South Jersey Surfcasting

You’d think the beaches where the former world record striped bass was caught would be a surfcasting destination, but the beachfront from Brigantine to Avalon sees surprisingly little fishing traffic, even at the height of the season.

South Jersey has incredible backwater fishing through its network of bays, creeks and lagoons. The boat fishing in the region is excellent as well. Offshore humps serve as staging areas for migrating stripers and the water exchange at the large inlets form impressive rips where bass stop to feed in the spring and fall. The surf fishing, however, is not quite as impressive.

Flat, slowly sloping beaches and shallow water give most surfcasters enough reason to set their sights on LBI and parts north. But there’s more than meets the eye in the South Jersey surf. Hefty striped bass move through in the spring and fall, and anglers lucky enough to intercept them enjoy excellent fishing.

Bait Up

For the most part, successfully fishing the South Jersey beachfront requires a “bait and wait” approach. Clams are unquestionably the most popular bait—the fresher the better. Fresh bunker also works, and will help deter some of the less desirable species like dogfish and skates. Fresh or even live mullet is another excellent choice.

It’s rare to need more than 4 ounces to fish the surf in South Jersey. In fact, if 4 ounces isn’t holding bottom, it’s probably too churned up to be very productive anyway. Most often, a 3-ounce pyramid sinker will do the trick.

The best rig depends on the bait. Mullet and bunker are best fished on a fish-finder rig because the sliding sinker will allow the fish to eat these larger baits without feeling any resistance. Clams will work on either a fish-finder or a high-low rig as stripers inhale these soft baits immediately, allowing an angler to set the hook as soon as he feels a bump.

While few anglers try it, live eels fished off the jetties can be very productive. I’ve landed stripers in excess of 40 pounds on live eels off the tips of the jetties at the north end of Ocean City. The jetties at Great Egg Harbor and Townsend inlets are also great places to fish live eels.

Rods should be 10 or 11 feet long and rated for 2 to 6 ounces. Reels with a bait-feeder feature like the Shimano Baitrunner are always useful. For line, 20-pound-test monofilament or 50-pound-test braided line is just fine.

Plug Away

While most of the stripers caught in the South Jersey surf fall to bait, there are a number of places where lures are productive as well. The best plugging beaches tend to have well-defined structure. Jetties, groynes and outflow pipes that stretch out from a beach all provide likely areas to throw a plug. Close to inlets, the moving water creates rips and current seams that provide ambush points for stripers and great places for fishermen to fish a jig or lure.

For lures, leave the big plugs and pencil poppers for your trips up north. Instead, concentrate on minnow-style swimming plugs, small metal lip plugs, small- to medium-size poppers, 4- to 6-inch swim shads and 6- to 8-inch soft plastic baits.

When plugging the surf, I’ve caught far more stripers casting next to the jetty than casting from the jetty. Bass will often be tight to the rocks waiting to ambush any baitfish or crabs that venture into the open. Walking from jetty to jetty at sunrise, casting a popper on each side is one of the best ways to hook up.

On the tips of the jetties, cast a minnow-style plug up-current and retrieve it slowly so the current swings it around the front of the jetty. There is often a striper or two on the down-current side of the jetty tip waiting to pounce on any baitfish swept past in the current. Some of my biggest stripers were hooked using this technique with a black Bomber after dark.

Away from the jetties, sandy areas can be productive for plugging in the fall when mullet and peanut bunker move along the shore, bringing feeding stripers with them.

Lure fishing these beaches and jetties is best accomplished with an 8- to 9-foot rod rated for ½ to 2-ounce lures. Long casts are rarely needed, and longer rods can sometimes be a hindrance when fishing around jetties. Braided line of 30-pound-test with a 30-pound-test fluorocarbon leader is perfect. My favorite combo is a Van Staal VS150 on a Lamiglas XS 81 MS 8-foot spinning rod, spooled up with 30-pound-test PowerPro.

Timing

While the backwater fishery kicks off in early March, the beachfronts don’t typically begin to see fish until April. Usually, by April 15, the bite is on. From there, the fishing improves through June as migrating fish move up from the Delaware and Chesapeake Bays. May and June offer the best shots at a striper larger than 30 pounds, but big fish will stick around into July, especially if adult bunker are present.

The warm waters of summer send most keeper-sized stripers north, but school-sized fish can be caught in good numbers right through August. Stripers will be most active around sunrise during the height of summer.

Migratory stripers usually reach the South Jersey beaches by late October. From Halloween to December, the fishing is at its best. Clams and bunker will take their share of large fish as will plugs and jigs. I’ve seen the surf fishing in Ocean City stay strong right through the New Year.

Hotspots

While the fish can show up anywhere along the beach, certain areas produce good fishing every year. Here are a few of the top surf spots in Atlantic and Cape May Counties.

Whale Beach, Strathmere


This stretch of beach is broken up by small, flat jetties, and the influence from Corson’s Inlet carves troughs and sandbars right next to the beach. Launch a clam out here and hold onto the rod. When the fish are there, you won’t have to wait long for the bite.

8th Street Jetty, Avalon

Bordering the south side of Townsends Inlet, the 8th Street Jetty is one of the top spots in South Jersey. Clams will take stripers here, but lures actually work much better. Small metal lip swimmers, Yo-Zuri Mag Darters, bucktails and soft-plastic jigs all take fish here. Sunrise often draws a crowd, for good reason. In May, stripers into the 30-pound range prowl these rocks looking for a meal. In the fall, look for a northeast wind to pin bait at the base of the jetty, where bass will feed heavily.

Ocean City Jetties

The jetties at the north end of Ocean City are some of the most reliable places to surf fish in Cape May County. Stake a claim at one jetty and fish clams or bunker, or move around tossing lures. The north side of the jetties tends to be deeper, but both sides can hold fish. (Be sure to wear studded soles when navigating these slick rocks.) Often, casting plugs parallel to the jetty from the beach is just as productive as fishing from the rocks.

Ocean City, South End


From the broken-down 59th Street Pier to the mouth of Corson’s Inlet, good size stripers roam the beach in the spring and again in the fall. Clams will be your best bet here. Big black drum are caught from the surf here every year.

Longport Jetties

The jetties on the north side of Great Egg Harbor Inlet hold lots of baitfish, and therefore, lots of stripers during the spring and fall. This is one place big stripers can easily trap schools of adult bunker in the springtime. Plan on fishing primarily swim shads or jigs off these jetties.

Brigantine, North End

Big stripers are caught along this stretch every year. Clams and bunker are the hot baits. Awesome soft structure brings bass right into the wash to feed.