishing so my son and I headed over there to make a few casts. Only fished the canal once before. Gotta say.....MAD DOG BITE AND NEVER LOST A SINGLE RIG!!! Never even casted out. Dropped straight down 2 ft out from the wall.
My 11 year old once again put me to shame as he easily swung 2 dozen+ (close to 30) toggies over the fence in just over an hour, including 3 boxers which were returned to see another day. I managed to catch my share (15).
Man.......that kid can fish!! He's a professional sniper when you put a rod in those tiny hands. Love ya buddie!!
BTW....heard from a gentleman who had been there earlier that he witnessed some guy leaving with a 5 gallon pail filled with blackfish, most if not all being undersized. Cm'on people...step up and say something when you see this going on!
GOOD STUFF!! t^
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What is the best way of getting around that area and finding a spot to fish? If anyone can post a street name where you could park to get to it...I would appreciate it. I have GPS that would get me to that area...I know where the canal is, but didn't know where to park to access an area to fish. Any info would be appreciated...
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Check the first page of this thread, there's some good info on locations. other than that, check out Google maps aerial view. There's some accessible spots on either side near the State Police building also.
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What is the best way of getting around that area and finding a spot to fish? If anyone can post a street name where you could park to get to it...I would appreciate it. I have GPS that would get me to that area...I know where the canal is, but didn't know where to park to access an area to fish. Any info would be appreciated...
When i went for the first time a few weeks ago..i entered the address for Capt Ed's Place into my GPS..you are then right down the block from the canal
1001 Arnold Avenue
(Corner of Pine Bluff)
Point Pleasant, New Jersey
drive down Pine Bluff towards the canal and park on the street
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Nice report, always great to see kids catching fish. As far as poachers go, I've also seen it happen as well, I'm sure alot of us have. Some days, when the CO comes to one side of the canal, the other side clears out in a hurry! <'((((><
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What is the best way of getting around that area and finding a spot to fish? If anyone can post a street name where you could park to get to it...I would appreciate it. I have GPS that would get me to that area...I know where the canal is, but didn't know where to park to access an area to fish. Any info would be appreciated...
When i went for the first time a few weeks ago..i entered the address for Capt Ed's Place into my GPS..you are then right down the block from the canal
1001 Arnold Avenue
(Corner of Pine Bluff)
Point Pleasant, New Jersey
drive down Pine Bluff towards the canal and park on the street
whs
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I pulled 3 nice 25 inch bass at the end of the incoming tide west side of the canal the other night. Needle nose with a black feather teaser slow retrieve with slight jerks.
Can you say black fish……a lot of doubles and about every 15 fish one keeper on clam? What the hell- I think these dame fish stop growing at 13 inches
My buddy pulled a nice 21 inch weak using a black fish rig and a gulp crab at the north side mouth on the outgoing while I was foul hooking small frenzy of small blues just for fun
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nice t^
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Nice catching guys! The Canal is really the place to fish...a great year so far.
TT^
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Cheap, easy and productive...great thing to do in this "in between" season.
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Nice Job t^
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I pulled 3 nice 25 inch bass at the end of the incoming tide west side of the canal the other night. Needle nose with a black feather teaser slow retrieve with slight jerks.
Can you say black fish……a lot of doubles and about every 15 fish one keeper on clam? What the hell- I think these dame fish stop growing at 13 inches
My buddy pulled a nice 21 inch weak using a black fish rig and a gulp crab at the north side mouth on the outgoing while I was foul hooking small frenzy of small blues just for fun
Good Info! Thanks for that. t^ <'((((><
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Thanks Capt. slt for the heads up
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Picked up a dozen green crabs from your store myself this afternoon! Just realized you were on here!
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i have also heard great things about green crabs
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I might stop in for some crabs Monday AM to hit up the canal for a bit. What time do you open over there?
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They are still chewing. Lots of shorts and one keeper if you flattened em real good, decided to toss him and earn some good " karma " and avoid any enthusiastic COs Went yesterday after church with my boy, 4. He cranked up one on his own and needed help with another then had more fun playing in the dirt and building stuff, skipping rocks, etc
Clam seemed to be the ticket including the keeper. Glad I decided to get a half dozen clams. They would mostly only peck at the crabs. Got a couple on greenies though. One regular scored a nice 15incher and I think a few others got a keeper here and there. Lots of really small fish though 9-12inches.
Peace
Jay
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Nice job, Fish Doc!
TT^
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Decided to get in on some of the Tog action out there in the canal today. I stopped in and met Capt. Rich today and grabbed some crabs and knowledge. (Great place ya got there Rich! slt)
Hit the canal by 9:30 where I met up with 2 buddies. Fishing was slow to start, with a few hits here and there but once it picked up we managed 11 shorties by the time we left. I wound up getting 5....Not bad I guess for my first blackfishing excursion out there. We wound up losing a few that darted back down in to the structure below tangling us all up. A group was leaving the beach and gave us some sandworms and clams which seemed to be a preferred bait as well. Hope to get in another day out there before the bite shuts down.
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Sounds like a good time.
I've still yet to get over there and try togging. Maybe this week.
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Jason, you were hitting on the incoming way before HT? Pretty good. I've never been able to do much there except at the recommended times (1hr or so fore and aft of HT). My son and I were there a couple of weeks ago on a Thursday, and at the peak time. We have an Aquaview camera which revealed dozens of tog right at the bulkhead. The bite was slow at first but then became a frenzy with 12/13 inch tog. One keeper at 14 1/2. Lots of pin seabass also and a hoard of oystercrackers. The bite died with the ripping tide and when we lowered the camera to see how many were left on the bulkhead, dozens, no different that two hours before, they just had lockjaw. Moved down the canal a bit and saw the same. We were across from the Marine Police. Don't know how much that has to do with it, but maybe the current isn't as swift up near the river which might make them bite a bit more. Any ideas on that anybody?
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Must be those delicious --------- crabs!
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I never thought I'd see the day where I was happy to get crabs from a hooker. hhppy
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;D t^
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Well I wasn't going to mention that hooker/crab connection, but........
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thud rofla
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Nice catch t^ and lol rofla
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whs rofla rofla
I'd totally buy one!
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I'm going to give the canal another tog tussle on either Thursday or Saturday. Sat. has maybe better weather, but HT in the dark after they hit the sack. Thursday will have some daylight with the rising tide, but more rain. The northern mouth of the canal can't be that far off of the three tide points nearby, the GC Station, Rivera Beach, and the RT 35 Bridge. So hopefully, they'll decide to cooperate. Now I gotta decide which day.
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i might have to get one for the wife ;)
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i might have to get one for the wife ;)
cfzd
;D
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Nice catch Jason! Whistle...camera sounds really cool! Better than sonar ;D.
As for the shirts... >:D cfzd hhppy
TT^
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Nice catch Jason! Whistle...camera sounds really cool! Better than sonar ;D.
As for the shirts... >:D cfzd hhppy
TT^
The camera is a blast if there's a population down there. The funniest thing is watching the blackfish that are aware of it. They are curious. If you can hold it into the current a tog will come right up to it and stare. Up above you see this big face with the lips, buck teeth, and bulging eyes filling the TV screen. Almost like a cartoon character. We used it well in the summer, saved us a lot of time with crabless bay bottom.
