This past week brought cooler temperatures, with morning air in the mid-40s and nighttime lows that helped cool the bay waters. The early autumn cooldown has heated up the striper bite in the backwaters, and if you’ve checked social media, you’ve seen some big bass being caught way up north.
What that means for us is that the fall run has begun. It may be a walk right now, but it’s started. Now is the perfect time to tune up your fall striper gear as the season ramps up.
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Sea bass fishing has been pretty solid in our area, though fishing has been harder out of the Barnegat Light ports because of heavier angler pressure. The wrecks from Ocean City to Cape May are producing a lot more keepers, so if you can run south, make the run. It’s worth it!
This Week’s Rundown
Hook House Bait & Tackle in Toms River is getting green crabs in this Friday, and the tog bite has been pretty good off the south jetty at Island Beach State Park. Bloodworms are in stock and catching schoolie stripers, along with a few white perch. Beach fishing has been a slower pick, with a few striped bass around, as well as some dogfish.
Creekside Outfitters in Waretown reported a fair number of short tautog at the jetties and on some of the wrecks out to 50 feet. Crabs have been the issue, since supplies are very low across the board. Striped bass are at the jetties, hitting white bucktails tipped with grubs and soft plastics. Crabbing is still good in the bay, and so is the blowfish bite if you can find them, with some anglers reporting the best action between the “BI” and “BB.”
Reel Reaction Sportfishing out of Waretown was busy on the bay last week because of the wind, and the skipper kept working the bay this week for tautog and blowfish The bay is still holding a good number of puffers. The charters saw bigger blowfish and made short work of more than 70 in just over an hour, and some new anglers got their first crack at tautog. The boat’s 3-hour, artificial-only night trips for striped bass are available, so give the captain a call to book ((609) 290-7709).
The Super Chic out of Barnegat Light has been working the inshore grounds and finding a mix of short and keeper sea bass for clients. The current has eased since the recent full moon, which has meant more bites for anglers dropping clams over the wrecks. The boat is looking to head out to the offshore tuna grounds if the wind and seas allow.
TackleDirect in Egg Harbor Township said crabbing is still going strong in the bay, with quite a few crabbers cashing in on blue crabs while the water hovers in the mid-60s. Anglers working the jetties with soft plastics are having some success on striped bass, especially along the Atlantic City jetties. Stripers have also been active in the back bays and tidal creeks on poppers and small minnows during the cooler outgoing tides.
Green crabs have been tough to get, but if you can find them, tautog are up for grabs along most of the jetties and bridges. Offshore action kicked back up this week, with a few yellowfin caught after last week’s sporadic bite. Sea bass are being caught at the inshore reefs, but anglers have to work through plenty of shorts. The shop also heard of some white perch being caught along parts of the Mullica River as temperatures have dropped.
Tight Lines Bait & Tackle in Somers Point said there’s been good bait movement in the backwaters of Ocean City and Sea Isle City, with leftover mullet and peanut bunker starting to push out. Stripers have been hitting topwaters around some of the tidal creeks and small sedge islands. The bridges have been spotty for bass, with the best bites late at night. Tog fishing has been a little slow due to murky water, but the fish are picking up crab baits on the cleaner incoming tides.
Waterfront Marine in Somers Point said the tautog fishing has been good when the water is clean, and the fish are hitting both green crabs and sand fleas. Anglers working the bay are finding striped bass from 12 to 26 inches, but the bite has been a little slow.
Badfish Charters in Ocean City said tog have been around some of the local structure, but the water color has been off and the bite slower. The striper bite has been fairly good on topwater and subsurface plugs, with some new fish sliding into the inlet. The crew said some winter flounder are even making their way back to the deeper wintering holes in the bay. There’s been lots of bait moving around, so things should start coming together in the next few weeks.
Jersey Cape Guide Service in Sea Isle City has headed up to Montauk to fish the northern waters for a few weeks before the stripers arrive down here.
In the Cape May and Fortescue areas, there were nice reports out of Fortescue of lots of white perch being caught on pieces of bloodworm. The tidal rivers are the place to be for these fish. Sea bass fishing out of the Wildwood and Cape May ports has been exceptional, with a good number of charter boats and head boats scoring 10-fish limits. Offshore fishing has been extremely spotty for yellowfin, and we heard of only a few being caught.
South Jersey Fishing Forecast
The best bet for the weekend is to work the inlet rocks, bridges, or small wrecks for fall tautog, though most of the action is catch-and-release on green crabs. The problem has been getting green crabs, which have been extremely hard to find since the nor’easter two weeks ago. Clams will work, but the bite has been much better on crustaceans like green crabs and sand fleas.
Boating anglers should target sea bass, since the rod-bending action has been excellent on the wrecks. Bring plenty of clams, though, because there are a ton of short sea bass around. If you want to box some bigger ones and can live with less action, try smooth or hammered AVA jigs for the larger humpheads. Good luck, be safe, and tight lines!