Weakfish and tautog keep Delaware Bay anglers busy this week
Delaware Bay water held at 73.9°F at NOAA CO-OPS station 8557380 overnight, still on the warm side for late September. Fluke remain the mainstay: Big Dave's Tackle reports keeper flounder to 20 inches from EP Tower on live minnows, while Smith's Bait Shop notes flounder, croaker and bluefish working the reef sites out of Port Mahon on cut bait and Gulp-tipped bucktails. The bigger story for bay anglers is weakfish — The Fisherman's NJ/DE Surf report has larger fish up to 24 to 25 inches striking along the Delaware Bayshore beaches, worth targeting on peeler crab or a yellow bucktail. Tautog are staging around structure too, with green crabs producing at bridges and jetty rock piles per Big Dave's Tackle and the Southern NJ surf reports.
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Expect the bay to hold in the low-to-mid 70s through the next couple of days, keeping fluke, bluefish and weakfish all still catchable rather than forcing an early shift to cold-water-only species. The 5:15 AM high and 10:58 AM low on the 21st line up well with an early tautog and weakfish push around structure before the sun climbs.
With the moon waxing toward full, expect stronger tidal current over the next several nights, which should keep bait moving and hold bluefish and weakfish activity steady through the moving tide rather than bunched at just the turns. Watch for the first real cool-down to push the weakfish bite further as bay temps ease toward the mid-60s, the range that typically pulls more fish tight to the bayshore beaches.
Context
This is a normal late-September profile for Delaware Bay: summer holdovers like fluke, weakfish and bluefish are still active while tautog begin staging on structure ahead of the cooler-water push that typically builds through October. Water in the low 70s is running about on schedule for the date, not unusually warm or cold for this point in the seasonal transition.
Synthesized from real-time NOAA buoy data, USGS stream gauges, and current reports across regional fishing blogs, captain updates, and angler forums. Check local regulations before keeping fish. Never trust a single source for a trip decision.
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