Fluke Season Closes Strong as Blues and Albies Push Into Raritan Bay
Fluke season closes today in New Jersey, and Capt. Ron out of Atlantic Highlands is finishing strong. Friday's trip was 'game on right from the start to finish' after a short run to deeper water, with shorts and keepers over the rails all day. Water at Sandy Hook, per NOAA CO-OPS station 8531680, reads 67.3°F, still warm enough to hold fluke tight through the close; earlier in the week the same boat put a 4½-pound fluke in the pool. Bluefish are pushing in behind them: Grumpys Tackle in New Jersey reports blues are in, and Capt. Rick Falcone of the Golden Eagle, fishing out of northern New Jersey, says the bite switched around big time this week, with good numbers of slammers working the chum slick alongside albies. Albies are showing along the coast too, as Fishermans HQ LBI worked a livewell of peanut bunker into steady albacore action on light spinning rods. And the fall run's opening notes are here: Jingles Bait and Tackle weighed in the LBI Surf Fishing Classic's first striper of the season, an 8.15-pound fish caught on a plug.
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What's biting
What's next
With fluke season now closed, look for Raritan Bay and Sandy Hook effort to shift toward the bluefish push described by Grumpys and the Golden Eagle, which both expect the pattern to hold as water continues its slow fall cool-down from the current 67.3°F. Low tide sits near 1:20 AM with the next high around 7:25 AM local, so early-morning outgoing water into the change is the window to plan around this week.
Tonight's Full Moon typically strengthens tidal flow and can sharpen the feed around those changes. A nor'easter moving through the region this week, per The Fisherman — New Jersey edition, is expected to keep boats tied up through midweek, though the local outlook trends drier by Friday and Saturday.
If the albie action Fishermans HQ LBI and the Golden Eagle report both continue, light-tackle anglers working peanut bunker pushes should keep finding fish into early October, with the striper bite building from this week's first LBI weigh-in.
Context
Late September is the hinge point for Raritan Bay and Sandy Hook: fluke season closing right around the equinox is typical for this stretch of coast, and this year's close-out reads as on-schedule rather than early or late. The bluefish resurgence and the season's first striper weigh-in both track a normal fall timeline for northern New Jersey, arriving as peanut bunker and mullet push out of the back bays toward the ocean-facing inlets and draw predators with them.
False albacore typically hold along this stretch of coast through early-to-mid October before sliding south, so the light-tackle window this week still has room to run. The real striper push into Raritan Bay and Sandy Hook usually builds through October as water keeps cooling, which makes this week's early weigh-in a preview of the fall run rather than the main event.
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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