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The shop T-shirt
I got crabs from the ---------
For the ladies:
--------
Jammin out with my clam out!
any suggestions let me know ....
thud rofla Thniking you may want to clean up the ladies a.. Tad ;D
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I'd like to see that camera in action. Gotta be sweet to watch the fish take your bait! t^
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Hey All,
I am new to this forum and well, new to NJ in general. I was reading up on this forum, great information but can someone tell me where the train bridge and 35 Bridge is located? I looked at the google map on the very first post but can't make heads or tails of these landmarks. Also, is night fishing allowed? Do I need any permits to park at night? Thanks you in advance!
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Welcome axl169! t^ The train bridge is at Rt. 35 & Broadway. There is 7-11 right across from it. You're not supposed to fish on the bridge itself. There is a parking lot there. And you can fish there anytime. ;D
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I think the guys t-shirt is a winner! t^
that and your nice logo on it. dont think that ladies one would go over too well--hahahaha.
here are some other rejected ideas for ladies shirts:
I throw my clam in the surf...
Got crabs? I do!
Nice rod!
I think the canal will have huddled masses under the bridges if the rains come down hard.
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Nice catch Jason! Whistle...camera sounds really cool! Better than sonar ;D.
As for the shirts... >:D cfzd hhppy
TT^
The camera is a blast if there's a population down there. The funniest thing is watching the blackfish that are aware of it. They are curious. If you can hold it into the current a tog will come right up to it and stare. Up above you see this big face with the lips, buck teeth, and bulging eyes filling the TV screen. Almost like a cartoon character. We used it well in the summer, saved us a lot of time with crabless bay bottom.
http://www.aquavu.com/Products/Portable-Viewing-Systems/
I never even heard of that thing until you mention it.
How useful has it been for you fishing wise? Is it more of a cool toy? I could see it being useful at times. Have you tried it off the Wall at Point Pleasant?
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ladies:
"I always get the best rod at JHO"
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fathergll
It's a neat toy in a way but it does have excellent resolution. If the water is real murky then it's useless. The canal appears a lot brighter on the camera than it looks from the surface. It's got infrared so night vision is very good. We never tried it at the inlet because you can't really move around much there if the fishing is decent. Usually, you get where you stop. I haven't found fluke to be too close in there but they're usually in the sand anyway. The blackfish are limited to the rocks that you cannot get too with the camera and the waves will knock it to hell. We've used it in the Shrewsbury and Barneget while crabbing. If you can keep it steadied, you'll see if there are any crabs moving in. We've swept the bottom and seen nothing, got nothing after awhile and moved, picking up some crabs. The problem is keeping it aimed. It has fins to stabilize it so you're not seeing a swirling blur, but it doesn't do a very good job. A solution, which I keep forgetting to attempt, is to get a 10' section of that thin walled PVC pipe and run the cable up it after making notches in the pipe for the fins. A rubber band up over it will then keep it still. Just lowering the pipe will then give you a reverse periscope effect. Meaning, turn left and you know exactly where you're looking. 10 ft would be enough for the canal or bay. It can be rigged on the cable to view horizontal or straight down, just in case the bottom is deeper that it's capacity. It was 99 bucks, and when you think about what most hardcores spend at this activity, that is a drop in the bucket. When we last went to the canal, we dropped it and saw fish everywhere. Bigger ones too. Yet, we did not get a single bit for almost an hour. I would have moved if not for what I saw on camera. Same applied to later on when the bite stopped. The camera showed they were still there, just not interested. The ripping tide and setting sun turned them off.
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Nice catch Jason! Whistle...camera sounds really cool! Better than sonar ;D.
As for the shirts... >:D cfzd hhppy
TT^
The camera is a blast if there's a population down there. The funniest thing is watching the blackfish that are aware of it. They are curious. If you can hold it into the current a tog will come right up to it and stare. Up above you see this big face with the lips, buck teeth, and bulging eyes filling the TV screen. Almost like a cartoon character. We used it well in the summer, saved us a lot of time with crabless bay bottom.
http://www.aquavu.com/Products/Portable-Viewing-Systems/
I never even heard of that thing until you mention it.
How useful has it been for you fishing wise? Is it more of a cool toy? I could see it being useful at times. Have you tried it off the Wall at Point Pleasant?
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=91309
Try this. It's 20 bucks more but has a charger. Ours runs on 10 C batteries for 10 hours. It has an adapter for a 12V battery also. This sounds like a better deal throuhg as it has a carrying case which mine didn't. They're all probably make in the same factory outside of Shanghai anyway It does work well but if I had my druthers, the one with a charger would be the way to go.
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I was down at canal the last couple of nights.
We were catching bass..... just hate when you do get one, and by the time you get it in the truck you lose your spot cause someone gets on the cell phone and calls all of there friends. Its ok though they came they fished if you can call it that, and left with no fish. As soon as they moved went back and got 2 more keepers..... ha ha ha ha ha.... 90% of fish still caught by 10% of the fisherman..... TT^ rgmn
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Went last Monday, Rich set us up with the crabs and rigs. We did great with the blackfish.
Do you guys think it is worth going to the canal this weekend or will the bad weather make it a waste of time?
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Went last Monday, Rich set us up with the crabs and rigs. We did great with the blackfish.
Do you guys think it is worth going to the canal this weekend or will the bad weather make it a waste of time?
The fish are there, but with the wind and rain, it's going to be weed, weed, weed. You put your line down for a minute or two and five pounds of salad attachs. I used to make the trip and would get disgusted with all the cleaning and no catching. Years ago I lived in Long Branch, two blocks from a jetty, so it was no big deal to hit the beach in bad weather. Blackfish don't mind it, but if there's a lot of weed in the surf, canal, or river, it's difficult to get the bait in front of them. I drive from Bucks County, which is not bad, but if you're driving from Philly................
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I drive in from Bucks County as well. Where are you coming from , I'm in Fairless Hills. less than an hour from my house to the canal..
Think it may be worth it to try for stripers in the canal on Sat night?
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Go to the beachfront, striper fishing should be good this weekend with this northeast wind.
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The water both front and back is going to be chocolate milk until Monday, I really cant see how some anglers think this could be good fishing.
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The water both front and back is going to be chocolate milk until Monday, I really cant see how some anglers think this could be good fishing.
mmmmmmmmmmm....chocolate milk and salad, sounds like good fishing.
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i heard you drive by with your coolers open the stripers will just jump right in chrz dont even have to take a rod out ;D
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Stopped to take a look at the canal by Rt 88 bridge around 8:30 this morning...wow was the current ripping through there! Water was about 1 foot from the top.
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Big Stripers in the Canal on Jigs!! Water running hard, must be on bottom to catch on jigs.. Go get em, fish r there!!!
trying to get wifey to post those pics..
