SportFishing and Charters Forum - Offshore spots outside of Manesquan or Barnegat inlet?

So i have a house up in New Jersey that i spend the summer at, but live in Charleston, SC for the rest of the year. Down here we just inshore fish unless you want to go 70 miles out to the gulf stream. This year i got a new to me sailfish 2360 w/ t f150's so now i can get into offshore fishing up in NJ. I have heard of Barnegat Ridge that has average fishing, Sea Girt reef, and the mud hole. I would like to know if there are any others within about a 30 mile mark off from Barnegat inlet or Manesquan? I know they troll at the ridge, but what reel and rod setups should i get for trolling there and what should i troll with. Then do you bottom fish at the reef and hole? All the help would be appreciated, Im really excited about getting into offshore this summer.

Thanks,

I used to live on the NJ Shore and kept a 25' CC in Shark River inlet. The near shore fishing was mainly Bluefish, Stripers and Fluke. For 30 miles of Manasquan I would fish The Glory Hole (monster ledge in the mud hole area). It's basically ~15 miles or so straight off Belmar (I'm going off memory from 12 years ago) -- Bluefish. I used to head towards the Glory Hole then about 15 miles out I'd start seeing lots of crab pots and drag netters and would often troll parallel to the shore following crab pot lines. If the commercial guys set their traps and the netters drag that area there's a good chance it's productive.

Shrewsbury Rocks (rocky bottom area close to beach just off Monmouth Beach area)-- Stripers.

Mid Summer was usually best for Fluke/Flounder near beaches/near shore wrecks/bottom fishing.

In Spring and Fall you can chum and use cut bait for Bluefish, troll shad umbrellas, slow troll for stripers. Late Summer you could troll feathers 20 miles offshore and sometimes catch some schoolie Dolphin.

You can troll with light trolling gear like a Penn Senator, Penn 965 Int'l, heavy Spinning Gear like Penn ss8500. If you are going for bluefish and drifting cut bait I prefer lighter tackle like a Shimano 4000.

Note: "The Mud Hole" is just the large general area offshore/near shore where the Hudson Canyon used to exist-- its not really a specific place it's just a general description for the area a few miles off the beach out to the canyons areas off manasquan and north. All the above areas are off Manasquan North to Sandy Hook area.... I don't know the BArnetget Light and South area.

Check your messages.

Get some charts and start planning. The extension of the Hudson river as stated is a good place to fish for Bluefin tuna and shark. Another area called The Fingers is a prime mako area. Good Luck

Lots of places to fish within 30 miles.

Get a Homeport Chart. It will show you all the areas with radius lines extending out from the inlets at about 10 mile increments.

Any ideas on reels and rods? I heard people use clark spoons, what else?

Cedar plugs, tuna clones, Jap feathers, etc.

I was in the same predicament as you last year. We fished the mud hole, little italy, Manasquan Ridge, the Klondike, lobster pots, the Reed (Sea Girt), etc. For the offshore areas, if you time it correctly in the summer / early fall, you can expect anything from bluefish to tuna to mahi-mahi to bonita/albies.

Clark spoons, small homemade daisy chains, cedar plugs, small Jap. feathers, and small ballyhoo are the norm for the trolling at these closer "offshore" spots.

On the inshore front, the Rocks are very good, as well as the Red Church area, for striped bass and blues. It's pretty much where the bait is.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to drop me a PM.

Capesquan

I\
Clark spoons, small homemade daisy chains, cedar plugs, small Jap. feathers, and small ballyhoo are the norm for the trolling at these closer "offshore" spots.


I would add to that list smaller (#2 & 2.5) Drone spoons, size 100 Tuna Clones and small (4-5") chrome head jets.

We caught some nice 60-80 pound bluefins on my custom rainbow titanium spreader bars. Seemed to be the ticket last year.
We jigged a bunch more and scallop guts accounted for quite a few.
We usually put a cedar plug in the mix just for the he'll of it, but I have switched over to squid bars and chains for tuna trolling. I have an s-load on new jap feathers and clark spoons.
I do use the Clarks for stripers in the fall.

Thanks for all the help guys. What # line should i use and what # leader do you guys use. This has been a big help.

Thanks for all the help guys. What # line should i use and what # leader do you guys use. This has been a big help.

Milt Rosko, a well-known fishing journalist, once stated that "30lb class tackle" got the most use on his boats, and therefore, was the most versitile.

If you're trolling with mono, 30-40 lb tackle should easily handle fish up to 100 lbs, even with a tyro on the rod. Leader-wise, that depends on what you're pulling (lure-wise), and on the type of fish that you anticipate.

Inshore, pulling any sort of spoon, I'd use number 9 or 10 single strand wire, mostly because of the likelyhood that bluefish will crash the party.

When pulling cedar plugs, feathers, knuckleheads, etc...I'd say 100 lb mono at the minimum, and often feel more comfortable with 130-200 .

Milt Rosko, a well-known fishing journalist, once stated that "30lb class tackle" got the most use on his boats, and therefore, was the most versitile.


So the modern interpretation of that would be a set of Penn 16VSX's with 500 yards of 65 lb braid under 100 yards of 50 lb mono. In the old days, most would fish their 30W's with 550 yards of 50 lb mono.

LI32, Milt Rosko was no doubt referring to Penn Senator 114s back then (1972). Today, I'd use a TLD-20 or a 25.

So the modern interpretation of that would be a set of Penn 16VSX's with 500 yards of 65 lb braid under 100 yards of 50 lb mono. In the old days, most would fish their 30W's with 550 yards of 50 lb mono.
IMO that's overkill. I agree with Fubar above. I use 16vsx's trolling in Key West (Blackfin, Wahoo, Sailfish, etc). Near shore off NJ (30 miles and in) I would go smaller.

You should expect bluefish, and MAYBE small mahi, bonita or baby tuna. When I lived in Mansquan area and fished the exact areas the OP is talking about i used Penn 113, Penn SS8500 Spinning reels, Penn Int'l 975 (all of the aforementioned only for trolling) and never got over powered by anything. If anything I felt over tackled. The only reason for the Penn 113 was so I could spool on wire line for stripers or to pull trolling bars. Unfortunatley once you hook up with a fish, the 113 with a spreader bar is too much power and not much sport. Preference and bread and butter fishing technique for that area is to anchor, chum, cut bait free lined into chum slick, and instead use medium spinning gear like a Penn 5500 spinning/ Shimano 4000 style spinning reel and catch bluefish (or cast a castmaster style silver lure with a wire leader to schooling bluefish). When chumming the only time I would use the Penn 113/Penn 8500ss was if there were some bigger fish (aka sharks) that showed up.

Reality for 30 miles and in around Manasquan is Bluefish, Stripers, Fluke, Bonita. The Tuna, Mahi and other fish do happen but are far and few between the others (and they are small anyways). The Bluefish action can be lightening hot and is fun on smaller spinning gear. I've seen the water turn to full blown white water like a tuna feeding frenzy but was bluefish hitting shad.