Sunfish & Crappie

Bluegill Sunfish

There is scarcely a body of water in the state that does not have Bluegills in it. Bluegills get to a foot long, but are seldom seen at that size.

All sunfishes are aggressive and territorial. Their belligerence is heightened in the confines of an aquarium, where you may start out with several small ones, but you will end up with just one big one. A sunfish will tear a fish-store cichlid to pieces. They adapt readily to regular fish food, but lose most of the attractive wild colors.

-- Wikipedia


Pumpkinseed Sunfish

The Pumpkinseed is the second most common type of sunfish

-- Wikipedia


Redbreast Sunfish

note the long 'ear'

Redbreasts can be found in the D&R Canal.

-- Wikipedia


Black Crappie

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Black-Crappie-Duane-Raver.jpg

Crappies are fun to fish for - seems they'll hit just about anything. They also do well in an aquarium, where they are not aggressive towards anything they do not regard as food. They do require live food like minnows, although eventually you can train most individuals to take freeze-dried krill and worms.

-- Wikipedia


Cliffwood Beach
( 40.45216, -74.22137 )

  1. Aeromarine Industrial Park ( 40.44306, -74.18967 )
  2. Lake Lefferts - Matawan ( 40.41563, -74.23362 )
  3. Raritan Bay - Cliffwood (E) ( 40.45089, -74.22033 )
  4. Raritan Bay - Cliffwood (W) ( 40.45216, -74.22269 )
  5. Raritan Bay - Cliffwood (Whale Creek) ( 40.45090, -74.22274 )
  6. Raritan Bay - Keyport (E) ( 40.44095, -74.19534 )
  7. Raritan Bay - Keyport (W) ( 40.43921, -74.20160 )
  8. Raritan Bay - Laurence Harbor (E) ( 40.45877, -74.24622 )
  9. Raritan Bay - Laurence Harbor (W) ( 40.46223, -74.25482 )
  10. Raritan Bay - South Amboy (N) ( 40.48343, -74.27059 )
  11. Raritan Bay - South Amboy (S) ( 40.47946, -74.26831 )
  12. Raritan Bay - South Amboy Ramp ( 40.48401, -74.27416 )
  13. Raritan Bay - Union Beach (E) ( 40.44787, -74.16598 )
  14. Raritan Bay - Union Beach (W) ( 40.45479, -74.17517 )
  15. Superfund Site ( 40.45776, -74.24129 )
  16. Wagner's Marina - Matawan Creek ( 40.43540, -74.21416 )

The marker in the lower-center of the map is a super-easy put-in on Whale Creek, above. The other markers are a longer slog over the beach. All have convenient free parking (don't leave your vehicle in the launching area, that's a dick move!)