Tautog Move Into Delaware Bay as Fluke Season Winds Down

What's biting

What's next

New Jersey's fluke season closes September 25, so this is the last stretch to work the reefs, wrecks and ocean lumps that have been holding keepers, per The Fisherman (Northeast)'s NJ/DE Bay Region forecast, which cited a 13-pound doormat as the week's top fish. Once that closes, attention shifts fully to the bay's tautog and the bluefish and weakfish already on the bite.

Water near 75°F should keep the bay active into the weekend, and the evening high around 7:42 p.m. is a good window to fish structure for tog while drifting bait for weakfish and blues on the same tide. Expect the tautog bite to keep building as nights cool under the waxing gibbous moon, with both Delaware Bay shops pointing to steady, if not spectacular, action through the next few days.

Context

Late September is the seasonal handoff for Delaware Bay: summer flounder wrapping up, tautog settling onto structure, and bluefish and weakfish holding in the bay before the fall cooldown pushes bait toward the back bays. Water still near 75°F is typical for the date, not unusually warm or cool for this point in the transition. The pattern described by both bay shops this week — tog on the move, a mixed bag on the drift — tracks with what this stretch of the calendar usually looks like here.