Croaker and Kingfish Keep Delaware Bay Anglers Busy

What's biting

What's next

The new moon this week means bigger tidal ranges and stronger current through the Delaware Bay's creeks, bridges, and lighthouse structure, the kind of moving water that tends to switch on croaker, kingfish, and weakfish bites according to what Higbee's Bait and Tackle and Big Dave's Tackle are already reporting. Expect that pattern to hold or build over the next 2-3 days as the stronger flows keep bait moving through the back bay.

Fortescue Beach and Fortescue Creek should keep producing croaker, spot, and white perch on bloodworm and Fishbites-style baits, per Higbee's, and the loaded crab traps suggest the creek's forage base is strong right now, which typically keeps predator species like weakfish and flounder interested in the same water. Anglers working bay structure like bridges and lighthouses should watch for sheepshead and tog to stay active on crab baits as Big Dave's described fish up to 8 pounds this week.

If the ocean-reef bite at Wildwood and the Old Grounds noted by The Fisherman — Southern NJ continues, that's a sign warmer offshore water is still pushing bottom species like sea bass and triggerfish onto structure, which often correlates with a stronger fluke push into bay-adjacent inlets over the following week. The Fisherman's regional NJ/DE Bay forecast also flagged improving fluke action out of the Shark River Inlet fleet to the north, a signal worth watching since that kind of uptick often spreads south along the coast within a week or two.

Across the bay on the Delaware side, Smith's Bait Shop reported 20 to 24-inch striped bass from the pier at Woodland Beach and tidal creeks, plus croaker and flounder off the Bowers Beach Jetty on jigs with Gulp or live minnows. That corroborates the croaker pattern seen on the NJ side and suggests similar structure-and-current fishing should keep paying off through the weekend. Anglers planning a trip should target the days around peak new-moon current for the most consistent bay action, and always check current NJ saltwater size and possession limits before harvesting sheepshead, black drum, or striped bass.

Context

Late summer in Delaware Bay typically means a mixed bag of croaker, kingfish, spot, flounder, and structure-oriented species like tog and sheepshead around the bay's bridges, jetties, and lighthouses, and that's exactly the pattern showing up in this week's reports from Higbee's Bait and Tackle and Big Dave's Tackle. Nothing in the current intel points to an early or late season shift, this reads as a fairly on-schedule August pattern for the region.

The black drum to 22 pounds noted by Higbee's and the sheepshead to 8 pounds from Big Dave's are both consistent with the kind of bonus catches anglers expect mixed into the bay's structure fishing this time of year, rather than signs of anything unusual. Across the bay on the Delaware side, Smith's Bait Shop's report of 20-24 inch striped bass from piers and tidal creeks lines up with the general late-summer pattern of school stripers holding in cooler tidal creek mouths.

The Fisherman's regional NJ/DE Bay Region forecast also pointed to an improving fluke bite spreading down the coast, plus continued cobia and offshore bluefin activity, which tracks with a typical August transition period. No source in this week's intel flagged the season as running notably ahead of or behind normal for the bay, so this is best read as a steady, in-season Delaware Bay week rather than a standout or off period.