Delaware Bay doormats stack up as NJ's fluke season winds down

What's biting

What's next

With the fluke season closing September 25, the next week is the last real window to target flounder on the Delaware Bay side before that fishery shuts down for the year. Hand's Too Bait and Tackle's reports of quick limits at the Old Grounds suggest the deeper wrecks and reefs are still holding fish well, and with cooling nights typical for late September, flounder often stage tighter to structure as water temps ease down — worth checking EP Tower and similar bay structure again on the next outgoing tide.

Weakfish in the 24-25 inch class reported in the surf per Hand's Too are a solid sign for anglers working the bayshore beaches; that action often holds into early fall as bait pushes out of the back bays, so peeler crab and yellow bucktail combos should keep producing on croaker and kingfish-holding stretches. Sheepshead around pilings and jetty rock on sand fleas should stay consistent as long as water stays on the warmer side, which several regional shops this month have flagged as running above normal for mid-September.

Black drum are more of a bonus catch on clam baits right now rather than a dependable target — expect scattered opportunities rather than a full-on bite. Triggerfish should continue to hang around wreck and reef structure per Hand's Too's Old Grounds reports, giving bottom anglers a backup when flounder are picky.

Plan around the outgoing tide for bay structure fishing and early mornings for the surf bite, since several Southern NJ shops this month noted the best window closing as boat traffic and daylight both taper off. With the flounder closure landing September 25, this coming weekend and the one after are the last full weekends to fish the Delaware Bay fluke bite before switching over to sea bass, triggerfish, and the surf mix for the rest of the fall. Check current NJ Fish and Wildlife regulations before harvesting anything as the season boundary approaches, since possession rules typically tighten or close entirely once a season ends.

Context

The Delaware Bay flounder bite described this week — keepers to 20 inches at bay structure, quick limits at the Old Grounds, and a 13-pound doormat topping the regional leaderboard per The Fisherman (Northeast) — is consistent with a strong, on-schedule close to the season rather than an early or late fizzle. A closing date of September 25 is typical for New Jersey's summer flounder regulations, which are set annually and should always be checked against the current year's rules before harvesting, per NJ Saltwater Fisherman's published limits.

The mix of croaker, spot, weakfish, sheepshead, and occasional black drum reported around the bay and bayshore beaches is a fairly typical September lineup for this region — these species commonly transition into more prominent roles as flounder pressure and season length wind down. The weakfish size class mentioned (24-25 inches) is on the larger end for what shops in the wider region are reporting this month, which is a positive signal for late-season surf anglers.

There isn't a strong signal in this week's feeds to say definitively whether the overall Delaware Bay bite is running ahead of or behind a typical year — shop reports read as solid but not extraordinary for mid-to-late September, and no source in this dataset offered a direct year-over-year comparison for the NJ side of the bay specifically.