Shark River Reef

[Duffman]

Keep your bait 8-10 feet off the bottom.

[Gerry Zagorski]

You can use crabs instead of clams, the Seabass with hit them too. Now you just have to wait out the bergal taps for a heavier seabass bite.

[bulletbob]

Any large area of broken bottom is subject to the hordes of bergalls.. Then the next week, the same spot can be loaded with sea bass, porgies etc..

You see it every day with head boats.. They will fish a nice piece of bottom, and have good fishing... Head back next day, and its all bergalls, and they move off quickly. I have never found a really good way around them when they are that fierce ... I have fished where you just had to fish though them to get to the "target species", usually tog... They are a pain, but they live in the same places, and eat a lot of the same stuff as game species. Trick is to find the spots where the game fish are thick and the bergalls aren't... Thats why the party boat capts are always mugged by guys in small boats.. They make a living knowing where the "good" fish are schooled up thicker than the bergalls... Yet even they can't shake them some days...