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t^ Yo Bro t^ Nice to hear from yu ;D You just have to hit "additional Options" under the post box.. to upload pictures
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Nice catch! and now I know how to add a pic too! LOL
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Nice catch! and now I know how to add a pic too! LOL
Hoping to see some big'uns from you now Herm! TT^
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Want to take my 5year old here new to this board and Canal fishing But not new to fishing been doing this fishing thing since i was 5 with my Dad just mainly on the beach and boat What times are they getting Bass in the Canal?
P.S how do you put up a avitar on here
thank you
ED
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Hi ED,
To put up an avatar simply go up to the top header click on Profiles and then click on Forum Profile information. Under Profiles the second and third buttons are for avatars you can type a signature under the avatar right there as well.
Good Luck
Paul
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Welcome ed. I think you need 3 or 5 post to do that..
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Big Stripers in the Canal on Jigs!! Water running hard, must be on bottom to catch on jigs.. Go get em, fish r there!!!
trying to get wifey to post those pics..
Nice TT^, i need some tips to catch these guys. Never caught one before 5hrug .
Maybe i'll try it out tonight.
Also does the blackfish bite after dark? Thanks,
-Sam
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Capt. Rich...
This is probaby a stupid question. You said to fish about another hour after the high tide slacks. When does the high tide slack?
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Capt. Rich...
This is probaby a stupid question. You said to fish about another hour after the high tide slacks. When does the high tide slack?
At the top of the tide is when the water goes slack usually about 20 to 30 minutes, then the water starts to ebb.
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Sam,
Black fish normally do not bite at night I have caught them on rare occasions while eeling for stripers but nothing consist ant to make you try and target them at night. The bite in the canal has slowed down a lot. But the rule of thumb and key to best success is to be at the canal about 1 1/2 hours before high tide and fish for about another hour after it slacks.. The canal's tide runs 3 hours ahead of the USCG station Manasquan inlet nj. So for instance today 10/21 High tide is at 10:15 am at the USCG station Manasquan Inlet so you would want to add 3 hours which would make high tide 1:15pm at the pt. pleasant canal. So get there around 11:45am today and get set up .. I hope this info helps. Stop in the shop if you have any other questions
Capt Rich, thanks for the tips.
I tried the canal last night btwn 7-9pm without know much about the tide information. Used live eel, no bite, then switch over to the xrap 12, silver minnon and metal on slow retrieval. Also tried a jig with feather and a fin s, i think that's what you call, not sure of the term..... w/o luck. I usually do bottom fishing so i could be using it wrong. Oh well, maybe i'll try it again on saturday and drop by to pick up some advice and baits.
working today, or else i'll probably give it another shot with the time you stated. Thanks,
-Sam
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Thanks, got it now! t^
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Caught the slack tide yesterday afternoon. Had everything rigged and ready before I got there to maximize fishing time. My son and I dropped out clams and immediately got big hits. Only hits, however, as absolutely nothing bit. The hits lasted for the rest of the slack only. By the time it was moving, not another hit. The water was somewhat dirty with more than the usual salad and debris. Left after two hours to try the north end. Talked to two guys coming out of the entrance on Pine Bluff and they said not a thing. These guys were well equipped and organized with good equipment so we figured if they struck out on an ebbing time, we ain't gonna score. Hit the RR bridge in an attempt to raise so tog there, it used to be good before all of that dredging a couple of years ago, but it's pretty sanitized now. Mostly you do some stargazing there (seems like thousands of the little critters there). No more land togging this year for me, a boat trip and night stripers from land.
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Was at the canal at Pine Bluff from 12;45-2:15 yesterday...had some clams from my earlier beach fishing...got a lot of jits but inly one hookup right before I left....A guy about 20 yards down from me got 5 or 6 while I was there
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Was at the canal at Pine Bluff from 12;45-2:15 yesterday...had some clams from my earlier beach fishing...got a lot of jits but inly one hookup right before I left....A guy about 20 yards down from me got 5 or 6 while I was there
Damn sharpies. I think the inland fishery is over for us amateurs. The guy with 5 or 6 was probably using green crabs. I've had better luck with salted clams but the consensus seems to be the crabs. Trouble with that is, you lose a whole lot of bait quickly to the little ones and when you do get a keeper, ones the limit until 11/15. By that time, most have headed out to sea.
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Please fellas, leave the place you fish better than you found it.... really it does not take a lot of time to clean up after yourself. STOP LEAVING ALL OF YOUR S... IF NOT WE ALL WILL LOSE OUR FISHING SPOTS, ALL I SEE IS BERKLEY BAGS AND RIG BAGS WITH 7-11 CUPS AND BEER CANS. I take 10 min every time I go out to pick up crap that others leave behind. How bout a little help guys rgmn
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Amen Brother! t^
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nosmly Litterbugs.
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A second amen to that. Hit the canal today after some surf fishing (nothing in the surf at all). Me and my brother in law each caught our limit--1! We only caught tog using clams--we tried with crabs first...found it odd - but you gotta use what works. And we caught all by casting out into the middle during slack and a little after - not a bite along the sides...I also spent time picking up other people's garbage before I left and discarded line. >:( They have garbage cans right there!!!!!
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People just don't care! nosmly
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Please fellas, leave the place you fish better than you found it.... really it does not take a lot of time to clean up after yourself. STOP LEAVING ALL OF YOUR S... IF NOT WE ALL WILL LOSE OUR FISHING SPOTS, ALL I SEE IS BERKLEY BAGS AND RIG BAGS WITH 7-11 CUPS AND BEER CANS. I take 10 min every time I go out to pick up crap that others leave behind. How bout a little help guys rgmn
t^
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After eating dinner at the Shipwreck Grille for my wife's B-Day, stopped by the canal ( could not help myself) to see what was going on.
Guy said they were chewing on crab and clam and had got one keeper.
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After eating dinner at the Shipwreck Grille for my wife's B-Day, stopped by the canal ( could not help myself) to see what was going on.
Guy said they were chewing on crab and clam and had got one keeper.
It's good that I don't live close, or I'd most likely be divorced because I know that I would always be "stopping by", just to see.
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Amen to that brother
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The garbage at fishing spots is just out of control ridiculous! Unfortunately, the people on here probably aren't the ones leaving it. I think this fall I have spent more time cleaning up garbage than fishing, but some areas need more than just a pick up.
After "mugging" cards we need "stop being a pig" cards nosmly!
TT^
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This may sound funny but how about all the crab legs and shells as well.It probably does'nt hurt the water to discard them back into the sea instead of feeding all the bugs!
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i notice all your "reports" never see to be first person? more of the hey said she said? and always "hot" action. if you mean bass I can tell you I have been out there 4 or 5 times without a hit, ran into another regular who goes everynight and has one fish since first week of oct. Its the slowest Iv seen i for myself ever, its the only spot not producing now. Im no a big fan of second hand info-People from the website will still your bait to support this website. t^
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Was there yesterday btwn 4-7pm and there was like around 10 people over there. I saw people cathing up some small ones. I got my 15 inch after 2 hours and left shortly after. Another next to me also go a 14 inch and left.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN.
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i could hit 45 home runs a year for the phillies if wanted too but im no going to, dont want too, too busy.
This is like one of those situations where you know it, I know it and you know I know it.
