Stripers and Tautog Turn On as Delaware Bay Storm Clears
Delaware Bay's NJ side is reading 66.7°F at NOAA CO-OPS station 8537121 as of this afternoon, still summer-mild water that's kept the fall transition on a slow boil. On the back-bay side, Big Dave's Tackle reports the bay and back bays produced most of the week's action, with a good tautog bite off the bridges and lighthouses on sandfleas and green crabs fished on tog jigs, and plenty of baitfish pushed up into the inlets. Striped bass are showing along the sod banks on flood tide, per Pier 47 Marina and Hands Too Bait and Tackle, with fish running 16 to 29 inches, an occasional slot keeper, and a few over 31 inches, taking naked quarter-ounce bucktails up to 6-inch Mag Darters. Black sea bass were stacked on the wrecks in 90-plus feet of water ahead of last week's storm, per Waterfront Marine and Hands Too, with anglers waiting on calmer seas to get back out.
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What's biting
What's next
Seas should settle through midweek: the National Weather Service marine forecast cited by Tom Pagliaroli calls for high pressure building in, dropping seas to 3 to 4 feet Wednesday into Thursday night with winds turning light out of the west-southwest. That's the window to watch — bay and inlet structure fishing that got interrupted by last week's nor'easter should pick back up as boats get back out, and the sod-bank striper bite on flood tide should keep building through the waning gibbous moon into the coming new moon.
With low tide near 7:05 PM ET tonight, evening flood into dusk sets up well for stripers working bait pushed into the inlets. Expect the tautog bite to hold steady on structure as water stays in the mid-60s, and watch for black sea bass trips to resume on the wrecks once the weekend seas lay down.
Context
Water in the mid-60s on Delaware Bay's NJ side is right on pace for late September, the point where summer holdovers still linger in the back bays while the fall striper push starts stacking up on structure and sod banks. Tautog fishing typically strengthens through October as water cools further, and this week's early bite on the bridges and lighthouses is a normal seasonal start rather than an early one. A stalled black sea bass season, on hold for weather rather than fish, is a common late-September pattern in this region — the bite itself hasn't gone anywhere, boats just haven't been able to reach it.
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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