Point Pleasant Canal Fishing Reports

[ed v]

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

[IrishAyes]

Good report Garry,
you may have do the evening/night gig for the stripers.

[MartyS]

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

[Treebeard]

Great report as usual Garry..  Thanks 

[wink_man]

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

[mgm]

Great report as usual.  Thanks!

[seanr8w]

Great report as usual.  Thanks!

[Pfishingruven]

Thanks for the report!!

 

[IrishAyes]

Nice report Garry. As often as you fish the canal and area, if there were weakies there, you would have some by now. 

[Ren]

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 ..LOL ( Inlet gets to busy and 1 out of every 20 people actually know what there doing.. ) 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..

[IrishAyes]

Nice report Ren.
That inlet does get a bit crazy at times with all the people there. 

[Pfishingruven]

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!

 

[wink_man]

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!

 

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         

[Pfishingruven]

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

[wink_man]

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

[MartyS]

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? 

[Ren]

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. By the time I got them there they were stone dead.. Well see what the weekend brings

Ren

[wink_man]

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

[njdevil]

Nice report

NJDEVIL 

[brickken]

Nice action and nice size alligators... good report as usual. thanks.