Sea Bass Running Hot as Stripers and Fluke Build at Raritan Bay

What's Biting

What's Next

The new moon peaks today, meaning Raritan Bay and Sandy Hook will run the month's strongest tidal exchanges over the next 48 hours. At the inlet rips and the channel edges where bait stacks up, that current creates prime conditions for stripers. Grumpys Tackle has been watching a larger class of bass move into the surf, and both clams and bunker are producing. Plan sessions around the first two hours of moving tide, incoming or outgoing, when current through the Hook narrows and concentrates fish. Dawn and dusk low-light windows on top of the new moon surge are where the best action tends to stack up.

Sea bass should hold their current pace through the coming week. Blue Chip Sportfishing is describing conditions as 'red hot' with near-limit trips, and OTW Northern New Jersey's June 11 report confirms the reef bite is steady. Capt Ron's Atlantic Highlands notes that some drops produce and others do not, so be ready to move if a mark goes quiet. Squid strips and cut bait on light-wire hooks are the standard approach; ling will fill the box on slower sea bass drops, and Capt Ron has been logging them consistently.

Fluke are building toward their summer peak. OTW Northern New Jersey noted on June 11 that 'warmer water and an abundance of bait hint at better fishing ahead' for flatties. As bay temperatures creep up through the rest of June, expect fluke to push toward the inlet mouths and the sandy edges of Sandy Hook Bay. Bucktails tipped with Gulp or natural strips are the most reliable approach. Fishermans HQ LBI, just down the coast, is already reporting blues and fluke in the bay and inlet along with some stripers, which typically signals what is coming northward.

Keep an eye offshore for a potential wildcard. Fishermans HQ LBI noted that bluefin tuna 'have moved in to our area hot on the heels of the massive squid invasion that is happening off the Jersey coast right now,' with fish reportedly within 20 to 30 miles of shore. If that squid push tracks northward toward Sandy Hook's offshore grounds, school bluefin could become a viable option for boats willing to make the run. Drifting with live or fresh squid is the primary tactic.

The next three days set up as one of the cleaner nearshore windows of early summer. New moon tides provide an extra edge for timed surf sessions, the reef bite is holding, and the full range of NJ inshore species is on the table.

Context

Mid-June at Raritan Bay and Sandy Hook marks a seasonal transition in the saltwater calendar. The spring striper run typically peaks between late April and Memorial Day along this stretch of coast before extending through mid-June as migrating fish push northeast toward their summer grounds. By the third week of June, the dense schooling of spring often gives way to a more dispersed pattern as bass settle into deeper channels and offshore structure.

On The Water's June 12 striper migration map confirms this picture is playing out on schedule in 2026: the run is still 'widespread from New Jersey to Maine,' consistent with a healthy mid-June striper presence at these latitudes.

Sea bass season is squarely in its summer groove. June historically offers some of the most consistent reef fishing of the year before extreme midsummer heat can push fish deeper. The near-limit trips Blue Chip Sportfishing is describing and the regular sea bass and ling catches Capt Ron's Atlantic Highlands is logging are in line with what anglers typically see from a productive mid-June window off the Northern Jersey coast.

Fluke are on schedule as well. Fish generally begin their meaningful build in May and reach volume peak through July along Raritan Bay, so the gradually improving bite OTW Northern New Jersey described on June 11 tracks with the usual seasonal curve. Quality fish are already in the system, with 8-pound flatties showing in nearby rivers ahead of the peak.

The offshore squid invasion and early bluefin action flagged by Fishermans HQ LBI is worth watching as a potentially ahead-of-schedule development, though June tuna pushes along the Jersey coast vary considerably by year. It is too early to call the current pattern definitively early without more offshore data in hand.