Sea bass stay hot in Raritan Bay as fluke rally on the reefs

What's biting

What's next

Capt Ron's reports have swung day to day this week — one trip lit up with six keepers, the next hammered by a south wind and a fast drift — which tracks with a transitional early-July pattern where afternoon breezes are increasingly dictating the bite window. Expect similar variability into the coming days: mornings ahead of the wind look like the better window for working sea bass drops, and Capt Ron's own advice to fish the tide change rather than fight it should keep paying off.

Fluke fishing has been building steadily according to On The Water's July 9 Northern New Jersey report, moving from a spotty surf bite into a more consistent reef pattern. If that trend holds, look for the bite to keep pushing onto structure through the week as water warms toward midsummer range. Bucktails tipped with scented soft baits, the combination Grumpys Tackle has been recommending, should keep producing on both the surf and the drift.

Bluefin tuna remain a wildcard worth watching. On The Water's midshore reports have them holding within a workable run of the coast, and Fishermans HQ LBI notes the fish moved in behind a heavy squid push, with 20-to-30-mile drifts producing fish on both bait and jigs. As long as that bait stays around, the tuna window should stay open for boats willing to make the run.

Striped bass are showing as a secondary player right now rather than the headline. Grumpys Tackle has bass still eating clams in the surf, and On The Water's note on small stripers along the beaches is consistent with what's typically a quieter stretch for the species locally in early July, ahead of a more consistent pattern later in summer. Sea bass, meanwhile, look like the safer bet for the next several days — both Capt Ron's and Blue Chip Sportfishing describe strong, consistent action, and with a waning crescent moon bringing weaker tidal swings this week, the bite should stay manageable rather than blown out by extreme current. Worth targeting the drops now, before the next moon phase picks the current back up.

Context

Early July is prime black sea bass season in the Raritan Bay/Sandy Hook corridor, and this year's reports track that seasonal norm closely — Blue Chip Sportfishing and Capt Ron's out of Atlantic Highlands both describe limit or near-limit trips, which reads as typical, on-schedule form for the species locally rather than an early or late push.

Fluke tells a slightly different story. On The Water's Northern New Jersey coverage frames the current bite as an 'upswing' as of July 9, which reads more like fluke fishing catching up to speed for the season than running ahead of it — a normal mid-transition pattern as water settles into summer range and fish spread from the surf onto reef structure.

The bluefin tuna showing on the midshore grounds is worth flagging: Fishermans HQ LBI ties their arrival to a heavy squid push moving through, the kind of bait-driven event that can pull tuna closer to shore than a typical early-July pattern would otherwise produce. If that bait holds, it could mean an unusually accessible tuna window this month.

None of the angler-intel feeds referenced here offer a direct multi-year comparison for this specific stretch of Raritan Bay, so beyond noting where each species sits relative to the general seasonal calendar, there isn't a documented long-range baseline to weigh 2026 against. Striped bass activity reported nearby — small fish on the beaches, some still eating clams in the surf — is consistent with the usual early-July lull between the spring run and the more consistent late-summer pattern, with no signal from these sources that this year runs notably ahead or behind.