While the New Jersey striped bass season begins on March 1st, the rest of us await anxiously for the fish to make their way north. Stripers will be packed into the back bays, gorging themselves on bait, where eager surf and kayak anglers can get into some exciting early season bites on schoolie bass.
Lighter rods around 7-feet or 7’6″ make for some good fun on these school bass when paired with a 3000 or 4000 reel and 10-pound braided line. In this video, kayak angler 609 Fishing gets into a solid bite in the stained, muddied backwaters of New Jersey by jigging small, bright paddletails with his inshore gear. South Jersey will see the first real push of quality fish in the back bays as the waters begin to warm this month. Once the larger fish move in this kind of fishing will seem relatively dull, but only a week into the 2022 New Jersey striper season, I’m watching this on the edge of my seat eagerly awaiting the arrival of the first migrating stripers on Cape Cod. Click here to learn more about how to get in on Jersey’s early season action.