Tautog and sea bass fire up as Jersey Shore digs out from the nor'easter
Water temps are steady at 64°F at NOAA CO-OPS stations 8534720 (Sandy Hook) and 8536110 (Cape May), and the Jersey Shore bite has sorted itself back out since last week's nor'easter pushed through. Tautog is the standout right now. Surf City Bait and Tackle and Jingles Bait and Tackle both report solid tautog out of Barnegat Light on green crab, per The Fisherman — Central NJ, while tog to 3 pounds are coming off the Barney Inlet rockpiles on sand fleas, per The Fisherman — NJ/DE Surf, and One Stop Bait and Tackle has blackfish keepers to 4 pounds off the Atlantic City jetties on green crabs and sand fleas, per The Fisherman — Southern NJ. Black sea bass is just as consistent. Capt Ron's Atlantic Highlands NJ called the bite "very good all day" with keepers for everyone aboard, and the Mary M IV put together a 20-fish haul over the weekend, per The Fisherman — Central NJ. Striped bass are spread through the back bays and surf. Pier 47 Marina has fish feeding most nights on spook lures and soft plastics, One Stop Bait and Tackle is seeing stripers to 33 inches at night on plastics near Atlantic City, and Fin-Atics is finding schoolies to 22 inches on soft plastic jerk baits around the bridges, all per The Fisherman — Southern NJ. Bluefish are mixed into the surf too, with Fin-Atics in Ocean City finding a wave of 2- to 3-pound blues hitting metals at Corson's Inlet, per The Fisherman — NJ/DE Surf. Fluke are still coming over the rail: Capt Ron's charter boated several up to 4 pounds Saturday, and Blue Chip Sportfishing is putting anglers on fluke on half- and full-day trips. Down in Cape May, Hands Too Bait and Tackle reports quality weakfish in Wildwood on pink Zooms, bucktails, and bloodworms, per The Fisherman — NJ/DE Surf.
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What's biting
What's next
Low tide at Sandy Hook falls around 12:26 PM today with high around 6:38 PM; Cape May runs about an hour behind, with low near 1:29 PM and high near 7:48 PM. With the shore now a few days clear of the nor'easter, expect the tautog and black sea bass bite to hold steady through the week, with water temps sitting in the low 60s, a range both species feed comfortably in heading into mid-October.
The striped bass push should keep building. Night-time plastics and eel bites around inlets and jetties typically strengthen as water continues cooling into the fall run, and shops from Atlantic Highlands down to Atlantic City are already seeing fish stack up on the tides.
Weekend anglers should plan around the evening high tides at Sandy Hook and Cape May for surf stripers, and fish the turn of the tide at inlet jetties for tautog and sea bass. Fluke fishing should start to taper as the season moves later into October, so trips targeting fluke are worth booking sooner rather than later. Bluefish will likely stay a mixed bag, present in pulses tied to bait movements rather than a steady push.
Context
This is squarely peak fall-run season for the Jersey Shore. Striped bass typically build through October as baitfish push out of the back bays and water temperatures ease into the low-to-mid 60s, exactly where readings sit now, so the timing lines up with a typical year rather than running early or late.
Tautog and black sea bass are classic October-into-November bottom species here, and jetty and inlet structure bites like the ones being reported are standard for this stretch. Weakfish showing in the Cape May area is more of an early-to-mid-fall pattern than a late-season one.
The lingering effects of a nor'easter, stirred-up water and temporarily scattered fish, are typical short-term disruptions this time of year and generally clear within a few days, consistent with what shops are describing 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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