I have absolutely no experience fishing in that area, but have a bit in the back bays. Here's my advice:
1. Try to avoid the dead fish baits. Mackeral stips, blue strips, and mullet are a sure fire way to get sharks. Yes, they work for flounder and weakfish and stripers, but they bring shark in too quickly.
2. Don't let it sit...if you let the baits sit and deadstick everything you will be prone to sharks. I catch a lot less junk when I'm actively jigging the baits. Make sure it's bouncing of the bottom, and not just dragging, or worse yet, sitting still when you are anchored.
3. If you really want to use strip baits like mackeral or bluefish, put it on the top hook on a top-bottom rig. Same goes for clam. Put squid and minnow on the bottom. (or use shedder)
4. Find holes that are at the mouths of small streams in the sodbanks. Yes this also holds shark, but the bait working up and down the streams make them great ambush spots for striper, weakfish and flounder.
5. If you start hooking "real" fish on the upper hook, then you can shift those baits to the bottom. I usually wait until I'm sure real fish are around and hungry before putting the stinky fish baits on the bottom.
These methods have worked pretty well for me. The last bit of advice is to really do your homework on the right baits to use. Personally I think live baits are usually ideal, but many others would argue that point. Good luck, and let us know how it works out.
1. Try to avoid the dead fish baits. Mackeral stips, blue strips, and mullet are a sure fire way to get sharks. Yes, they work for flounder and weakfish and stripers, but they bring shark in too quickly.
2. Don't let it sit...if you let the baits sit and deadstick everything you will be prone to sharks. I catch a lot less junk when I'm actively jigging the baits. Make sure it's bouncing of the bottom, and not just dragging, or worse yet, sitting still when you are anchored.
3. If you really want to use strip baits like mackeral or bluefish, put it on the top hook on a top-bottom rig. Same goes for clam. Put squid and minnow on the bottom. (or use shedder)
4. Find holes that are at the mouths of small streams in the sodbanks. Yes this also holds shark, but the bait working up and down the streams make them great ambush spots for striper, weakfish and flounder.
5. If you start hooking "real" fish on the upper hook, then you can shift those baits to the bottom. I usually wait until I'm sure real fish are around and hungry before putting the stinky fish baits on the bottom.
These methods have worked pretty well for me. The last bit of advice is to really do your homework on the right baits to use. Personally I think live baits are usually ideal, but many others would argue that point. Good luck, and let us know how it works out.
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