Fishguts 6/29 Bay/Ocean combo trip

[Capt. Birch]

On 6/29 I had Angelo,Tom and Hughe out for a bay/ocean combo trip. With the forcasted high winds I decided to run north and head out of Manasquan. First stop was to the inshore wrecks to grab some tasty seabass for a few meals.Nice quality stuff today with plenty of 14" and 15" fish along with plenty of shorts and good size blackfish. The guys even had a few mystery fish that were bending rods and pulling drag but never made it to the boat. At 10am with 20 seabass in the box the guys said they had plenty and wanted to give bay fluking a shot. The bay/river bite has been hot. Well the bite got even hotter as the anglers cracked to 100 mark today. This fishing is about light tackle action and keeper fish are just a bonus.Well Hughe got a nice bonus today when he nailed a nice 22" 4.5lber on one of the lightest rods on the boat. The hot bait was anything with a hook in it. A fun day spent with 3 fine gentleman. 

[fishon42]

  Nice job on both fish

[Hotrod]

 

[Kevin]

nice job, what time was the bite hot in the river? it seems like if i go there early theres nothing until like 1 pm!

[Capt. Birch]

nice job, what time was the bite hot in the river? it seems like if i go there early theres nothing until like 1 pm!

I try to plan much of my bay fishing on the tides when I can. 2 hours either side of the high seems to be the best and 2 hours either side of the low with a hard south wind is a time to stay home LOL. Bottom of the tides you will have coffee water with tons of grass so your rigs wont be fishing much but some fish still feed.  It may seem funny but I see a big difference between the fishing in Manasqaun and Barnegat and how I fish them both, but IMHO presentation is way more important than a "hot bait" in both. The numbers caught in both can be insane with the river already there and Barnegat improving daily. Right now in the river I think a 1/2 to 3/4 ounce bucktail with a 2/0 high hook and any strip bait or even gulp on lighter tackle will give you about all the fish you could want. Just bump the rig a little 6 to 12 inches off the bottom and reel them in (the fish ). If you are not slamming them change your depth a little. There is plenty of fish from the canal to the the inlet wall to keep a light tackle guy smiling. If you want keepers you may have to asked for some info from some other guys LOL Good luck  catch them up and please be careful with the fish on your many releases  

[Treebeard]

Awesome job Capt.    That's some hot action .. super report and pics..      great info on your follow-up too .. thanks for sharing!