New Jersey fishing reports
377 reports for New Jersey — what's biting, water temps, and where to focus.
Croaker Blitz and Black Drum Keep Delaware Bay Busy
Croakers are thick along the Delaware Bay right now — Higbee's Bait and Tackle reports a mixed bag of blues, croakers, weakfish, flounder, sheepshead and the occasional black drum, with pool winners running from 5-pound flounder to a 15-pound drum. Big Dave's Tackle backs that up, noting steady croaker action alongside kingfish, spot and smaller weakfish, plus back-bay sheepshead fishing that's been exceptionally strong. Flounder is more a numbers game than a trophy hunt: Big Dave's says the nearshore and offshore reefs are giving up plenty of keepers, but the back bays are so loaded with short fluke that keepers barely get a look. Weakfish are toothing up bloodworms at the seawall per The Fisherman's Cape May surf report, where flounder are also showing right out front and inside the inlet on bucktails, and the one-fish blackfish (tog) season just opened on a good early bite. Typical early-August variety-over-size pattern for the bay.
Fluke pool winners climb as August opens at Sandy Hook
Fluke are keeping Raritan Bay boats busy this week, with Capt Ron's out of Atlantic Highlands reporting quality catches in multiple spots to open August — Cobie led one trip with four keepers, and Justin took over as the new monthly pool leader with a 5-pound, 1-ounce doormat. Black sea bass are showing up mixed into those fluke drifts. Current is doing a lot of the work: Capt Ron's crew has been "getting the lead out" through strong tide swings before the bite settles into a workable drift. Just up the coast, OTW's Northern New Jersey report (July 30) notes keeper fluke coming from rivers and reefs plus bluefish in the 6- to 10-pound class hitting diamond jigs on party boats, while The Fisherman's Northern NJ boats (Miss Belmar Princess, Golden Eagle) are mixing bluefish with bonito and mackerel off the inlet. Striped bass remain a background player inshore for now, typical for early August.
Pine Barrens ponds heat up as Delaware River clears from storms
The Delaware River is running high and stained after recent storms, which has put smallmouth fishing on hold in the upper stretches near Bucks County, according to Dave's Sport Shop in Doylestown - though Nockamixon is still giving up bass and hybrids when conditions cooperate. Rain also eased fire-danger concerns further south, and Hands Too Bait and Tackle in Cape May reports the better water conditions have turned on largemouth around Dennisville and Ponderlodge lakes plus small local ponds. Allen's Dock echoes that pattern, noting improved bass action in campground lakes alongside a solid pickerel bite in the nearby cedar waters on live killies and topwater baits. Up in Delaware, Smith's Bait Shop in Leipsic is seeing good largemouth and snakehead action at Garrisons Lake, Silver Lake, Massey Mills, and Mcculleys Pond, with morning topwater frogs, poppers, and weedless plastics producing best. With the Last Quarter moon overhead, early and late-day windows remain the play across the region's ponds and cedar-water systems.
Sea Bass Limits and Night Sharks Fire Up the Jersey Shore
Fluke are showing up thick in the surf and back bays this week, but most Jersey Shore anglers are sorting through a lot of shorts to find keepers. Grumpys Tackle calls the surf fluke bite "steady improvement" on bucktails and scented soft artificial baits, while Jingles Bait and Tackle in Beach Haven reports plenty of fish with shorts dominating, though Rich Sherman still stuck a 19-inch keeper on Gulp. Black sea bass are the more reliable meal ticket right now; Blue Chip Sportfishing says trips are "limiting out on almost every trip." Sharks have turned on too. Blue Chip put three nice makos in the water Friday, and Hands Too Bait and Tackle reports night surf shark fishing has gone "insane" from Cape May on south. Triggerfish and tautog are mixing in around inlet rocks and reefs now that the one-fish tog season has opened. Offshore, mahi are firing hard beyond the Cape May Reef on trolled ballyhoo.
Delaware Bay flounder and sheepshead heat up on the NJ side
Keeper flounder are stacking up on the reefs along Delaware Bay's NJ side this week, with Big Dave's Tackle (via The Fisherman — Southern NJ) reporting the nearshore and offshore structure producing plenty of legal fish, even as the back-bay flounder fishery stays mostly catch-and-release thanks to a heavy short crop. Sheepshead have turned on in the back bays too, per that same report, while croaker remain the bay's most dependable player — Higbee's Bait and Tackle (also via The Fisherman — Southern NJ) notes plenty of croaker biting along Fortescue Beach on blood or lung worms, plus kingfish, spot, and smaller weakfish mixed in around the reefs. Party-boat pool winners ranged from a 5-pound flounder to a 3-pound weakfish and a 15-pound black drum, underscoring the mixed-bag variety typical of the bay in early August. White perch action in the creeks has also been very good. Overall it's a solid, varied bite with something biting on nearly every tide.
