MANASQUAN INLET, NJ

For well over a century, the Manasquan Inlet has attracted fishermen. Vacationing families, seasoned anglers and boatmen carefully navigate this shallow, challenging waterway. We have discussed fishing at the Monument or Loughran’s Point, but the entire inlet is worthy of discourse.

The Manasquan Inlet was not always as it is today. In the late 1800s, no stabilizing structure or jetties existed on the inlet, and it proved hard for larger vessels to navigate. For a six-year period, from 1926 through 1931, the inlet was closed entirely as water rushed from the Manasquan River into the newly dug Point Pleasant Canal, and the inlet dried up. A depression era project, funded by the state of New Jersey and the Federal Government, witnessed the establishment of jetties and the eventual re-opening of the canal during the late summer of 1931. We’ll explore five of the most popular spots, with a few constructive suggestions to help fill that cooler.

Negotiating the jacks and rocks at the seaward entrance of the inlet requires balance, jetty experience and steel corkers. This location lures stripers in the late spring and again during the fall. October and early November slammer blues up to 15 pounds surge into the inlet, often following pods of finger mullet, peanut bunker and anchovies. This is not a casual fishery and bait fishing is not the best option. Doodlebug rigs and the conventional hi-lo and circle hook rigs are lost, often cast after cast. Heavy metal lures, Hopkins, Kastmasters, deep diving Bombers and topwater offerings are best.

“There is a constant flow of fish from day to day, season to season and it really is a unique fishing spot,” says Mark Palazzolo at Alex’s Bait and Tackle (732-295-9268) right along the inlet wall. He added that “I have seen sea bass and porgies and most recently albies, but the craziest catch was a cobia caught right inside.” He also mentioned that, “Those summer fish may stick around longer this year if water temperatures stay up.”
I’ve had many Manasquan moments, yet the most special one was in mid July 1988 on a Sunday when my wife and I took our first post baby trip there. I picked up some killies at Alex’s and tied on a simple fluke rig with a two-ounce round sinker and cast it into the middle of the inlet. Instantaneously, I felt the “tap, tap, tap” and set the hook, pulling a four-pounder over the famous wall, which can be fished on the Manasquan or Point side.

The wall on the more popular Point side extends westward from the edge of the pilings for about a thousand feet, curving slightly before yielding to summer homes and restaurants that line Inlet Drive. Summertime fluking is the most prevalent fishery. On days when the water is relatively calm, on a west or northwest wind following a frontal passage, anglers who invest a day can fill a cooler with flatties and the occasional doormat, in the seven- or eight-pound class is not out of the ordinary. A nine-pounder was taken off Dog Beach this season.

Juvenile bluefish are rampant at first light, and these cocktails and tailors are great sport and table fare. Once the fall mullet run begins in mid to late September, a shoreline bluefish blitz will work into the inlet, bending rods along the wall with bigger fish to 12 pounds. The popular Ava 17 and 27 with a green teaser, imitating a sand eel, will deliver the cocktails. But when the main course arrives, a heavier metal lure, such as the Hopkins or Kastmaster, will deliver. Don’t hesitate to employ poppers for ferocious topwater action.

Blackfish are an inlet favorite and crab baits sold in the shop are deadly in the late spring and fall. Often, a tugging tog will make a beeline for the rocks and you will think you are hung up. Slack up and do nothing for a minute or so and then set the hook. Chances are you’ll pull a tasty tautog out of the rocks at the end of the wall.

Whether it is a veteran jetty jock corking his way across the jacks battling a 30-pound bass at the mouth or a youngster catching starfish after starfish at the wall, this momentous location has been a magnet for fishermen and families since the Great Depression.