Weakfish Report 10/22/07

[wink_man]

Went to the Point Pleasant canal this morning to fish the first tide at 6AM. Conditions were terrible. Water was murky and cooler than it has been. The canal and river was LOADED with floating and suspended cabbage, it ran down your line to the lure on every cast except for dead slack tide, and that only lasts about 30 minutes. Fished till 10AM, had exactly one hit, and that was it. I did find an almost brand new yellow 7 inch bomber lure that washed up with high tide, so the morning was a success, LOL.
Went back at 1PM for the afternoon tide, conditions were even worse. I also noticed today that all the peanut bunker were gone that were there all last week, and the boys came down with the seining net to get some for tonight on the jetty, and they didn't get any at all. I think the weakies are still there, and tomorrow we should have ideal conditions weather wise if the water clears and the cabbage washes out to sea. Unless the forcast has changed, they were talking cloudy all day with rain likely late afternoon. This afternoon, I did manage one weakie at dead slack tide, 22 inches, 3 3/4 pounds, and a guy was fishing with a fly rod and streamer, and he also got one about the same size. Pic enclosed.
Garry

[Fishin Dude]

Good report, thanks.  <'((((><

[Luna Sea 5]

like always 

[IrishAyes]

Good report wink.  You can't get em all the time.  The bomber was a good find, good daytime color.  You can buy some bait with the $ that would have cost if you had to purchase it.   

[wink_man]

Good report wink.  You can't get em all the time.  The bomber was a good find, good daytime color.  You can buy some bait with the $ that would have cost if you had to purchase it.   

Yep, I know I can't get them all the time, thats what I love about the weaks in northern Barnegat bay, the canal and Manasquan river; elusive, hard to find, sometimes harder to catch, especially the bigger ones. They don't school up heavily here, like southern Barnegat Bay or the Sandy Hook area, I have to really work for them, but I like the rewards.

Weakies are easily my favorite fish to fish for, and about the most beautiful inshore fish there is, thats why I always try to get good pics of them when I can. I remember as kid in the 60's and early 70's, how scarce weakfish were. When one was caught, it was talked about for weeks, and usually made the newspaper. They were so scarce, some people didn't even know what they were, but I'm giving away my age here. Anyways, love to fish for weaks.

Son just called me about an hour ago, and told me he and his friend throw netted a bunch of peanuts off the jetty, and then some larger bunker, and they're livelining them. That may explain where the peanut bunker went that were in the river and canal. I'm thinking it may be a salinity problem with all the rain we had here Friday afternoon and evening. Water was a bit cooler this morning, but 2 weakies were caught, so I'm thinking they're still laying in there, and maybe just not feeding heavily till water quality improves.

Well my rod and gear are ready and packed in the packsack, so I'm good to go in the morning. Will try to figure out if the weaks are still there tomorrow before the forcasted thunderstorms roll in late afternoon/evening.
Garry

   

[ped579]

Great report as usual Gary, nice job.

Happy Catching

Paul

[Pops Soul]

Nice Report Wink

[gagedylan]

i would never ask another angler for a fishing spot, but i'm tring to figure out access to the canal for fishing. any suggestions?

also, besides the fin-s, is there any other tips you can give me for successful weakfishing, i.e. bait?

[ped579]

Hi gagedylan,

Don't be afraid on this site especially if kids are involved.  If you read the beginning threads in this forum you will find out where Gary was fishing from.  I am sure the guys will take care of the bait catagory but pink Fin-S are the key right now.  Especially due to the fact that the price of worms is so high it would be cheaper to go jigging with Fin-s.

My on personal opinion.

Happy Catching

Paul

[wink_man]

i would never ask another angler for a fishing spot, but i'm tring to figure out access to the canal for fishing. any suggestions?

also, besides the fin-s, is there any other tips you can give me for successful weakfishing, i.e. bait?

I have no problem telling you where I fish, but I do tend to keep it quiet on any spots accessible by boat, because weakies tend to shut down with to much boat traffic, and it seems everytime I find where they are by boat, it gets ruined by to many boats trying for them.

Anyways, 3 access points I know to the canal are:

1. the Lovelandtown Bridge - I'm not exactly sure how to get to this spot, because I have never fished it, but you take Bridge ave from 35 in bay head, follow it down to where it T's or something, and it's down in that area. I'm sure if you asked once down there, someone could tell you.

2. The Route 88 bridge - If you take route 88 east heading towards Point Pleasant, as soon as you go over the bridge, on the right, is a fire station and a small park, you can park in the lot there, and acess the canal there.

3. The mouth of the canal at the river - Again take Route 88 east heading towards Point Pleasant. Get in the left lane as you go over the bridge, and you have to make a left on Arnold Ave. Follow Arnold Ave down about a quarter mile, you'll see 'Captain Ed's' restuarnat on your left, and make a left there(Pinebluff St.) Pinebluff dead ends at the canal and you have access there. Do NOT park in the dead end, it's a fire right of way, and you'll get a ticket, park above the cross street.


Difficult to give you tips on weakfish, they are a very finicky and spooky fish. Any day I catch even one, I consider a good day, and there are many days I try for them and get none, they are definitely NOT a fish to fish for if someone wants to catch fish, LOL.

Best lure I know of is the pink Fin-S fish, it will work about 95% of the time if the fish are in the mood to feed. The reason the Pink Fin-S
lure is so successful is because it doesn't imitate a fish at all, but rather a tapeworm,(and only a few people in the know are aware of this, LOL). A rattle trap will work at times if the fish are agressive and feeding on peanut bunker, but I've never had any consistent succees with them. The 2 keys are to work the lure slowly, and be bumping the bottom with it. Weakies are bottom dweller and if you're not bumping along the bottom, you're not going to be successful, I don't care what you're using.

The 3 live baits to use are tapeworms, sandworms, and peanut bunker, in that order. Tapeworms can't be purchased, you have to dig them yourself, sandworms can get real expensive and you can go through a WHOLE bunch of them when you're trying for Weakies and Porgies are biting them off on you. Peanut bunker are pretty much self explanatory, but if you liveline them, you do need some weight to get them near the bottom.

This advice is for northern Barnegat Bay, the canal, and Manasquan River. And this is the way I do it, others might see it differently, but I know what works for me. The Raritan Bay/Sandy Hook area, southern Barnegat Bay and the ocean can be(and are) a whole different story. Hope this helps.
Garry

[ped579]

 

Three thumbs up Gary

Happy Catching

Paul

[gagedylan]

thanks for the info! i grew up in Silver Beach, and fished the mouth of the canal, on the bay side frequently, but for big fluke usually, i also fished the mouth on the river side alot, but usually for fluke. i always see anglers fishing on the canal itself, never tried it until now. my dad took the boat to florida when he retired, so i'm a bank fisherman now. i now live in south jersey, and my fishing is usually down here, i love the mystic island area, gravelling point, etc...

[wb]

Good info Garry Thanks for sharing