Moving from raritan bay to forked river

[Man Workin]

I have spent a lot of time on the water down there as a kid, and now, I do the same with mine. Crabbing is excellent down there in the dog days of summer. Oyster creek and every where in between, the kids will have a blast.

[bulletbob]

When I lived in Forked River I trailered back to Raritan Bay, or sometimes I went out of Shark River or Tuckerton/Great Bay...
The fishing in Barnegat Bay was just never that great for me.. Yes there are fish to be caught, but much of the bay is REALLY shallow and sandy, not a lot of channels, structure, deep water etc... The spots that hold fish are well known and get hit hard by locals.. Its not like sandy Hook/Raritan where you can go off on your own away from the crowds and find great fishing... Barnegat bay DOES have very good crabbing however.. If I were you I would keep the Aquasport, but maybe find a cheap used 17 on a trailer to take out of Belmar/PP, and up to the Highlands.. Thats what I did... bob

[MrAC1980]

Welcome to the area! Unfortunately I have to agree with what others have said that the areas up north are definitely more productive. But you'll fit in and find the fish. May/June the blues and fluke invade the bay. Then come the blowfish (hopefully). If you're into wreck fishing, the seabass and blackfish can be had just like everywhere else if you can find the right wrecks. Ocean fluking starts in Juneish at the Tires and Garden State reefs. Over the summer the bonita have been pretty good at the North and South Ridges which are about 14miles from LBI. The BI and BB bouys that guys have mentioned is the Barnegat Inlet bouy that marks the Oyster Creek channel you will get to know well and the Barnegat Bay bouy is about a mile or so north of the BI bouy. You can take the kids over to Tices Shoal in the summer or Party Island areas of Island Beach by the Light House. It can be like grand central station, but everyone typically gets along. See you on the water! ~Anthony

[MrAC1980]

Oh and you'll mostly use Oyster Creek channel to get to the light house, but you'll see Double Creek on the map. Avoid Double Creek as its closed until it gets dredged hopefully in the spring of 2099. It got shoaled over during Sandy and hasn't been fixed yet.

[NoLimit]

Good crabbing and clamming.

Hole in front of fuel dock by Barneget light

40' lumps offshore for fluke

but you will miss Raritan

[NoWorries]

Just different , 27' with twins. Offshore I say ! Bluefins,Mahi,Sharks, offshore wrecks for cod,pollock in summer. Wreckin for seabass and big fluke in deep water. I'd only fish the bay when it's too rough to go offshore. An hour or so from the ocean side of the inlet. Sure you'll get stripers and fluke but there's much more

[captainsteve25]

Wow, I really appreciate everyone's feedback. Making
Me really regret wanting to live on the water and leave my bay. I grew up having all I wanted within 5-30 minutes and now all reading is crabbing and strictly offshore...... Thought I was making the right move to have a great view year round and have the boat behind the house. Maybe this wasn't the best thought out plan I envisioned when we started. Is it really that bad getting out of the inlet to the ocean? Is their really no fishing in bb like Raritan bay? I may sound stupid, not, I'm just clueless which is why I decided to put my neck out and make the post.

[NoLimit]

Winter flouder is good too but you have the limit problem

[Reel Class]

I fished the stretch from good luck point down to "the bend" by the 44 buoy A LOT in the 90's. I even ran charters out of Chadwick up until 2004 and fished down there occasionally.

Lots of good fishing to be had, yet it's not like Raritan bay, but again there are fish to be caught:

Bass in the inlet on the sod banks, and also a few other spots to the north (37 bridge, 72 bridge parts of IBSP, etc)

Weakfish (when around) between 40 buoy and the BI

Also blowfish and kingfish in those same spots, but more down near the BI.

Loads of bluefish every spring on both sides of the bay.

Fluke in the inlet itself and also between the BB and BI.

Winter flounder between the BB and BI.

Tog at the sod banks S of the causeway

*Some years the fishing in the bay can be good, others it simply sucks. Bait migrations, slowly warming water, and even fish migrations really can change the fisheries from season to season. Gotta put your time in!

[celticcross]

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