Southern New Jersey Fishing Report
It’s been a sea bass bonanza since the opening with most boats doing well at wrecks and reef sites. Local tackle shops have been selling out of clam baits, squid, and double-hook rigs. Along with black sea bass, triggerfish and some nice porgies have been caught. Action further offshore has also been gangbusters on “thunnus” pelagics with bluefin being caught from 15 to 30 miles out on poppers, large soft plastics, and trolled ballyhoo. Canyon action continued to be red hot on yellowfin with excellent numbers of fish taking sardines or cut butterfish. Most of the yellowfin have been from 30 to 60 pounds with some larger specimens in the mix. Bayside action is great for jetty and bridge tautog while schoolie striped bass fishing remains consistent on small poppers and plugs.
Here is this week’s rundown:
Hook House Bait & Tackle in Toms River had decent reports of bluefish and some schoolie striped bass being landed from the beaches of IBSP on small metals and plugs. Fisherman working the north jetty rocks off of IBSP do exceptionally well on tautog, but the shop recommends being careful with the swell. Backbay striped bass action remains solid along the backwaters with small poppers and shallow diving plugs.
Creekside Outfitters in Waretown reported some sporadic weakfish and striped bass action along the main channels leading to Barnegat Inlet in the morning and evenings on live spot. Tuna and sea bass has been the main word from the shop with anglers running to the canyons for yellowfin and the inshore wrecks for sea bass. Tautog are being caught up and down the Barnegat Inlet, but some nicer fish have been landed from the condominiums.
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Reel Reaction Sportfishing out of Waretown ran a few ocean sea bass charters over the weekend and the crews put a hurting on the sea bass with full boat limits on each trip along with a mix of porgies, triggerfish, and blues. The skipper did take some time to get some grandfather-father-son time, putting another quick limit of sea bass for the winter freezer.
The Super Chic out of Barnegat Light has been running both inshore wreck fishing trips for sea bass and bluefish during the week and concentrating on yellowfin at the canyons with the better weather windows. Some of the best yellowfin bites of the year occur during the October month according to the skipper and crew.
Tony’s Bait & Tackle in Manahawkin had some action from the Long Beach Island bridges on schoolie striped bass and a few weakfish in the deeper parts of the channel. The shop was busy selling green crab to toggers hitting the south jetty of Barnegat Inlet and clams to anglers working the reef sites off of Long Beach Island. The Little Egg and Atlantic City reef site has had lots of good sized sea bass coming from the wrecks. Hudson and Toms canyon action continued its epic bite on yellowfin over the past week with the chunk bite being red hot. The shop recommends bringing both sardines and butterfish as the fish can be on either depending on the day.
Tackle Direct in Egg Harbor City had similar reports to the other shops with red hot action on yellowfin at the northern and central canyons. The bite has been mostly on chunked butterfish and sardines and anglers using fluorocarbon leader have been scoring much better. Most of the yellowfin have been between 25 to 60 pounds with some nicer ones to 75 pounds.
Tight Lines Bait & Tackle in Somers Point had a quite a few reports on the fishing front with lots of tautog coming from the bridges and jetties on green crabs. Striped bass are in the back channels and along the marshes on live spot and eels. A few anglers brought in fish to 30 inches. Yellowfin were thick at the southern canyons according to several bluewater boaters sending in pics to the shop. The chunk bite was on fire over the weekend and last few days. The shop said the tuna bite should continue throughout the month, and it’s loaded with frozen chunk baits.
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Badfish Charters in Ocean City found more pockets of striped bass over the past week with charters. The action has been on small plugs and the flies with less wind, and the skipper also was able to pop outside for bluefish and spanish mackerel action. There are openings the rest of the month for light-tackle striped bass action in the back and Capt. Brian said with less boat traffic – it should be opening up.
The Cape May to Fortescue areas has been all canyon action based on several marinas and tackle shops. The yellowfin bite was exceptionally hot over the past week—chunking, chunking and more chunking in the southern canyons. Sardines and butterfish cut and chunked worked well for hungry yellows to 72 pounds. Beach fisherman have been working metals and soft plastics around the jetties to find weakfish, bluefish, and the occassional striped bass. A few kingfish were found on bloodworms off the Delaware bay and good tog action from the Cape May and Wildwood inlets.
South Jersey Fishing Forecast
The weather looks a tad questionable for this weekend in terms of hitting sea bass or tuna, but the inlets should definitely be in play for bluefish and some striped bass. The deep channels on the outgoing have been showing the best action on striped bass caught on eels and live spot. Tautog fishing continues to be the most consistent and productive fishery in terms of catching. Green crabs, sand fleas or asian shore crabs all have worked with equal success. There have been a ton of short fish around, so be prepared to go through a good number of crustaceans. Good luck, be safe, and tight lines!
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