Black sea bass surges as fluke season closes in Raritan Bay

What's biting

What's next

Tide at Sandy Hook peaks high around 9:58 AM and bottoms out low near 4:40 PM today, worth building a bottom session around the push either side of the high. With the nor'easter clearing and seas dropping, look for the bite OTW Northern New Jersey flagged to show up over the next several days: striped bass activity building as water starts to cool from today's 62.4°F, plus continued action on lingering bluefish and false albacore before those species move south. Grumpys Tackle's fall-run bucktail sale timing lines up with that expectation.

Effort will keep shifting toward black sea bass on the bottom now that fluke season has closed, following the pattern Capt Ron's Atlantic Highlands NJ is already running. Weekend planning should account for the tide swing above and watch for the next round of wind behind this week's storm before committing to a longer run.

Context

Late September in Raritan Bay and Sandy Hook sits at the hinge between summer and fall fisheries. Fluke season closing on schedule is typical for this calendar window, and the pivot to black sea bass on the bottom is the usual next move for local boats. A 62-degree reading is still mild for this point in the season, and this week's storm-driven pause is the kind of short interruption the fall transition regularly sees rather than a sign the run itself is behind. Striped bass, bluefish and false albacore typically build through October as water cools and bait pushes out of the back bays, so the region reads as early in that transition, not lagging it.