UTERJanuary
Holdover stripers in the rivers; tog and sea bass on the wrecks
Slow soft plastics for holdover stripers in the Mullica, Toms and Navesink; party boats for tog and jumbo sea bass on the deep wrecks when the season's open.
Cape May to Sandy Hook
New Jersey saltwater fishing fishing
What's biting in New Jersey saltwater fishing in October: bluefish, weakfish and black sea bass at their peak, with tautog, striped bass and whiting around too. Fish Scouter's season calendar follows 27 fish here month by month, from Cape May to Sandy Hook.
The fall run starts; bluefin push inshore
A 130-mile barrier-island coast of surf beaches and rock jetties, cut by inlets (Cape May, Townsends, Absecon, Barnegat, Manasquan, Shark River) into shallow back bays — Barnegat Bay, Great Bay, the Cape May wetlands — with Raritan Bay at the north end; offshore, a field of artificial reefs, ridges and wrecks out to the Hudson, Toms, Wilmington and Spencer canyons.
Cape MayAtlantic CityBarnegat LightPoint PleasantBelmarSandy Hook
Updated
Now · October
The fall run starts; bluefin push inshore
Stripers on sand eels and peanut bunker along the coast — birds off Sandy Hook and Island Beach; tog season reopens on the jetties; bluefin on topwater within sight of the beach some years.
Striped bassBluefishLittle tunny (bonito)Weakfish (gray trout)Tautog (blackfish)Atlantic bluefin tunaBlack sea bass
This month here
From the season calendar, best firstPeakPeakPeakPeakPeakPeakPeakPeakPeakArrivingArrivingLeavingLeavingLeavingLeavingLeavingLeavingLeavingLeavingLeavingLeavingLeavingAround
Bluefish
Weakfish (gray trout)
Fall weakfish under the bridge lights in the back bays.
Black sea bass
Yellowfin tuna
Swordfish
Little tunny (bonito)
Blueline tilefish
Golden tilefish
Atlantic bluefin tuna
Fall bluefin push back inshore — jigs and topwater off the beaches.
Tautog (blackfish)
Striped bass
Fall run: stripers on sand eels and peanut bunker along the whole coast; birds working off Sandy Hook and Island Beach.
Whiting
Mahi-mahi (dolphin)
Wahoo
White marlin
Summer flounder (fluke)
Atlantic bonito
Scup (porgy)
Bigeye tuna
Shortfin mako
Blue shark
Albacore (longfin tuna)
Common thresher
The water
The tide here
Semidiurnal, 3–5 ft
Two tides a day, four to five feet on the ocean; the back bays lag the inlets by hours and run smaller. Fish the inlets on the change and the back-bay channels on the outgoing.
Structure that matters
Beach / surfPass / inletArtificial reefWreckChannel edgeBridgeFishing pierGrass flatLedge / hard bottom
After a cold front
The back bays react first: after a front fish drop to the deep channels and the creek mouths, and a hard northwest wind blows the bays out. On the ocean side, a front in the fall pushes bait and stripers down the beach — the day after can be the blitz.
Month by month
What's happening, and what to throwFebruary
The dead of winter — wrecks and river holdovers
Calm-day wreck trips; warm afternoons in the back-bay rivers.
March
Back-bay stripers on bloodworms; winter flounder and spring mackerel
Bloodworms on the sun-warmed back-bay mud for stripers; chum pots for blackback flounder in the spring season; mackerel trees offshore if the run comes.
April
Raritan Bay comes alive; tog and weakfish
Bunker schools in Raritan Bay — snag-and-drop and chunk for stripers, big blues right behind them; crabs on the jetties for tog; tiderunner weakfish late in the month.
May
Bunker-pod stripers off Monmouth; fluke season opens
Striped bassBluefishWeakfish (gray trout)Summer flounder (fluke)Tautog (blackfish)Black sea bassBlack drum
Live-line bunker for big stripers along the beaches; poppers for blues in the inlets; drift the back-bay channels for fluke once the season opens (check NJDEP).
June
Fluke, sea bass and the first tuna and makos
Summer flounder (fluke)Black sea bassAtlantic bluefin tunaShortfin makoCommon thresherBlue sharkYellowfin tunaBluefish
Bucktails on the ocean reefs and ridges for fluke; chunk butterfish for school bluefin on the Mud Hole and the Texas Tower; chum for makos (release) and threshers.
July
Canyons and the ocean reefs
Summer flounder (fluke)Yellowfin tunaMahi-mahi (dolphin)Black sea bassScup (porgy)Atlantic bluefin tunaWhitingBlue shark
Overnight canyon trips to the Hudson and Toms for yellowfin on the chunk; doormat fluke on the Barnegat and Manasquan ridges; kingfish in the surf on bloodworms.
August
Peak fluke on the ocean wrecks; tuna, mahi and marlin offshore
Summer flounder (fluke)Yellowfin tunaMahi-mahi (dolphin)Bigeye tunaWhite marlinAlbacore (longfin tuna)Atlantic bonitoScup (porgy)
The biggest fluke of the year on the ocean structure; bigeye and whites in the Wilmington and Spencer; bonito on the inshore lumps.
September
Albies off the inlets; the fall bite stirs
Little tunny (bonito)Summer flounder (fluke)Mahi-mahi (dolphin)Yellowfin tunaBluefishWeakfish (gray trout)Atlantic bonitoBlack sea bass
Epoxy jigs for false albacore off Barnegat and Sandy Hook; last fluke week on the reefs; snapper blues everywhere.
October · now
The fall run starts; bluefin push inshore
Striped bassBluefishLittle tunny (bonito)Weakfish (gray trout)Tautog (blackfish)Atlantic bluefin tunaBlack sea bass
Stripers on sand eels and peanut bunker along the coast — birds off Sandy Hook and Island Beach; tog season reopens on the jetties; bluefin on topwater within sight of the beach some years.
November
The heart of the fall striper run
Bunker schools off Monmouth and Ocean counties with big stripers under them; surfcasters on every jetty at dawn; tog on the ocean wrecks with white-legger crabs.
December
The run slides south to Cape May; tog on the wrecks
Last big stripers on the south Jersey jetties and beaches; jumbo sea bass and tog on the deep wrecks.
Fish guides for New Jersey saltwater fishing
When, where and what to use, fish by fishAlbacore (longfin tuna)Atlantic bluefin tunaAtlantic bonitoAtlantic mackerelBigeye tunaBlack drumBlack sea bassBlue marlinBlue sharkBluefishBlueline tilefishCommon thresherGolden tilefishLittle tunny (bonito)Mahi-mahi (dolphin)Scup (porgy)Shortfin makoStriped bassSummer flounder (fluke)SwordfishTautog (blackfish)WahooWeakfish (gray trout)White marlinWhitingWinter flounderYellowfin tuna
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