Below are public access points along the Manasquan River in Monmouth County where anglers can try their luck catching a sea run brown. The sites are listed from downstream to upstream, and are numbered to correspond to their location on the USGS map of the area (157kb).

Please report any catches of sea run browns to Mark Boriek at the Lebanon Fisheries Lab at 908-236-2118. You can also contact Mark via email at mark.boriek@dep.nj.gov.

Manasquan River Fishing Access Areas

1. Lightning Jack's Marina, downstream of the Manasquan Wildlife Management Area at 505 Ridge Rd. in Brick.

2. Manasquan River Wildlife Management Area - Off Ramshorn Dr., Allenwood NJ. A paved road leads to a sand road directly to the river. Primitive launch suitable for small boat, canoe or kayak. Freshwater tidal. The river is fairly wide at this point, and is often referred to as the Allenwood Lagoon as there are many backwaters created when the tide is high. Manasquan River WMA Map (pdf, 490kb)

3. Allenwood - Lakewood Rd. Bridge and Brice Park - These are our lowermost regular season stocking points. Brice Park, just upstream of the bridge, has parking and shore access. It is freshwater tidal; a canoe or kayak could be launched here. In fact, an 8lb. sea run brown was caught and released by an angler in a kayak just downstream of Brice Park. Sea run brown trout have been caught from shore at this site.

4. Parkway Bridge - Accessible via a shore line path that begins at downstream Brice Park or upstream Hospital Rd. Bridge. This area has produced most of the sea run brown trout catches including the largest, 8.5 lbs. Freshwater tidal.

5. Hospital Rd. Bridge - Regular season stocking point. Parking just upstream of the bridge. Sea runs have been caught above and below this site, the largest being 6.25 lbs. Facing upstream at the bridge, the left shore trail leads to a pool opposite the intake screen for the Manasquan Reservoir. Fish must, during low flows, surmount a small weir that impounds water for the intake. A 5.25 pound sea run was caught at this site.

6. Allaire State Park - This area has three regular season stocking points including, Mingamahone Brook a tributary which usually remains clear when the Manasquan is high and muddy. This confluence has produced sea run browns up to 4lbs., as well as large holdover brown and rainbow trout.

7. Squankum Dam - This regular season stocking point, located at the Route I-195 and County Route 547 overpass, has produced sea runs up to 4lbs. Anglers have reported seeing trout jump this USGS gauging station dam during low flows.

8. Angler Access (also known as the Austin Property) - This, too, is a regular season stocking point and part of Allaire State Park located off of Squankum-Yellow Brook Road. A sand road leads to a parking area with paths to the river.

9. Preventorium Road Bridge - A regular season stocking point, sea runs up to 5 lbs. have been caught here opposite Howell High School (upstream) and Howell Golf Course (downstream). Because this area has more gravel than the downstream most sites, it is thought to be more attractive to sea run brown trout during their fall spawning season (October/November).