Im just a humble field tester for van staal and lamiglass what chance would i possibly knowing a hot bass bite.
yeah sure i film live bass but the true sharpies dont do pics or video, everyone run to the canal for easy pickings ;)
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Don't sweat this Rich, I know it pisses you off to read those comments, but the truth is here. One bad complaint against many good compliments.
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There are fish, so go get em. nuf said ::)
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Hey Rich opinions are like a$$es everybody has one and some stink. Don't sweat the small stuff.... Keep reporting and we will keep reading . slt
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Hey Rich opinions are like a$$es everybody has one and some stink. Don't sweat the small stuff.... Keep reporting and we will keep reading .
whs t^ clp
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I really like SH's posts and I think he's a bona fide sharpie but why pick on Capt. Rich? He's just reporting what he and his customers are doing and he's always ready to share tips and help.
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I'm obviously quiet on this site, but I must say I've been in --------- several times and Rich has not tried to push anything on me. Twice he told me what I had was fine (jigs) and told me I needed nothing more.
I'm fairly new to the game and he knew it. He did not try to take advantage of that. Thanks again.
-Jason Gallo
Brick t^
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Obviously one of Rich's shills. ::)
Just kidding! ;D Welcome to the world of posters! t^
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I'm obviously quiet on this site, but I must say I've been in --------- several times and Rich has not tried to push anything on me. Twice he told me what I had was fine (jigs) and told me I needed nothing more.
I'm fairly new to the game and he knew it. He did not try to take advantage of that. Thanks again.
-Jason Gallo
Brick t^
t^
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Fish this morning btwn 6-9 w/green crab and clam, no bite rgmn
Try bomber, storm, rapx and metal, not bite. rgmn and it was a cold morning rgmn rgmn rgmn
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Nice try some have it as a slam-arama there some say the bite is off there, sometimes first hand fishing gives you the best idea, anyone one truly is having trouble getting bass in that area PM me and we ll find u some
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Nice try some have it as a slam-arama there some say the bite is off there, sometimes first hand fishing gives you the best idea, anyone one truly is having trouble getting bass in that area PM me and we ll find u some
Today was just not my day. I had my 15.5 inch tog last Friday and couple shorts.
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If we wanted a guaranteed fish for the table, we would all just go to the fish market. I fish to relax, enjoy the scenery, and only keep what I will eat. Some days you catch nothing - some days you catch your limit. I can say that I have always caught fish in the canal - not always keepers, sometimes oyster crackers, but something to get the blood pumping as you wait to see what took your bait. As fishermen, we know to take things with a grain of salt...life has enough negativity and stress to throw at us.
(Stepping down off soapbox now). grtn
Hope you all have a great day! chrz
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Thats why they call it fishing and not catching. 5hrug
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how has the fishing been there lately. i know the surf is gonna be a blow out. was wondering thoughts on the canal with the storm and the bite. got the day off tomorrow and need to do something since the blow on the beach is making that not worth the time.
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Was there for couple of hours on Sunday morning with crabs and got zero.
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If I were you I'd stay home tomorrow. This is a very serious storm.More than wind/rain. Flooding on the high tide is expected.
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Gonna hit the canal tomorrow and see if there are any keeper blackfish biting in there. Also bringing stripers rigs and lures.... TT^
Thinking clam, as the last time caught no tog on crabs...and stripers like em too...
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Hey good luck I hope you find em' TT^
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Got to the canal about an hour before high tide with my son. Had salted clams and green crabs. Fished for about two hours (SLACK LASTED LIKE 10 MINS?!) My brother in law and niece showed up - my niece caught a short tog about 5 minutes after getting there. Only saw one other fish caught - another short tog. We threw metal and lures for stripers too. Boats were drifting for stripers. More snags than usual on the bottom too. Got the ole skunk today. 5hrug
Swung by the ocean on the way home and it was much calmer than yesterday. Hope next weekend things have settles and hope the stripers are still hungry!
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Good try today ;D Hopefully the catching will improve soon t^
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Hopefully a couple of days and the ocean will be back to the hot bite before the storm. slt
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is antone doing anything in the Canal????
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is antone doing anything in the Canal????
i'll be on the beach side near bridge ave around noon friday...
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went out today from 1130 to 130 and not a scratch, hour before and after slack high tide. better luck next year. its over. stick a fork in it!
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it is about over for them togs in the canal,had a little luck at the inlet
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t^
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cfzd A canal report!! I forgot this thread existed.
t^
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cfzd A canal report!! I forgot this thread existed.
t^
It was from 2009 ;D!
fcp
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fcp whoops
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I got excited too ;D...soon enough!
clp
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Pretty Popular also t^ with over 52,000 page views t^
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cfzd A canal report!! I forgot this thread existed.
t^
It was from 2009 ;D!
fcp
OK now it should be safe to say it.
Good to hear there's some activity in there t^
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whs ;D
Nice...
clp clp
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TT^
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t^
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clp
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Yes it is time! clp
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Gave the canal a shot today, nothing wanted to bite. Tried a couple locations and talk to a few fisherman at each location, nobody had anything good to say. One guy told me he had blacks biting yesterday but nothing today. They'll most likely bite tommorrow since I won't be there.
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I was there yesterday and only had luck during slack tide. Had to find the honey holes.
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Tog are there and have been biting. I made 3 trips in the last week and have had fish each trip including today. Sandworms and patience. Not alot of bites but good ratio of keepers. ;D
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Got a nice keeper in the last hr of incomming on Thursday on a sandworm.
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theres a fourty pound striper under the loveladies bridge,been living there for years,wont hit anything! by the way,where did they get that name,loveladies from? its a little corny,but im sure its got a story behind it
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Jsst an FYI: There was a small island in the bay adjacent to the old lifesaving station which was owned by a man named Thomas Lovelady. The area was called Lovelady's, which eventually evolved to Loveladies. TT^
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anyone give the canal a shot latly? im waiting for those blues to start running thropugh
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Anyone catching any stripers or blues yet in the canal? Are there any in there?
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Hey Wink_man where ya been?
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Garry,great to hear from you on the board,missed your canal reports which I always enjoyed reading,hope all is well,hopefully your back and continue with your expertise and great reports. t^ Kez
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Good to see you back Garry. Looking forward to your posts/reports. t^
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Thanks guys for the kind words, but I'm not coming back here and thats pretty much common knowledge. I wasn't very happy with the support I got from the admin when as a mod, I had an issue with one of his sheriffs. The admin made a decision, and so did I, and I'm happy with the decision I made.
I was just surprised, now that as a regular member, I come here looking for info and there wasn't an entry for the Point Pleasant Canal since April 25th, when there is a heck of a lot that goes on in the canal from mid April to the end of May. Seems like more of a lack of information than anything substantial you could depend on.
I was on the beach today with my son, instead of the canal. We got bass on pencil poppers from 20 1/2 to 27 pounds, nice fish.
Well hopefully in the future there will be better information on the canal.
Garry
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:headscra:
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Might be buying a house on the canal. Besides blackfish, blues and stripers does anything else inhabit that swift water? Can you catch winter/summer flounder or blue claw crabs during the few hours when it's not ripping through there? Thanks!
