Southern New Jersey Fishing Report
The month of May has officially begun and as we close one season with tog, another piscatorial opportunity opens up with the opening of summer flounder this weekend. But more on that later, over the past week Tautog anglers had some nice weather days to try to bag a few whitechins to end the season, but bluefin tuna were the hot topic of the week. The bluefin bite was excellent for “hoo” trollers working the 7 to 15 mile line and there was word of some fish up to 100 inches caught. Togging anglers working white crab did best, but it was still a pick with 8 to 10 keepers per a whole day (8 hours). The striped bass bite steadily increased this past week from the beach front and jetties with Long Beach Island and Atlantic City reporting excellent catches of stripers to 34 inches. Cape May and the Delaware bay saw much larger bass this past week to 40-plus inches and the word has been great on sea bass, so the mid-May opener is looking good.
Here is this week’s rundown:
Hook House Bait & Tackle in Toms River received some social media messages of striped bass to 40 inches being caught in Seaside Park and Island Beach State Park on clams and bunker. Boats are finding some larger fish on the troll around the 3 mile line. Although the drum bite slowed, some fish were still caught around the Seaside bridge on soaked clam baits. The shop is loaded with fluke lures and baits for this week’s opener.
Creekside Outfitters in Waretown had a few reports of drum, but the action has slowed considerably. Anglers working the jetty with live bait and trolling from the “BI” to the Seaside bridge have been finding decent numbers of striped bass to 28 inches. Most of the action on the troll has been on small plugs. Tog fishing seemed to end with a slower pick on keepers, but better numbers of shorts. Bluefin were caught 7 to 10 miles off of Seaside on trolled ballyhoo and some of the fish were over 70 inches.
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Reel Reaction Sportfishing out of Waretown was busy the past week running combination striped bass and tautog trips. The bass trips have been averaging 8 to 14 striped bass up to 39 inches and the charters have been hitting over 15 to 25 tog per hour of fishing. The skipper said it’s been alot of short action inside, with tog ratios running about 13 to 1. The crew will be targeting fluke once the season opens on their backwater skiff, and then sea bass on the bigger vessel.
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The Super Chic out of Barnegat Light will be sailing for the start of the sea bass season and the dates are almost completely booked out. Capt. Ted said there are fluke dates available for private charter, so give them a ring.
Tony’s Bait & Tackle in Manahawkin received solid bluefin tuna reports for quite a few boats working troll baits from 7 to 12 miles out adjacent to the Axel Carlson reef site. Rigged ballyhoo trolled was the best shot at nabbing bluefin, but the bite slowed with the south winds later in the week. Tog fishing was picky due to the strong southernly current, but anglers working multiple pieces off the GSN, GSS, and AC reef sites did best. Striped bass fishing has been very good off the beaches of Long Beach Island with a good number of fish being landed off the surf. Clams, bunker chunks and casted plugs during dinner time have been working. The shop is ready for the fluke opener this weekend, so stop in and pick up your gear.
Tackle Direct in Egg Harbor City said it was a solid week for tog and striped bass fisherman off the jetties of Atlantic City. Several local shops reported stellar tog action with green crabs tipped on light jigs. Striped bass have also been picking up some soaked baits along the beaches and live baits around the bridges.
Tight Lines Bait & Tackle in Somers Point received a nice shipment of frozen spearing and new Gulp bait colors to entice summer flounder for the weekend’s opener. The past week had decent action on striped bass in the bay and inlets on live bait, while it’s been slower on the beach front with a few striped bass caught. Tog fishing was excellent from the bridges and inshore wrecks, but the best fishing was had from the reef sites. Anglers had a few bluefish and weakfish being caught along some of the main channels behind Ocean City.
Badfish Charters in Ocean City said it was a slower week on striped bass with the moon and tides, but the skipper still got his charters on a few. One of the charters released a solid 25-inch fluke caught while they were jigging for bass. The crew has dates left in May, so call to get in the action.
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The Cape May and Fortescue area continued to have some nice social media reports of striped bass to 41 inches over the past week. Anglers soaking clam or bunker caught the largest amount of fish compared to worked lures. The Fortescue beach remained the hot zone for another week with lots of fish from 31 to 41 inches being caught on clams and bloodworms. Cape May beaches produced some skates and striped bass on clam baits. Anglers working the inlet rocks have been finding a few nice keeper blackfish to close out the season. The bays had some striped bass to 26 inches and several reports from anglers remarked of fluke bycatch while jigging for bass. This should be a good sign for the pending weekend opener.
South Jersey Fishing Forecast
It’s an all-out flukey weekend and any of the areas in our southern NJ backwaters are great places to start off the 2024 summer flounder season. With bay water temperatures hovering in the mid-fifties to mid-sixties, areas far away from the nearest inlets will provide the best opportunities. There are no specific areas mentioned as all of our bays are holding good amounts of fluke right now, and this is especially true as you move further south in the state. Anglers should look for tidal creeks, grassy areas, and marshes to locate some of the keeper flounder. Depths up to 10 feet and drifted or worked live minnows, cut strip baits, Gulp, and spearing are the best baits to use for early season flatfish. Saturday looks like the best day to make the opener happen as Sunday’s forecast looks fishable, as long as you bring the rain gear. Beach fisherman should try soaking a clam or bloodworms on the sand-spike for striped bass while working a second rod with small bucktails tipped with Gulp. This can be deadly on early season fluke, and believe it or not, they are already off some of the beaches. Good Luck, Be Safe, and Tight Lines!