Point Pleasant Canal Fishing Reports

[Ren]

 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. .(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) ..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~~~

[IrishAyes]

Nice reports Garry and Ren. Nice catches. 

[gymrat987654321]

cant stargazers gave you an electric shock?

[Pfishingruven]

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

      

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

 

[wink_man]

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

[brickken]

This is what I love about this site, all the stuff you didn't know that you didn't know.  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!

[wink_man]

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

[njdevil]

Nice report and a good morning

NJDEVIL 

[ped579]

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

[Greg7]

Great report. I still have yet to get out there. Damn work. haha

[Pfishingruven]

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.

 

[surfrocket]

they usually discharge on the hookset, takes about 15 mins to recharge. its like being hit in the hand with a hammer,hard. becareful.

[wink_man]

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

[brickken]

A very entertaining report and a well deserved rest is in the cards! Enjoy the nap & thanks for the report. 

[IrishAyes]

Great reports as always Garry. 

I usually need a nap after reading them. 

[njdevil]

Another great report and alot of fun.


NJDEVIL 

[Pfishingruven]

Nice report and nice catch!!

Thanks.

 

[Ren]

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)  .. I will prob. get out to the condos tomarrow morning..

[ped579]

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

[wink_man]

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