Tautog bite holds up as Delaware Bay eyes post-storm push

What's biting

What's next

Seas should start laying down midweek. The Fisherman's NJ/DE Offshore report has Tom Pagliaroli pointing to high pressure building in through Wednesday, with seas dropping to 3 to 4 feet and winds swinging W/SW around 10 knots by Wednesday and Thursday night, the first real weather window since the storm passed through. That's when Hands Too Bait and Tackle expects the pre-storm tautog, weakfish, striped bass and bluefish bite to pick back up along the beaches and bayside flats once the water lays down. Big Dave's Tackle's note on baitfish pushing up the bay suggests the tautog bite around the bridges and lighthouses should keep building through the week as more bait stacks in the back bays.

With the moon past full and waning toward the next quarter, tide swings should ease slightly, which typically makes back-bay structure easier to work with the sandflea and green-crab presentations anglers have leaned on. Plan bay and bridge fishing around the evening low near 7:58 p.m., then work the turn into the flood for striped bass and bluefish along the sod banks once the midweek weather window opens.

Context

Late September into early October is when Delaware Bay's NJ side typically pivots from its late-summer mix toward the fall run proper, as baitfish clear out of the back bays and striped bass and bluefish push through behind them. A 67-degree reading is right on schedule for the date, cool enough to trigger that shift but not yet sharp enough to shut down the tautog bite around bay structure. A storm passing through during this transition is typical of the period and tends to compress the calendar rather than derail it, scattering bait and stirring up water in ways that often sharpen the bite once conditions settle. Tautog action around bridges and reef structure should extend into October as the water keeps cooling, a normal seasonal pattern for the bay.