Fluke doormats and thick tog mark Delaware Bay's fall pivot

What's biting

What's next

Low tide falls around 3:01am and high around 8:54am ET at the CO-OPS station, with the moon waxing toward full. That morning high is worth building a trip around while bait continues staging for the fall push. The Fisherman (Northeast) notes peanut bunker, finger mullet and rainfish are staging in inshore waters ahead of their migratory run, a sign the bluefish and weakfish working the choke points should stay active as bait funnels through the inlets. Fluke fishing has one more week before the September 25 closure, so the reef and wreck bite Higbee's and The Fisherman (Northeast) describe is worth chasing now. The tautog bite Higbee's is seeing on crab baits typically firms up further as water cools into October.

Context

Water in the low 70s at this station is normal for late September in Delaware Bay, near the tail end of the warm-season pattern before the fall cool-down accelerates. The bay's flounder season closing September 25 marks the seasonal pivot point local shops track every year, after which effort typically shifts toward tautog on structure and the weakfish and bluefish holding through the inlets as bait migrates out. Nothing here points to an early or late season, this reads as an on-schedule transition into the bay's fall pattern.