Striped bass feeding heavy on NJ's Delaware Bay side after the storm
Striped bass are the headline story on the Delaware Bay side of South Jersey this week. Big Dave's Tackle reports stripers active in the bay alongside a renewed tautog bite from the Cape May jetties, and near Wildwood, Hands Too Bait and Tackle says striped bass 'really got on a good feed' along the back-bay sod banks, with quality weakfish also hitting off the rocks on pink Zooms, bucktails, and bloodworms. Up in Atlantic City, One Stop Bait and Tackle says stripers are feeding heavily on baitfish migrating past the inlet, with schoolies to 33 inches coming on hard and soft plastics after dark, and the tautog chew on the AC jetty rocks has picked back up on green crabs and sand fleas, with keepers to 4 pounds. Bluefish are mixed in too, with a wave of 2- to 3-pound fish rolling through Corson's Inlet on metal lures. The Delaware Bay's CO-OPS tide station reads 67°F this morning, still mild enough to keep the fall bite building rather than shutting down.
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What's biting
What's next
Low tide at the bay sits near 2 AM local time, with the next high around 8 AM, so the strongest window for working back-bay sod banks and inlet structure is the early-morning push toward high water.
The nor'easter that tore up area beaches is now more than a week behind the region, and several shops describe the bite as still rebuilding rather than peaking — Hands Too Bait and Tackle noted the fishing 'bounced back real well' once the storm cleared. If that trend holds, the striper push should keep strengthening through the week as more fish settle onto the sod banks and jetty rock overnight.
Tautog should stay a reliable daytime target around Cape May and Atlantic City jetty structure while water holds in the mid-60s, with sand fleas and green crabs remaining the baits to carry. Bluefish look like a bonus catch on metals at the inlets rather than a dedicated target right now.
Heading into the weekend under a waning crescent moon, lighter tidal flow should make for calmer conditions for anglers working the surf and back bays.
Context
Early October sits squarely inside the Delaware Bay region's fall transition: stripers pushing into back bays and along structure as baitfish move through, tautog waking up on the jetty rock as water cools, and summer species thinning out. A water temperature in the mid-60s is typical for this point in the season and sits right in the range that keeps both stripers and tautog actively feeding before the real cold sets in.
The timing of this week's rebound, arriving just as the region clears a nor'easter, also fits the usual bay-side pattern: storms scatter bait and anglers for a few days, then both return once the water settles, which is what several area shops are describing right now.
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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