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Any and all fish that normally are found inshore NJ waters can be found in the canal. We even get some southern fish that wander up when waters get warm. Those include fluke,flounder,porgies,weakfish,triggerfish,sea bass that I've taken myself. In addition to those you mentioned already. Someone else may know of others.
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Thanks...really appreciate your reply! My son is big on crabbing...have a few overnighter traps and a few large ring traps....are there crabs in that swift canal too?
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I grew up a couple of blocks from the canal and I can say for sure I have caught the obvious bass, blues, weaks, but also fluke, flounder, blackfish, sea bass, porgies, blow fish, oyster crackers, bergalls, some strange lizzard fish, gray trigger fish. Flounder and fluke travel through and there are several areas that will even hold fluke, caught baby flounder in the Marine Police area when it was legal over 20 years ago way over and live lined them for bass. there is a spots near 40' deep where they dug out the old bridge. The best bass spot used to be the old 88 bridge. The Bridge Ave. bridge is good the brick yard is a good spot (secret spot LOL)when we were kids we would throw concrete bricks etc. in one spot and made our own blackfish reef lots of good time as a kid and now fishing in the canal. Hey Wink, see you around
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Anyone have any news of catches? Anyone been fishing in the canal? This is to quite for this time of year. Also, was thinking of getting out on the Gimper tomorrow for some night fishing in the river. Maybe hit the mouth of the canal, anyone been catching bass or blues? Just trying to get some intel before I do out on the mission :P.
Gimper
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t^
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today 6/3 we waited out the fog blanket by catching a dozen or so cocktail blues at the north end... chasing rainfish and alot of grass shrimp were being spit up... we hit it at around 7ish, and tide was ripping out...
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Anyone fish here lately? Any reports? What kind of fish can you expect at this time of the year at the canal? thanks,
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Been dead as of late!Trying the bottom and blackies are there.Preping for the 1 fish limit starting 7-16!!Afew up to 12-13" but stay away from the 88 bridge,that pounding will go right through you!
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Been dead as of late!Trying the bottom and blackies are there.Preping for the 1 fish limit starting 7-16!!Afew up to 12-13" but stay away from the 88 bridge,that pounding will go right through you!
thanks for the info...yes the tog are there and i'm gonna get me one t^
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Thanks fryedbeans! Guess i'll take a break for now until the day is here ;D
Been dead as of late!Trying the bottom and blackies are there.Preping for the 1 fish limit starting 7-16!!Afew up to 12-13" but stay away from the 88 bridge,that pounding will go right through you!
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When there a few nights ago as the tide was going out. (apparently the best time). Right before I left I did a couple of "one last cast and then we can go" and after a few of them caught something but couldn't get it in. Might have been stripers being that it was right along the wall, if not then blues. First time I didn't have the drag set right and the next two times I just couldn't keep him on the hook to hoist over the fence. Didn't bring my net and I think my gear was too light rgmn
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well if your into the togs i just hsd at least 30 in 2 hours during slack off the wall with about 5 legal size go get em!
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Nice! That's some good news. Will have to get over there when I get a chance.
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whs
Get them on clam or crab?
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I might go there around 8 tomorrow after work if I dont go to Island beach. Been dying to get back there and it's right down the street from where I work so there should be no excuses haha.
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theres a better bait than the crab and clam sometimes, most of us know what it is too!
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fishing is still good!my daughter caught this one and the across from me said he caught a few stripers,did not see them though
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nice t^
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Went with my son yesterday and first fish was a keeper almost 15in. A couple more shorts and some baby oyster crackers. Green crabs, size five Virginia hook, four to five ounces of lead.
Got there as slack was just changing to going out and then out it went but they still were biting against the wall. Left them biting.
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TT^ clp
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Went thursday night around 11:00. Tide was still going out fast. Caught 25"striper and a big blue that I couldn't get over the fence. Wasn't planning on catching anything that big if at all so I didn't bring the net or gaff. rgmn
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That'll learn ya. ;D
Nice catch. t^
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;D whs
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The "BRING THE NET SEASON" is now here ;D
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Nice 15inch blackfish, barely 14incher and some shorts in about an hour and a half around slack. Kept one.
On green crab. Four to five ounces good.
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t^
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t^
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clp
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Good news
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More numbers, less size today. One on the line, a lot at 13 and 1/2 or 13 and some really small ones too. Fun to have some action.
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You still had action and time fishing t^
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Hit the Canal around 3:00 PM, just about time for the tide to start rushing out! Stopped at --------- for some bait and tackle...met Capt Rich and another gentleman who works in the shop(didn't catch his name)for the 1st time. Great shop, great prices, didn't have green crabs(got beat by a rush of guys just ahead of me...takes too long to get the kids out of the car ;D rgmn), but he set me up with some super fresh clams! Got the tackle I needed, used the bathroom(4 year old can't hold it that long :-\) and the kids got fishing related tattoos and stickers. Thanks Capt Rich...top notch business you run there slt.
Made it out to the Canal, tons of boat traffic, tons of cabbage, not many people fishing. Fished clams for 2 hours or so with NADA. Only got snagged 3 times though. We had a good time anyway. The kids waved to every boat that went through there. Definitely wasn't the best time to fish the Canal, but you go when you can go.
TT^
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clp t^
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t^
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Was at the canal yesterday from 3-6pm. Had like 5-8 shorts and a keeper :)
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Excellent.
We had a very unusual occurence. After baiting up and throwing legs and shell in water, the largest tog I have ever seen came up and snatched the parts of crab and appeared to turn sideways almost like it was looking at us. With an eyewitness of my fishing buddy, it looked to be well over 10 pounds, the biggest I have ever seen in there. Has anyone ever caught or sited one that large.
On top of that, first fish completely bottomed me out and then broke me off. Was it this fish or another I do not know. Also, had one in channel bend a size 5 Virginia hook and get off, this one was not that big but felt good.
Got a bunch of tricky shorts on greens, maybe soft bait would have been better today and got crushed by two tog.
Fish one today but I'll be back!
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I'm glad u mentioned that! Something is big down there when i use the clams,not the crab and yet to see it.Have a few bent hooks as well and the fishing has been very good where i drop the line!
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Man Vs Fish ;D
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Man Vs Fish ;D
Not a bad idea Rod...i want some royality fees ;D ;D ;D
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another keeper with old sparky!
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Nice catch. Way to recycle! t^
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whs
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Nice catch.
Glad to see others have had a run in with togzilla. If I had not seen with my own eyes with an eyewitness I would not believe it myself.
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First, the directions and descriptions of the initial first post by Rod are still accurate and led me right to a nice spot on the canal. Fished at the end of Canal St. There is parking for a few vehicles and you can back your vehicle up close to the fence without causing parking problems. Has garbage cans and good cover for "using the facilities" if necessary. Relaxing & easy fishing spot.
Thurs. 9/16/10-Checked into motel and the bait shop by the inlet had no crabs but he offered me some free surf clams.
Hit the canal around 4 PM and fishing the edges in about 3-5 feet of water my wife and I caught 5 Tog on the clams in about 1 hour. It was about 2 hrs after the tide mark for Sandy Hook. No keepers but 10 to 12 inch fat fish. Her first Tog.
