Southern New Jersey Fishing Report
Two simple words to describe the past week of fishing for anglers along southern New Jersey: Tuna-tastic and Tog-tastic!! Both fisheries have experienced “epic” level bites over the past week. The canyon tuna bite went off with a tremendous number of yellowfin from 55 to 80 pounds being landed with ease. The chunk bite lit up and it didn’t seem to matter regarding baits (sardines or butterfish). Anglers said the tuna moved to the western wall of the canyons in masse and combined with nearly perfect sea conditions—it was a “mad-dog” bite on the yellows! Tautog fishing continued to be phenomenal, especially with a slight dip in temperatures and post-Supermoon tides, which got the bigger fish feeding. Striped bass fishing is slowly ramping up with better bites occurring during the night tides, especially with live eels and spot.
Here is this week’s rundown:
Hook House Bait & Tackle in Toms River reported bluefish, skates, and some striped bass being caught off the beaches of IBSP. The north jetty of Barnegat Inlet is peppered with tautog and anglers are doing well with both rigs and jigs tipped with green crab. Offshore action has been extremely hot on yellowfin from the 100 square down to the southern canyons.
Creekside Outfitters in Waretown reported schoolie striped bass being caught on plugs and poppers during the early morning and late evening off the beaches. Bayside action has been much slower on keeper fish with warmer water temperatures. Ocean sea bassing remains solid on short fish, but tough on keepers. Wrecks to the 20-mile mark have been better for keeper sea bass. Tuna fishing hit “epic” levels over the past week and some Waretown charters (Redemption) brought back over 600 pounds of yellowfin.
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Reel Reaction Sportfishing out of Waretown was back into the action over the past week, putting clients on bay tautog up to 18 inches with excellent numbers—up to 50 fish over the course of 2 hours. Bay side striped bass fishing has been a little challenging, with a few under-sized schoolies released and keepers to 29.5 inches.
The Super Chic out of Barnegat Light has been working both sides of the deep blue with weekday wreck fishing charters targeting bluefish, porgies, and sea bass. Weekend trips have been slaying canyon yellowfin and the skipper said the water temperatures should keep the tuna around for a while.
Tony’s Bait & Tackle in Manahawkin said it’s been an all out yellowfin bite at the canyons with lots of solid tunas going into the coolers. There were plenty of fish in the 60- to 80-pound class being caught on chunked sardines and butterfish. Anglers targeting keeper sea bass are having to run pretty long distances from port to find fish large enough to keep. Striped bass fishing has been good along some of the southern marsh areas, with fish reaching up to 29 inches. Plugs and poppers worked along the points are providing decent action on bass. Dedicated tautog anglers continue the jetty or inlet onslaught with good numbers being caught from the gas docks to the tip of the inlet.
Tackle Direct in Egg Harbor City had good striped bass and some white perch being landed along the Mullica River. Anglers using bloodworms and live spot are finding decent action with bass from 18 to 27 inches. The Brigantine jetty has been lights out for tautog, with a few fish weighing up to 5 pounds. That said, tog fisherman are having to put some time in to get through all of the shorts. Beach fisherman released a few stripers in the 34- to 35-inch range over the past few days from Brigantine and Atlantic City. Daiwa SP Minnows have been the best lure to catch striped bass.
Tight Lines Bait & Tackle in Somers Point said the shop is prepping for the fall bass run, loading the shelves with Niner umbrella rigs for trolling. As far as the fishing front is concerned, striped bass are biting on live spot and eels along parts of the ICW, around the bridges and some of the 20- to 25-foot holes adjacent to marshy areas. Togging was phenomenal over the past week off the rocks, jetties, and bridges. Green crabs and sand fleas tipped on 3/4- to 1-ounce jigs have been catching the larger specimens.
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Badfish Charters in Ocean City had another solid week of striped bass cooperating on the flats with some nice fish to 27 inches being landed on Capt. Brian’s favorite plugs. The skipper has been running and gunning to different areas to catch optimal tides and has been consistently producing. The lighter winds allowed for some excellent fly rodding this past week, and there are openings in the coming weeks.
The Cape May to Fortescue areas saw a few striped bass caught off the Cape May and Delaware Bay beaches. There are a few croakers around along with spotty bluefish action. The better bite has been in the backwater with good numbers of striped bass being landed with poppers, shallow-diving plugs, live spot and eels. The big word of the week was the outstanding canyon bite occurring on chunked yellowfin with lots of bluewater boats “limiting” out. Tautog fishing remained solid off the jetties and bridges with green crab. Sea bass fishing has been good, but you need to travel quite a distance to find keepable fish.
South Jersey Fishing Forecast
The best bet for the weekend looks to be hitting our coastal beaches for surf fishing opportunities with striped bass, bluefish, and even some sharks around. The change in the weather pattern and temperature should have some resident and early migratory bass on the feed. Poppers, and dark-colored plugs worked pre-sun up along the cuts and holes, should provide fishy opportunities. As we are nearing the last leg of October, the bridges, jetties, and lighted dock areas should come alive with backwater striped bass on the feed. Small 4- to 5-inch soft plastics in the shape of spearing or small peanut bunker imitations will work on these fish. It’s migration time, so hopefully we start seeing more and more of our coveted transient stripers! Good luck, be safe, and tight lines!