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Hello All,
Pretty new to this site and would like to look to you guys for advise. Me and my dad are looking to get out to make our first trips to the Barnegat Ridge this year and need to get setup in terms of lures and equipment. What are the best lures to use out there for trolling false ablies, bonito, and the occasional football bluefin. So far we have two clark spoons, two six inch cedar plugs, two skirted lures about 5" inches long, a little japenesse feather and a few homemade rigs. We will be going to the Somerset show next weekend and would really like to stock up on lures that would be useful at the ridge. Have any of you guys used smaller ballyhoo out there for the football bluefin and big bones or would they be torn up by bluefish too easily? Do any of you guys use teasers out there just to make more commotion around the boat? We do not have outriggers and will probably run 5-6 lines max: 2 flatlines, 2 off of rods in outrodders, one long center line and MAYBE one short center line. Boat is a 23' Key West Center Console with a 225hp Yamaha 4 stroke. Also any other equipment besides lures. We have all standard safety equipment: mounted and handheld VHF, GPS, compass, flares, fire extinguisher, life jackets, throwable. Any info is appreciated. Thank you ahead of time.
Sounds like you are on the right track. I usually troll 2 spreader bars and a few skirted lures with birds in front of them. (I can troll 7-8 lines but at the Ridge, we usually troll 5)
You may want to check www.bassbarn, THt and ebay for used stuff and save some $.
I have not trolled hoo's at the ridge but now that you mention it, better to have the bluefish tear up a hoo vs. plastics and feathers!
Have caught lots of skippies/fasle albies and while they are not good eating, they are fun catching!
Good luck.
although it is only 15 miles or so, an EPIRB would be a good addition to your gear.
I wouldn't bother with ballyhoo. Too many bluefish!! I think what you have is a real good start. Deadly Dicks, the large ones, and Slugos are also good for what your targeting. Just change out the hook on the DDs or you will never land a BFT.
Its a great place to fish. The last couple of years have not been as good for pelagics, but before that we caught King Mackeral, Bluefin, and Mahi. Anyway, you are on the right track, except you need more like 20 clark spoons instead of 2 as the blues will do a number on them and they are deadly. Run them behind 4 to 8 oz drails during the bonito run and bring a kid with you...fun, fun, fun...Also don't forget about the south ridge, just as good and less crowded most of the time.
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1993 Grady White 255 Sailfish
2003 Optimaxes
if you want some bluefin you would need to try the dusky hole which is another 15 miles from the ridge and a lot of times holds big schools of bluefin tuna ,pick your days . You need lures such as cedar plugs in a wide array of colors as jell as spreader bars with smaller squid or feathers 5" -7" ,having a dredge can help too .I carry Jap. Feathers in red white combo ,pink ,blue white combo ,green ,green yellow combo,purple ,purple black combo ,black ,and a rainbow pattern on all my different lures. I have chrome head feathers ,flat ,pointed ,concave ,smokers ,tuna clones ,speader bars,daisy chains,cedar plugs ,birds ,flying fish ,dredges and spoons for casting with a spinning reel if there is surface action . Do not forget a planer with a dark color plug for an ocasional wahoo. Having outriggers can add to your spread ,i ran 7 to 9 rods out of a 24 WC . A good pointer is to look for blue holes between the whitewash behind the boat which produces bluefin tuna sometimes as close as 25' from the boat. Try to mimic a school of fish with a stray lagging behind imitating a weak or injured fish .Trolling speed varies from boat to boat ,mine was 5.5 to 6.6 Knts. Another thing to remember is using dark colors on cloudy overcast days and light colors during clear sunny days. My best luck was always during cloudy overcast days . We have trolled 12 bluefin in 3 hours at the dusky hole releasing 11. You are on the right track ,work your way until you succeed like Tred Barta told me once.
Dannys cat any chance you have the #s on that Dusky Hole. Been loading some new spots in the GPS this week and that sounds closer than the chicken canyon ,glory hole area. THX
The Ridge is great. Went there for the first time last year and had a ball. Clarkspoons, with drials, cedar plugs, jap feathers, and tuna clones all worked really well on very tasty Bonita, falses, and big blues. Was trolling at 6-7knots most of the time. Clarkspoons go quick with big blues around so have extra ready. Purple and black feathers seamed to produce more blues- 18.5lb being the monster of the trips. Have made up some spreader bars for this summer so we will see. Does get crowded out there so leave early. I leave out of South harbor marine in waretown at 4:30-4:45 and hit the ridge in 45 mins to an hour. Twice this summer was the first boat out there.
See ya out there this summer. Channel 68 and tell me were the fish are.
I used to keep my boat there 3 years ago ,tom is a nice guy and i kept it there years before when it was Stan's Marine .Ask Tom about me when you see him i was the World Cat 246 sf ,if you are interested in shark fishing let me know and i will share some info so you can enjoy that fishery also .You can start with 39 41.1 73 32.1 and work the edges of it . You can also use a couple of bathymetric charts that will give you a better idea of the area in general .The Resor wreck is also close by at 39 46.5 73 24.9 as the general area. If you want more numbers i will bne able to shoot you some as soon as i put new batteries on the boat and can power up the gps. Enjoy ,and like i said you can get into some serious shark fishing not too far from shore starting with mako ,thresher ,dusky ,tiger ,hammerhead ,and the pesky blue dog . This starts before tuna as makos come chasing the blues early on.
Thanks for all of these replies guys it is very helpful.
Does anybody eat the bonita they catch? On the New Jersey Angler they cut it up raw and made sashimi.
Cooterscrazy: we dock our boat behind our house on the corner of point and marine rd back near Key Harbor Marina so we are pretty close. Let me know if u want to buddy up sometime.
You can also try Oles lump which is not too far either ,i caught a nice Tiger there ask tom for the picture ,he should still have it. I do a lot of not so conventional things that i can share with you that have worked wonders for me . I remember drifting the 20 fathom line and hooking at least 7 hammerheads ,the largest was over 10' .We had a blast.
I am starting a new project in Shamokin dam PA ,and they let us work even on Sundays ,and i am staying there for 2 weeks to catch up after a crappy winter .Enjoy the show.
Thanks for the replies everybody. Is anyone heading to the Somerset show this weekend? Planning on going on Saturday.
I'll be there sat at 10 one of my buddies is an exibitor check his booth out OlDE SALTE TACKLE very helpfull and has good pricing on stuff ask for Dennis , tell him Manny sent you I'm sure he'll give you an additional discount
PS you might get more help if you get rid of that Phillies sign just kidding , Mets fan on this side
Barnegat Ridge Help
1975 Mako 20 (Sea Whore) 2008 Suzuki DF140
