First Time Fishing - Barnegat Bay/Manasquan River Suggestions....

[dancar81]

First time fishing from a boat this weekend in the Pt. Pleasant Canal/Manasquan River/Barnegat Bay area.  Not sure where would be best or what to even fish for.  Where should I start?  What kind of lures/bait would you recommend.

[ped579]

First Welcome Aboard,

You should be able to get all your questions answered here in due time, just eb patient as a lot of the seasoned captains are either out or getting ready for tomorrow.

Is this your first boat?  the reason I ask is the canal can be a pretty tricky stretch to navigate through.  Where will you be fishing most the river or bay?  If you are off the bay I would stick to the bay as some one that is new.  This weekend will be a nightmare as the summer season will be kicking off and everyone that owns a boat will be out. So be careful out there.

Being that it is the start of fluke season that would be a good fish to start off with.  I would get white bucktails and tip them with a white grub curly tail and jig the sides of the channels especially around the bridges.  Get your self a good chart so you can see where the channels run and to get the feel of the bay's structure.

Once we know where your home port is it will give us a better idea as to where to suggest you should start.

Agaikn Welcome Aboard.

Happy Catching

Paul

[blynch]

Hi dancar81,
  as you may or may not be aware, fluke season opens officially this saturday.  Fluke are very conducive to the small-boat angler because they can be caught in shallow, calm water without overly much expertise.  It's kind of early in the year to catch them in large numbers but they might be your best shot at this point (i'm assuming you don't want to venture out into the ocean on your first boat fishing trip.)  Anchor or drift the stretch of water between the Manasquan inlet and the Train Bridge, try using like killies (preferrably) or frozen spearing or clams. 

  Another readily availible species this timw of year in the bays is the bluefish.  anchor in the vicinity of the point pleasant canal on the manasquan river side during and outgoing tide.  try throwing swimming plugs and retrieving them quickly.  This is as guaranteed a fish prodicuing method as i know of.

Hope this helps,
blynch
Pounder II

[Noworries2009]

just a suggestion, go early!  Doesn't matter what you're fishing for, blues, bass or fluke. Inside the inlets this weekend will be crazy after 9AM. If you're going in the ocean not as important to be early. Blues and bass are on bunker and afternoons can be great. Bring bunker snags and jigs/crocs just in case the blues are thick. Check Reel Class report for today!!!