Friday 9/17/10 With the storms couldn't find an AM boat going out.
Picked up some green crabs and again went around 2 hours after a tide mark and in about 2 hours we caught 4 nice shorts in the rocks along the wall. Guys next to us had a keeper and blowfish in the box.
Sunday 9/19/10
Wife is now hooked. Went back again but the boat traffic was unbelievable. Last Sunday of the summer? 1 hour and one 10” for the Mrs. on a clam. None on the crab.
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Thank you for the detail report. Yeah, it's fun togging, not much keeper but good action on some days.
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Nice catches! Clam is king there lately. That boat traffic will really mess the fishing up...
clp
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Great report Paul-e t^
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I stopped by the Hooker this morning and got crabs from Rich ;D
Got to the canal a little farther into the slack than planned. Got my first tog (11in) on a crab.
Had a lot of hits, but either my timing is off or they weren't committing to the bite enough to get the hook.
The first fish was the last fish, but I caught the target species and learned t^ And it was nice day to be outside and by water.
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I stopped by the Hooker this morning and got crabs from Rich ;D
rofla clp
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I stopped by the Hooker this morning and got crabs from Rich ;D
rofla clp
Please... Who hasn't? ::)
;D
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Nice job Chris!
TT^
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Got there yesterday at slack....was planning to fish two hours but only fished one hour. No tog rgmn rgmn rgmn rgmn
Probably not the best time but that's the time i can head over, oh well....
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Good try. You have to fish when you can ;D.
TT^
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Chris and I did some canal toggin today. Found some fish but had to move around qite a bit.The water is still dirty from the blow (swell) and the bite is off from what it should be. We did get our 2 keepers to 15.5", 1 each ::) had them pretty good to use up the bait. Both keepers caught on half a green crab with the outgoing tide running. ;D
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t^
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I went by there yesterday morning. I was the only person NOT fishing for black fish out of 50 people haha. I didn't see one person catch anything. The one guy I met there 2 years ago was there as well and he said it was the first day he hasn't caught at least one black fish. I had a nice blue on the line for about a minute before he spit the hook. Right as my lure was about 10 feet away from me he came after it. Almost time to start hitting the beach for stripers!
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nice report t^
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One keeper, 14 and 1/4 inches, bunch of shorts including a humongous stacked 13incher, could not believe the measuring stick.
Bite was picky and scratchy never suicidal except two small fish. Green crab was king. Half with the shell off was best. None on a whole crab with the shell crushed. Clam did not produce.
Togzilla was absent but happy to get some fish.
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Nice job!
TT^
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Sounds like plenty of action and one for the grill. t^
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t^
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Anyone know if blackfish hit at night in the canal? Never fished blackfish at night.
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Bass at night ,tog during the day ;D
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Anyone know if blackfish hit at night in the canal? Never fished blackfish at night.
Tog, being in the wrasse family are generally inactive at night. Some divers even report that they appear to "sleep" inside crevices.
While you may hook a stray one or possibly in a very well lighted area, tog are a daytime species to target.
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okay thanks.. ill stick to the blues at night!
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Two almost keepers Saturday. Very picky bite and not many bites but nice to feel a tug on the line.
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Guys togging.. it seems like the inlet wall. near the rocks has been a MUCH better bite.
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Do you mean that fishing on wall edges are doing better than trying and work the bottom by casting out at the canal?
The current will take your presentation to the edge quickly anyway. Or do you mean the inlet walls?
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The inlet wall. about 5-10 ft off has been productive for me on the ingoing tide. Less snags also. Not the wall on the canal.
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Thanks for the info.
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With the tog trip canceled Saturday and the surf being slow, I tried the canal this morning. Stopped by the Hooker in Brick for some crabs.
Fished from about 9am to 1130 with high slack being around 1030.
Got 3 fish, 2 @ 13in and 1 @ 16in. Had many missed hits too. Still new at this tricky tog thing, but catching on. Saw about a dozen other fish caught, mostly short. Heard of one other keeper at 17in.
Stopped back at the Hooker to have Rich weigh-in my first keeper tog at 2 1/2 lbs TT^
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Nice going Chris. I have not brrn there in a very long time.
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Good stuff Chris! t^
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Cool Chris.. did he get a pic for the wall of fame 5hrug
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We didn't do a pic today Rod. Didn't seem worth it at 2.5lbs. I'll try tomorrow for a picture worthy slob ;)
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Nice Chris. t^
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has anyone been down to the canal lately? i mess around there once in a while and was curious as to how long the tog seem to hold inside. is this a bite that lasts all winter long? looking for other options besides for trout come the end of striper fishing. thanks.
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tried my luck with the bass tues eve on outgoing,2 shorts on clams nuttin exciting yet
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Fished the canal this afternoon. Caught a total of 9 tog, all short. Biggest one was 13.5, all on clams. Soon we should see some keepers in the canal!
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Nice... wa
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Glad to hear Cyban.
Thanks for the report and welcome aboard.
Heading down to PP for Seafood Fest Weekend again and am planning to fish the canal.
Keep up reports.
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whs One of my favorite fishing spots.
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9 short Tog is always better then no Tog. Thanks for the report. <'((((><
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3 pound triggerfish on clams! Also, some very short togs on clam. Got hit on green crab but could not get one to commit. Nice morning to be out. Water quality is not too good in canal. Inlet looked clean but no fish.
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Are you guys fishing in boats or off the walls? I've only been blackifishing once(last year) and my boats a little small to be going into the ocean so if there's a place to catch them off land I'm in.
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Good stuff Fishdoc!
Al, I've had some success with the tog in the canal from land. I accessed it just off Arnold Ave.
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Are you guys fishing in boats or off the walls? I've only been blackifishing once(last year) and my boats a little small to be going into the ocean so if there's a place to catch them off land I'm in.
Hey BigAl check out the very first post by Hotrod on this thread from 06/28/08
Great info that I used last year to find a sweet spot to fish from on the canal. t^ Info was on the money as of last Sept. And good luck. chrz
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Fished the morning slack today....Triggerfish ceviche for dinner tonight. Also caught some short tog, seabass, porgies, and oyster crackers
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Nice! t^
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Late report. Was at canal on Friday at low tide with some friends. One guy got 20 plus short blacks. I got 3, all green crabs and one on clam. Water was somewhat dirty. Throw in a few sea bass,toads and a porgy. The Friday before storm was 9 blacks on crab with one for dinner. Always a fun day.
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Nice report and welcome grtn
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t^
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Aswome guys thanks. Now I know where to go but what is the gear I'm thinking 7-7 1/2 med rod 40-50lb braid tied to 30-40 lb mono 6 oz lead 4/0 hook am I in the ball park or ligther gear there. When I make the trek there ill be coming from union beach so I want to make sure I got the goods with me. Thanks for any info.
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Aswome guys thanks. Now I know where to go but what is the gear I'm thinking 7-7 1/2 med rod 40-50lb braid tied to 30-40 lb mono 6 oz lead 4/0 hook am I in the ball park or ligther gear there. When I make the trek there ill be coming from union beach so I want to make sure I got the goods with me. Thanks for any info.
