Sea bass and fluke keep NJ boats busy as striper run builds

What's biting

What's next

New Moon tides are running bigger swings than usual this week, which should push stronger current across the wrecks and reefs where Blue Chip and Capt Ron have been working sea bass; plan drops around the tide turn rather than peak flow for better control over the drift.

The striped bass numbers at LBI are still light, but the timing matches the fall migration pattern Anglers Journal describes for the Northeast, when stripers, bait and birds push south as daylight shortens. If that pattern holds here, surf and inlet counts should build through the back half of October.

Sea bass should stay a reliable all-day option on the rail boats heading into the weekend given how consistently Blue Chip and Capt Ron are filling boxes, and tautog fishing should hold steady or improve as water keeps sliding toward the mid-60s and below. Treat fluke action as a closing window, since cooling water typically pushes them off the inshore grounds soon.

Context

This is the heart of the Jersey Shore's fall transition, when boat anglers lean on sea bass and fluke for steady action while the surf and inlet crowd waits for striped bass to stack up in real numbers. A new moon in early October with water still in the mid-60s is typical timing for this stretch of coast; the striper run here usually builds through late October into November as water cools further and bait clears out of the back bays. Tautog fishing typically strengthens through fall as water temperatures keep dropping, which lines up with what Fishermans HQ is reporting now. None of this points to an early or late season, just a normal fall calendar playing out along the beachfront.