It always saddens me with the final South Jersey report of the season as you know that our fishing has basically come to a close. It’s time to bear the next few months of winter and hopefully Jack Frost is in a pleasant mood this year. The saving grace is the numerous fishing and boating shows that pop from January to March, so our angling heartbeat stays alive. Even with the icy decks, cold winds, and nasty conditions there are still some fishing opportunities within the next week and through January. Offshore sea bass fishing is going strong right now as a good population of “humpheads” have moved down to our deep water wrecks. Headboats from Point Pleasant to Cape May caught easy limits over the past few days. The season closes New Year’s Eve, so try to book your boat. Togging should remain strong through the better part of January, but the sea conditions will determine the ability of anglers to access it.
Here is this week’s rundown:
Hook House Bait & Tackle in Toms River had several anglers reporting a good white perch bite along with some striped bass along the sides of the Toms River. Anglers using bloodworms with weighted rigs have been finding some decent action on both species. The shop has some last minute deals for the 2022 season, so stop in and check them out.
Lacey Marine in Forked River received a few reports of slow to moderate togging over the past few days. The bites have been slow to quick flurries and white leggers seem to be the best, especially when tipped on jigs. Striped bass fishing has definitely slowed over the past week, although a few keepers have been jigged up on sand-eel imitations. Lavallette to Long Beach Island and in the 20 to 30 foot depths have been producing some fish.
Creekside Outfitters in Waretown reported a slower week in terms of fishing, but the store has been very busy with their annual Christmas sale on gift cards. Tog have been hitting at the Garden State North with white leggers and jigs working.
Reel Reaction Sportfishing out of Waretown ran a couple trips over the weekend and had anglers releasing several 9 to 10 pound tog on both trips. The skipper totaled 19 keepers for the day with the biggest kept at 8.5 pounds. The trips ended boxing a few striped bass to 29 inches. Currently, the vessel will be sailing through January and the skipper will start running the white perch skiff trips towards the end of February.
-
Want to get in on the bite? Find an OTW-approved Charter Fishing Captain in New Jersey!
The Super Chic out of Barnegat Light will begin sailing again in April/May for tautog and sea bass. Capt. Ted wishes all of his clients a happy holiday.
Tony’s Bait & Tackle in Manahawkin reported a few striped bass still being caught around the bay, but locations have been pretty hush-hush. Small 3 to 4 inch swimshads have been responsible for bass up to 28 inches. Anglers have been releasing them, so very tight-lipped on specific locations. The wrecks on the AC reef, GSN, and GSS have been producing fair numbers of tautog over the past week. The store has a good number of rod-n-reel combinations for the holiday shoppers, so stop in and check them out.
Tackle Direct in Egg Harbor City received several quality reports on striped bass off the Brigantine and Atlantic City areas. Most of the action has been 1.5 to 2.5 miles out and trolled umbrella rigs tipped with swim shads have been working the best. Soft plastics and metal jigs also worked on these fish. Toggers also had a good past few days with much better bites at the Atlantic City reef site. The store has some nice deals, so check out the online store.
Tight Lines Bait & Tackle in Somers Point posted there are only a few days left to pick up one of the shop’s gift certificates. Striped bass fishing has been slower inside, but several schools have pushed through the area. The reef sites seem to have a good number of tautog caught on crabs and jigs.
Badfish Charters in Ocean City was out this past week as a few pods of striped bass were found a few miles off the Hard Rock in Atlantic City. The fish were caught on soft plastics and plugs casted into the bird play. The skipper will be fishing well into January as long as the stripers are still chewing, and he wanted to wish all of his clients from 2022 a wonderful holiday. Keep an eye on their availability over the coming weeks and contact Badfish if you’re interested in some early 2023 striped bass fishing dates!
-
Want to get in on the bite? Find an OTW-approved Charter Fishing Captain in New Jersey!
The Cape May and Wildwood area had some decent striped bassing over the past few days with mini-blitzes occurring along the two and three mile lines. But as fast as they pop up, they move quickly as the fish have steadily been pushing south. Anglers working the tautog wrecks have been finding decent action, but it seems you have to grind for several hours to put a catch together. Sea bass fishing has been the best of the three, although the issue has been finding a fair weather day to make it out.
South Jersey Fishing Forecast
The best bet for the weekend will be to jump on a headboat or a personal boat (if big enough) and hit the deepwater wrecks for sea bass. The winter sea bass bite has been on-fire with minimal pressure this season due to the winds, but a solid window presents this week. Clam baits dropped 140-feet or more will quickly put limits in the boat. In fact, I received a report from the Voyager crew of the boat being limited out by 9-am this past week. If fishing the cold weather or icicle beards are not your thing, enjoy the remaining days of 2022 with your friends and families as there will be plenty of fishing opportunities over the next season. We will start the South Jersey reports back up in March. Good Luck, Be Safe, and Tight Lines in 2023!!!