The gear you have sounds fine. Though the hooks are far too big for day time
bottom fishing. I see guys using heavier and much lighter though I'd err on the side of heavier. For tog fishing I use a medium heavy 8'6" baitcaster loaded with 30 lb power pro. I like the longer rod for leverage. Keep the terminal gear simple as you will loose alot of them. Swivel to dropper loop to perfection loop. Loop to loop a #4 or 5 tog hook to the dropper and loop your sinker to the perfection. I don't carry a sinker heavier than 4 ounces there. If heavier is needed you are there at the wrong time. I use a shorter rod when bass or blue fishing when casting is required as there are alot of overhead and behind your back snags. Stop in at --------- b&t on rt 88 and he will set you up with what you need. Bait varies day to day so come prepared. And please carry out what you carry in. Too many slobs fish there already.
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Aswome guys thanks. Now I know where to go but what is the gear I'm thinking 7-7 1/2 med rod 40-50lb braid tied to 30-40 lb mono 6 oz lead 4/0 hook am I in the ball park or ligther gear there. When I make the trek there ill be coming from union beach so I want to make sure I got the goods with me. Thanks for any info.
The gear you have sounds fine. Though the hooks are far too big for day time
bottom fishing. I see guys using heavier and much lighter though I'd err on the side of heavier. For tog fishing I use a medium heavy 8'6" baitcaster loaded with 30 lb power pro. I like the longer rod for leverage. Keep the terminal gear simple as you will loose alot of them. Swivel to dropper loop to perfection loop. Loop to loop a #4 or 5 tog hook to the dropper and loop your sinker to the perfection. I don't carry a sinker heavier than 4 ounces there. If heavier is needed you are there at the wrong time. I use a shorter rod when bass or blue fishing when casting is required as there are alot of overhead and behind your back snags. Bait varies day to day so come prepared. And please carry out what you carry in. Too many slobs fish there already.
t^ Good advice
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whs
Good luck t^
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Fished the just after the tide change this afternoon. I was using salted clam some small fish but the guys across from me were nailing them on crabs some nice ones too. I caught my biggest tog in the canal this summer, 18" on the out going river end on a gulp n buck-tail. I was drifting for fluke and it was not season so....Looks good this fall the porgies should start showing soon too. So I would say crabs are the ticket...
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Oh I will post this on Pells the best shop in the Brick/Point area good info and tackle
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Fished the afternoon tide today. Had some chum blocks left over from the spring and decided to use them and see if I could get a trigger bite going. All that did was attract sea bass, porgies, and snappers. Did manage a couple short tog in that mix but no triggers. Fun day though, drop and reel fishing on light tackle for a solid hour
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At canal at 7am, river side of 88 bridge. High tide at inlet was about 6:07am and the water started going out about 3.5 hrs. later. Water a little dirty but not that bad. Nothing on clam but all the crabs got chewed up. 12 blacks with one 16" for dinner. Thats a good day for me.
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Popular place today...
I was out by Bridge Ave for the afternoon tide change. with clams.
Had an almost legal seabass and a couple other stall stuff.
Who in the area has crabs in stock right now?
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Popular place today...
I was out by Bridge Ave for the afternoon tide change. with clams.
Had an almost legal seabass and a couple other stall stuff.
Who in the area has crabs in stock right now?
the only one I know of is Brielle b&t. Hey ---------!, hurry up and get some
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Guys:
I have been reading your posts with great interest. I am interested in learning more about the tog/trigger fishing in the PPC but, honestly I am not familar with the area at all other than I know it is near Manasquan.
When you talk about PPC are you talking about the intercoastal waterway? I fish a 23' WA so, if you could point me in the right direction I would greatly appreciate it.
Thanks!
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Fellinger.... The entire area is great to fish....But the boat traffic is crazy and makes for some tuff fishing..... To be 100% honest with you I would fish the area around the RT 70 bridge or the South end of the canal in late October - the end of December.
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The canal itself is really a shore fishing situation unless you have a small boat and go off hours.
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The canal and small boats do not mix. The water rips through there and is not forgiving. Best bet is the river on the north end or the bay on the south end. Route 70 doesn't cross over the canal but that stretch of water is very fishable from boat
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whs
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Hit it this morning with crabs for the last of the incoming with my Bro in law. Had a bunch of hits. We each got 2 blacks. I got the only keeper.
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t^
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20 to 25 fish on a variety of clams and green crabs. Had a double header of 13inch blackfish and about 9 inch seabass. 3 blackfish were 12,13,13 and the rest were small. What is up this year? Is it early still or the fish just small. Also had to pick around alot for them not drop and reel? Alot of seabass though, that was cool.
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Sounds like lots of action Fish Doc.
Heading down to PP on Thurs. for a little R&R for 6 days to chill.
I'll post up report when I get back as I plan to hit the canal often. t^
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Thanks. Good Luck!
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Shorts O' Plenty on green crab and clams to around 13inches or so, 1 sea bass, 1 oyster cracker. Hopefully, next time I'll get a keeper. Nice to be out and NO BUGS! Saw a thirty inch bass caugth off the beach at Manasquan on a popper so good things are coming all around!
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The cooler weather we will be getting will get the bass moving. Won't be long before we are in full swing with the fall season. t^
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My buddy and I fished the canal slack yesterday afternoon and got 30 + shorts along with some porgies and seabass between the two of us. Then moved over to the inlet and found some blowfish. Capped the day off with 3 bass on the beach, kept one each, and dropped a nice sized 4th. Lots of bent rods yesterday and great early fall weather.
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Nice job FishOn. Was at canal also yesterday before high and a little after. 14 shorts all on green crab.
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Nice day t^
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I fished Saturday with my buddy Jimbo and we drifted the river, the canal and we landed about 20+ Fluke, all shorts, 2 around 17 inches and 2 Lizardfish! I never saw one before yet alone catch 2! When I saw it I thought, Oh No...a Snakehead? We searched online and saw they were very common but not edible, ugly buggers for sure.
John
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;D t^
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Blackfish seem to be getting bigger and the favored bait is green crab over clam. Got there late as we were fishing the inlet for fluke. We got one and some nice sized snappers that I ate for lunch!
Picked up a couple almost keepers and the current began to run very strong going out. Even then I got crushed by a nice fish but he got up in something? Hope to try again this week and get my keeper. I am way behind last year so far at least size wise. Oh, well, I'll keep trying. Got plenty of time yet!
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t^
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t^ Good luck out there!
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Fished the canal Saturday morning and got some big shorts and what was probably a keeper got me into something.
Someone who knows what they are talking about said it is a good year for stripers when the lizard fish are around. I assume they like to eat them. They are pretty nasty.
I also got lunch at the inlet in the form of some snapper blues. They were delicious!
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22 blackfish to 13.5 inches. A couple were very fat and heavy but alas short. Fun time with my dad and son Josh. One guy had a keeper. Alot of people out, all cool and all catching something.
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clp
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Nice trip Doc!
