Southern New Jersey Fishing Report – September 26, 2019

The fluke season ended with a “bang” in the bay and a “bust” in the ocean due to the week-long ground swell. The bay anglers cleaned up on some nice fluke from Barnegat down through Great Bay, along with some 22+ inch weakfish. Most of the shops and anglers I spoke to this past week have reported that the bite was hot on live peanut bunker and mullet. Tog fishing continues to be red-hot off the jetties, rockpiles, and inlet rock-walls. Green crabs, fiddlers, or Asian shore crabs are working on these keeper tog. The offshore action has been pretty hot on swordfish and mahi as boats working the overnight chunk bite reported swords to 200 pounds. And since, we will be entering October very shortly the striped bass fishing has definitely started to perk up with schoolie bass to 28 inches chasing spearing, peanut bunker, and mullet. Adios September, October is going to be an excellent month.

Here is this week’s rundown

Capt. Bill’s Landing in Point Pleasant Beach had reports of some striped bass hitting plugs along the beach and Manasquan Inlet. The mullet run has been in full swing and lots of anglers have been cast netting them for bluefish and striped bass baits. Bluefish have been right on their tails, so fished on a Mullet Rig or using a plug mimicking the mullet will get you on the bite. The shop got word from some of the head boats that the wrecks are full of porgies and a few keeper tog. The Point Pleasant Canal still has plenty of tog being landed on green crabs.

Norma K III in Point Pleasant Beach reported good quantities of porgies coming over the rail along with some nice tog. The crew reported that lots of anglers had their limits and there are plenty of throwback (keeper) sea bass, which bodes well for the opener in a few weeks. The boat is sailing every day for porgies, tog and bluefish on Friday and Saturday nights.
The Gambler out of Point Pleasant Beach reported a good fluke season with monthly winners ranging from 9 to 12 pounds. The boat has been able to fill in some of the gaps with small bluefish, mackerel, ling, as fluke and sea bass are closed. The boat has changed gears and now will focus on offshore pelagics with 24 to 36-hour trips to the canyons scheduled. They will also be running 12-hour inshore exotics. Scheduling has started to check out their site where you can book your offshore trip.

The MIMI VI out of Point Pleasant reported a fair close to the 2019 fluke season, but there are plenty of “other” fish on the wrecks (sea bass, tog, porgies, etc). Capt. Ken will target bottom-fish over the next month or two, and he wanted to remind his clients that sea bass opens October 8th. The vessel does have some Open Boat bottom-fishing trips open this weekend and next week.

Jersey Hooker Outfitter in Brick reported a decent bite on striped bass to 30 inches around the Manasquan and Shark River inlets at night. These fish have been caught on eels and anglers have also been catching them around the bridges on soft plastics. The inlets and Point Pleasant Canal continue to have an excellent tog bite on green crabs, but you have to work through the shorts to find the keepers.

Charlie’s Bait & Tackle in Normandy Beach reported a lackluster close of fluke as the ocean bite was tampered down by the ground swell. The beaches have had a lot of small bluefish and some striped bass on plugs. There are also plenty of blackfish hitting crabs at the jetty and the inlet rocks.

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Grumpy’s Bait & Tackle in Seaside Park reported strong run of Mullet in the back and along the Seaside Park and Island Beach State Park surf. Bluefish are right in there with the schools along with some schoolie striped bass. A few anglers were able to catch some nicer striped bass to 30-inches around the Barnegat Inlet on the outgoing tide. The backwaters are definitely heating up with lots of small bluefish and striped bass being caught on poppers, plugs, or live bait. The shop also has a load of green crabs as the blackfish bite has been pretty good from the inlet rocks.

Lacey Marine in Forked River reported a decent close to the fluke season with Double Creek and Oyster Creek channels producing a fair number of keepers as compared to the ocean. The bay is still loaded with good sized blowfish being caught in the 6 to 8-foot depths. Striped bass are available in the back and anglers should be throwing small plugs in the 5-inch lengths. The shop recommends hitting some of the flats along the channels.

Creekside Outfitters in Waretown reported some nice blowfish being caught from Barnegat to Forked River in the 6 to 8 foot ranges. There are a lot of smaller fish, but in a few hours, anglers have been picking 30 to 60 keepers in the 8 to 10 inch range. The Barnegat Light docks and rocks have lots of tog with some keepers to 5 pounds. Most of the bites have come on green crabs or Asian shore crabs, and this should continue well into October. Green crab supply has been spotty, so it’s best to call the shop. The offshore canyon fishing has been excellent with lots of mahi, swordfish, and some tuna being caught on the chunk. It’s been mostly a night bite, with slower action on the troll for the tuna. It seems that the mahi are just about everywhere, so bring those peanut bunker.

Reel Reaction Charters out of Waretown and Barnegat Light had a great last two days of fluke boxing 7 and 9 keeper fluke for their last two fluke trips of the season. The skipper is now looking to hit the inlet and backwaters for striped bass, bluefish, and blowfish until sea bass season opens on October 8th, in which sea bass and tog are open game. They boat is participating in the Striped Bass Bonus program and has plenty of tags for keeping 24 to 27.99-inch fish.

Fisherman’s Headquarters in Ship Bottom reported some keeper striped bass being caught along the Barnegat Inlet and the surrounding surf on plugs. The Barnegat Inlet jetties and docks around the condos have been pretty good on tog. There are a lot of shorter ones, but some anglers have been catching fish up to 6 pounds. The backwater scene has been heating up with mullet and peanut bunker, striped bass and weakfish have been reported on these baits in some of the deeper holes and channels around the inlet area.

The Brigantine to Cape May areas reported good numbers of weakfish to 24 inches caught on live peanut bunker in the back. Anglers have been seeing good “marks” in some of the deeper holes and dropping down live bait has been the ticket to these bigger weakfish. Striped bass have also been much more active in some of the tidal creeks with bass up to 29 inches being caught. Topwater or plugs resembling mullet have been the trick to getting these to bite. The inshore reefs and wrecks still have a good number of triggerfish and throwback sea bass, so don’t be afraid to drop some clam down. Most shops from Atlantic City to Cape May have been reporting good numbers of Tog being found off the rockpiles, jetties, and inlet bridges in the back. There have been lots of shorts, but some nice fish to 6 pounds have been landed on fiddler and green crab. The offshore bite has been pretty good with good numbers of yellowfin tuna, mahi, and swordfish being landed at the canyons.

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South Jersey Fishing Forecast

The best bet for this weekend will be to hit the inlets for tog or backwaters for bluefish. Striped bass, and weakfish. I prefer casting plugs along the tidal creeks and inlet areas to find active striped bass on the outgoing tides. In these same areas, working soft plastics down near the bottom will sometimes result in weakfish hookups. In fact, striped bass and bluefish have been marauding baitfish in most of the back-bay areas. Another great option if you have the time and finances is to jump on a charter or head boat. A lot of the offshore boats will be heading out to the canyons to find great-tasting pelagic species (tuna, mahi, and swordfish). A couple of our sponsors are running offshore canyon trips, so check out the Gambler and the MIMI. If you’re not into the deep blue fishing opportunities, casting metals, mullet rigs, and plugs off the surf will give you a surefire way of picking up bluefish and striped bass. Good luck, be safe, and tight lines!