BERKLEY ISLAND COUNTY PARK, NJ
For late summer family fishing and crabbing fun, it’s impossible to beat the opportunities and amenities awaiting in the beautiful 25-acre Berkeley Island County Park located a couple of minutes off the Garden State Parkway and Route 9 in Ocean County.
As August wanes to the beginning of the new school year, time to cast a rod and drop a trap is at a premium. For those who want to experience a mixed bag of fins, and always hungry crustaceans, the compass points to Exit 77, the artery to plenty of heart-pumping fun in the late summer sun.
As you enter the park along Brennan Concourse, there will be a sizeable gravel parking area on the right that sports three spots to drop in a kayak or car-topper. The more adventuresome can get away with slipping in a trailered aluminum craft, but be advised that the sandy edge openings can be very soft at times.
The main parking lot can easily accommodate 100 vehicles, and there are paths leading into the park proper. To the right is a picnic area and the beach where a lifeguard is on duty through the Labor Day weekend. To the left is a pavilion, restrooms, a playground and individual picnic tables with grills, all surrounded by meticulously manicured grounds. Farther on is the approximately 150-yard bulkhead that leads to the 100-foot pier that offers another 50 feet of fishing and crabbing space via its “T” end. Another 200 yards or so is available along the paved macadam leading around to the bathing beach. It’s all here!
Mid-August through late September is smorgasbord time hook ‘n line wise, with snappers, kings, blowfish, puppy drum, eels and even the rare fluke eating all manner of spearing, squid and clam strip baits, and killies, with the baby blues particular manic for small bucktails and tiny metals. The growth rate of the snappers this time of the season is positively amazing, as the five- to seven-inch mini-choppers around the first week in August will be seven to ten inches by Labor Day, and they are in a constant state of ravenous hunger.
The drum are considered “Berkeley Island Big Game”, as litters of barred puppies to 20 inches move in along the outside of the T-pier and in the cove fronting the bulkhead. They are suckers for clam and squid and are drag-squeaking surprises for those expecting blowfish or the seven- to 11-inch royals that also find the bivalve and cephalopod offerings to their liking.
Hands down, Berkeley Island County Park is the premier crabbing locus on Barnegat Bay for access, sizes and numbers. Quarter bushel catches are the norm, half bushel catches not uncommon, and the occasional full bushel o’ blue claws is seen every season, especially from mid- August through September.
This particular early August morning, the pier was half full and the bulkhead was getting crowded. There were more kids than adults, and there was excitement and joy in the omnipresent east wind as the cooperative crabs and snappers brought the most joyous of sounds: the laughter of children enjoying the bay’s bounty.
This hotspot is easily reached from the Garden State Parkway north or south to Exit 77 and then a turn onto County Route 618 east to the Route 9 intersection. Cross over onto Butler Boulevard, and then make a right onto Bayview Ave. Turn left onto Brennan Concourse, and the park is half-mile ahead. The bulkhead and pier are open to fishing from daylight to 11 p.m.; the main park is open from at 10 a.m.until dark.
