Sea bass and tautog hold the bite as the striper fall run builds

What's biting

What's next

Tide timing is the most useful thing to plan around right now. The station's predicted high falls near 4:48 AM ET and the low near 11:04 AM ET. Capt Ron's logged a recent trip where the bite died around 11:30 when the tide changed, so plan to be on the water through the morning falling tide.

Expect the fall striper picture to firm up over the next few days if early signals hold. The Fisherman's New Jersey edition already has the first fall reports of 50-inch-plus striped bass along the north coast, which typically marks the front edge of the run. Bluefish were prowling before the blow according to Fishermans HQ LBI, and Golden Eagle found decent bluefishing once anglers located the slammers. Live eels remain the bait to carry, especially around the jetties where the Northern NJ reports place the fish.

On the bottom, the storm did the cooling. A Northern NJ captain noted the nor'easter brought bottom temperatures down, so sea bass and tautog should concentrate on structure as the water settles. Central NJ shops say tautog are still biting on green crab, and The Fisherman's Central NJ reports include a 2.45-pound tautog from Barnegat Light.

Weather is the variable to confirm. One shop reports the week looks good with winds shifting northwest, but several Northern NJ boats got only a trip or two in after the storm. Check the marine forecast before heading out.

Context

Early October is when the fall striped bass migration typically builds along the New Jersey coast, with fish staging near inlets and bays before the water drops further. Black sea bass and tautog are usually most reliable on structure through the fall, and a nor'easter that cools bottom temperatures can scatter them for a week or two before the pattern resets. Against that backdrop, this looks like a normal fall timeline: the 50-inch fish reported to the north are an early-fall signal, not a late one. The bigger test is the next cold snap, which often pushes the striper run into a stronger phase later in October. Check current NJ regulations before keeping fluke, sea bass or striped bass, since size and season limits change from year to year.