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Nice catching. t^
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whs
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Cant get any better then that bro....Nice chrz
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TT^ grtn
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22 blackfish to 13.5 inches. A couple were very fat and heavy but alas short. Fun time with my dad and son Josh. One guy had a keeper. Alot of people out, all cool and all catching something.
Nice. clp Where did you fish ?
When I was down there a week or so past we fished at the end of Canal St by the Carver Boat Marina next to Schrader's.
With a lot of action and a few that just made the mark. All released.
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You da man, Paul-e. I fished by Pinebluff.
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I went out of Manasquan Inlet yesterday, 10/8 with the intent to fish for stripers but, because of a later than anticipated start and local report we decided to change species and look for blues.
The blues were very easy to find. We ran into schools by the thousands approx .5 miles south of the inlet along the beach. It seamed as most were small cocktails and the catching was difficulty. We only picked-up a couple there before moving on to the Sea Girt Reef to try our hand at tog.
No tog for us on reef but, sea bass action was non-stop to the point reeling became more of a chore than fun. All were keeper size to about 4#. Of course it's my luck that they aren't in-season. I am hoping the will still be around come November 1st. They would've looked good in my freezer! We also picked-up a couple porgies as well.
So, great weather and see conditions made for a great day on the water. If you are into fishing/catching and not neededing to eat your cathc yesterday was a banner day.
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At canal today,Sat. during mid day high tide. Got 7 shorts on green crab. BB&T only had a doz. left. I guess I have to call ahead , there seems to be a shortage I think. No hits near wall,all from 10 to 50 ft out. Really nice day
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t^
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We tried the canal Sunday at the afternoon low slack.
Just a handful of hits, but not a single hookup. Didn't see anyone else doing much.
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Good try
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Fished the canal for blackfish on Tuesday 11/1. Got one good chomp and that was it. There was a school of rainfish behind a piling, nothing on them.
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At canal on Sunday around low tide. Got one 12" and three 13" on green crab
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t^
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nice
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was at canal a few days ago....blues are in
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was at canal a few days ago....blues are in
We had a hell of a frustrating shrimp bite in there for pretty month the month of April. Almost as bad as cinder worm hatches.... nosmly
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Spent a long weekend with the Mrs. down in Point Pleasant Beach.
Hooked up with Kenny on Friday for another Fish Monger Trip. Beauty of a day and 25 nice fat fluke keeps for the crew.
Sea food festival on Sat. Good eats.
On Sunday after finding no crabs available, I settled for some salted clams and fished the canal for about an hour and a half.
Boat traffic was brutal and the current was ripping.
Managed 6 short Black Sea Bass, 6 ugly Oyster Crackers and finally one nice Tog that went 14 1/2" Nice to get the first one for the fall.Felt good.
Owner at motel told me that they are getting Stripers there at night.
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t^ Good to hear
I was thinking the last couple days it's time to start trying the canal for tog.
And there are no bass in or near the canal. Township ordinance or something. ;)
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t^ Good to hear
I was thinking the last couple days it's time to start trying the canal for tog.
And there are no bass in or near the canal. Township ordinance or something. ;)
Bass moved out due to town curfew ;D
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I am thinking that from past experiences, that during the week, without all that boat traffic, and some crabs and clams, the Tog fishing should be good for some fun and maybe a keeper.
The only day I could go was on Sunday and the traffic was unbelievable.
Sure it killed the bite. Good luck if you go.
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I togged there last Friday and only managed 4 on crabs. It's a funny place. Sometimes it's a mad dog bite during full tide and heavy boat traffic, sometimes they are more spooky. Sometimes they are right on the wall sometimes laying in the middle. Sometimes legs on sometimes legs off.
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That's what makes this fish so much fun.
They are "Diabolical" as Kenny would say.
Good luck this season t^
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That's what makes this fish so much fun.
They are "Diabolical" as Kenny would say.
Good luck this season t^
I have always said that tog fishing is my favorite (besides fishing the canyons on million dollar sport fishers)
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So, silly question.... Can the PPC be fished from boat during slower running currents?
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You can anchor at the ends outside of the channel, but even a slow current will have you moving pretty good. And slack doesn't last long.
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just a word to the wise....if you plan on anchoring up at the mouth of the canal while guys are fishing the wall be prepared to take a few bucktails to the bow!
as boats go, in the canal, it's just a non-stop "road" to get to where you're going. in other words..."No Stopping and/or braking".
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just a word to the wise....if you plan on anchoring up at the mouth of the canal while guys are fishing the wall be prepared to take a few bucktails to the bow!
as boats go, in the canal, it's just a non-stop "road" to get to where you're going. in other words..."No Stopping and/or braking".
whs ;D
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pretty work capt.
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Has anybody anything biting in the canal lately? 5hrug
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Anything biting in the canal now?
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Going down to Pt. Pleasant for a few days of R&R with the wife this Wed. through Sunday.
Going to dunk some crabs for C&R tog fishing and see what else is around if i can snag some live bait.
Will report next week.
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Good luck and have fun t^ Patiently waiting for the report ::)
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Good luck Paulie.
I haven't tried for tog yet this year, but plan to start soon.
mullet has been running through the canal with blues chasing em.
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Thanks for the mullet intel Chris
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Have a nice time with the wife Paulie! (awwwwwww) I hope you guys have some nice weather too! msfsh
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Went down to Pt. Pleasant for a few days for some R&R with the Mrs.last week.
On Thursday we grabbed some Green Crabs and Salted Clams and hit the Pt. Pleasant Canal on the east side off Canal St.
Fished for about and hour and a half and managed 10 cookie cutter Togs. Wife had a blast. Little warm up for the season.
Looked around the Carver boat basin for some Mullet to snag and drop but there was none around.
Hit the Monger on Friday open day Seabass with Kenny and stayed on the "Bisque side" of the street. Although we did do a little Seabass Eve celebration with Capt. Jerry on Thursday. ;D
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Nice catch Paulie. TT^
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whs t^
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Now that sounds like a great couple of days. chrz
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whs t^ pawle
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clp
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hit the canal today with the husband. Had three keepers between us, only keeping our limit. It was a steady pick for a while. Lots of fun.
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t^. Thanks for the report
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hi, this is my 1st post and i know this is an old thread but i need some PPC fishing help. I will be in PPB from Sunday-Wednesday. any help in catching something in or near the canal (from shore) at this time of the season would be great. where to go, what bait, how to rig etc. I will be with my son and his friend so it would be great to get them some fish.
tony
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We made our first attempt for this season at the canal this weekend. Fished clams and crabs for 2 hrs either side of high tide. We had steady action the whole time with the wife being high hook up to a 15.5in keeper.
BTW....General Tso's blackfish is pretty damn good.
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t^
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Sweet chrz
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t^
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clp t^
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Fun! t^
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Very different results today. Second 1/2 of incoming afternoon tide. Only 3 fish between the two of us in 3hrs.
Still better than work.
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t^
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Kinda new to the area and have been going through this thread to try to pick up any helpful ideas. Anybody fished the canal lately?
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The're always people fishing the canal. A lot of fish in it fun to do
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How is the canal fishing in the winter? Thinking primarily tog...