Southern New Jersey Fishing Report
The heavy winds definitely put a damper on the 5-fish tautog opener as gusty conditions roiled the water, making some of the inshore wrecks appear lifeless in the way of tog. Anglers working the inlet jetties reported similar results with tougher bites and fewer keepers. Hopefully some easterly winds will clean it up and jumpstart the winter tog bite.
Although the winds have been a factor on the tog scene, the striped bass fishing exploded this past week with blitzing fish from 26- to 48-inches busting up bunker pods. Most of the action had slid south off of Seaside Park down through LBI. Brigantine and inshore of Atlantic City are beginning to see a few more striped bass caught, so hopefully this will continue into our Thanksgiving holiday next week.
Here is this week’s rundown:
Hook House Bait & Tackle in Toms River reported good bites off of Island Beach and Seaside Park on metal-lipped swimmers, swim shads, and diamond jigs casted past the breakers. Striped bass from 29 to 40 inches have been gorging on sand eels and bunker and, at times, it’s been all out blitz conditions. The problem for surfcasters is most of the action is out of casting range, but boats have been cashing in on the bass bite.
Captain Cole Kennedy of Salty Love Sportfishing in Forked River did not fish this past week, but the skipper will be looking to get out during the Thanksgiving week for some striped bass action.
Creekside Outfitters in Waretown said there has been a lot of angler excitement around the 5-fish limit of tautog, but the water has been extremely turbid and has made the bite extremely challenging. Striped bass fishing, on the other hand, has been excellent, especially from Island Beach State Park to Mantoloking with bass hitting shads of all colors and sizes. Striper fishing in the bay slowed tremendously due to a drop in water temperature; the best area to fish in the back is around the inlet.
Reel Reaction Sportfishing out of Waretown was busy running combo striped bass and tautog charters over the past week. Most outings are averaging 15 to 35 striped bass per trip as the ocean has given up some good fish on a range of artificials including Stride Baits. With live baits, limits of bonus-tagged striped bass are being had as well as some tautog. The tog charters had a tough time with the dirtier water, and were switched to striped bass trips due to the excellent ocean bite. The 2026 book is open and dates are being booked, so give them a call to get out next year.
The Super Chic out of Barnegat Light has been hammering striped bass all week with swim shads, metals, and some live spot at the inlet. Most of the fish have been too big to keep, but there have been some slots and bonus-tag fish in the mix.
Tackle Direct in Egg Harbor City had some decent reports of schoolie stripers up to 29 inches picking up soft plastics in the Mullica River area. Most of the action has been on soft plastics like Gulp, Fin-S Fish, and swim shads. The bridges have a good number of fish, but the key as of late has been fishing the warmer tides. The tog fishing was a tad tough this past week, as strong westerly winds have dirtied up the water a bit.
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Tight Lines Bait & Tackle in Somers Point said striped bass continue to be cooperative in the back bays, especially around some of the bridges closer to the inlets. Soft plastics, swim shads, and swimming plugs are catching bass from 24 to 30 inches. Tautog fishing remained solid on some of the inshore wrecks, but the winds have been a factor for most. The shop just received a large shipment of tog jigs for the 5-fish-limit season.
Waterfront Marine in Somers Point had striped bass by the area bridges with some keepers to 30 inches in the mix. The bay has been a slow pick, but the key is to find clean, warmer water. Togging continued to draw more attention in the Somers Point and Ocean City area with lots of action at the bridges and piers on green crabs. The reefs and wrecks are slowly heating up and should get better as the season progresses.
Captain Brian Williams of Badfish Charters in Ocean City reported striped bass in the backwaters picking up artificials, but the stiff west winds have dirtied some of the bay. The skipper has been finding bass feeding in pockets of clean water, and he hopes the schools to the north push down next week. He did take a “day off” to do some fishing off IBSP and bailed bass to 40 inches.
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Captain Joe Hughes of Jersey Cape Guide Service in Sea Isle City said the weather has been tough, but the crew managed to get out and had a few shots at albies. The albies were finicky, but sea bassing was decent offshore with a few limits and some blues and porgies to round out the catch. He will be sailing for striped bass in the coming weeks.
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The Cape May and Fortescue area had some better togging this week—some of the local headboats did pretty well when they could get out. The wind has made double anchoring challenging, but a few boats scored blackfish to 10 pounds at the deeper wrecks. The inshore wrecks were slower due to turbid water conditions, but that should improve next week with a change of wind direction. Striped bass from the north are slowly trickling in and a few fish over 31 inches were released this past week. The bay, especially around the bridges, is giving up some smaller, schoolie-size bass for light-tackle anglers fishing soft plastics.
South Jersey Fishing Forecast
The best bet for the weekend is to work plugs, shads, and metals from the surf or boat in the northern range of South Jersey. Bass have been blitzing on bunker and sand eels and the only barrier is that most fish are over the 31-inch mark, but they are still a blast on light tackle. Anglers looking for some tablefare should fish for tautog from the Ocean City area south to Cape May; working the deeper wrecks is the ticket to keepers right now. If the wind ever lays down, jumping on an offshore sea bass boat is yet another option, but dress warm—it’s a long trip to get out there. Good luck, be safe and tight lines!
I am in Pennsylvania, hope the stripers hang around until December.