Fluke bite holds strong in Sandy Hook Bay as sea bass fill in
Capt. Ron's out of Atlantic Highlands — right on Sandy Hook Bay — has strung together a good week of mixed-bag trips: Thursday's board showed a 5lb 3oz fluke pool winner with his daughter Noelle close behind at 4lb 4oz, and earlier in the week Bill Venezia topped the boat's monthly leaderboard with a beefier keeper before the wind picked up the drift. Sea bass are filling out coolers alongside the fluke on nearly every trip, per the same Atlantic Highlands reports. Regionally, The Fisherman's Northern New Jersey boats are mixing bluefish, bonito and mackerel in with bottom catches of fluke, sea bass, triggerfish and tog, while Grumpys Tackle up in Brielle notes bluefish and the occasional striper are still around but thin, and snapper blues haven't shown yet this season. That's a fairly typical early-August lineup for Raritan Bay — fluke and sea bass doing the heavy lifting inshore while the bigger migratory bite waits on a temperature push.
Pine Barrens pickerel wake up while Delaware River smallmouth wait out the mud
Cedar-water pickerel are back on the feed in the Pine Barrens this week. Justin at Allen's Dock says pickerel fishing in the nearby cedar waters has been good as water conditions improve, with campground lake and pond largemouth also cooperating. Down in Cape May, Hands Too Bait and Tackle reports the route 47 cedar waters in good shape and producing pickerel on live killies and topwater baits, while nearby Dennisville and Ponderlodge lakes and area ponds are giving up nice largemouth thanks to the same improved water. Up on the Delaware River proper, it's a different story: Dave's Sport Shop in Doylestown says the river ran dirty after recent storms, putting the smallmouth bite on hold, though nearby Lake Nockamixon kept producing bass and hybrids when conditions cooperated. Net effect: still-water pickerel and largemouth are the better bet right now over river smallmouth until things clear.
Sea Bass Limits Out As Sharks Turn On Along the Jersey Shore
Blue Chip Sportfishing is calling sea bass action red hot right now, with the boat limiting out on almost every trip, and shark fishing has busted wide open too — Friday's charter boated three Mako sharks that were released. Fluke remain the summer workhorse up and down the coast: Capt Ron's out of Atlantic Highlands is seeing pool-winning fish in the 4-to-6-pound range, while Jingles Bait and Tackle in Beach Haven reports steady action with a 19-inch keeper on Gulp and a 4.9-pound bay trophy, though most fish are still running short. Triggerfish are holding tight to the rocks and jetties per Fisherman's Headquarters in Central NJ and Boulevard Bait and Tackle down south, with tautog now mixing in on the inlet structure. Offshore, mahi are thick around the pots off Cape May per Hands Too Bait and Tackle, and bluefin continue showing along the Barnegat and Sea Isle ridges. Crabbing remains excellent in the back bays.
Croakers and Drum Keep Delaware Bay's NJ Shore Busy
Higbee's Bait and Tackle in Fortescue is reporting a strong, varied Delaware Bay mix right now — blues, croakers, weakfish, flounder, sheepshead and the occasional black drum, with party-boat pool winners running from a 5-pound flounder up to a 15-pound drum, and croakers stacking up along Fortescue Beach on blood or lung worms. Big Dave's Tackle backs that up with plenty of Delaware Bay croaker action mixed with kingfish, spot and smaller weakfish, plus what they're calling an exceptionally strong back-bay sheepshead bite. Down toward the bay mouth in Cape May, Hands Too Bait and Tackle has weakfish toothing up bloodworms at the seawall and croakers thick on the bayside beaches, with sheepshead and triggerfish mixed into the tog bite and inlet flounder still producing on bucktails. Higbee's also notes very good white perch action in the creeks — a nice bonus target while the bay's bottom bite stays busy.
Raritan Bay fluke bite delivers pool winners as sea bass stay hot
Water temps held at 75°F on NOAA buoy 44065 overnight, and the fluke bite in Raritan Bay stayed locked in — Capt Ron's Atlantic Highlands NJ put anglers on quality fluke this week, with Justin taking over the monthly pool lead at 5lb 1oz and Cobie logging four keepers for high hook. Sea bass are mixed into the same drifts, and Blue Chip Sportfishing reports sea bass fishing "red hot," with boats limiting out on nearly every trip. Bluefish remain a steady presence — Grumpys Tackle notes bluefish and the occasional striped bass working bunker in the surf south of the bay, while croaker and spot fill out the bay bite. Wind is running around 16 mph, keeping drift speed up on the open boats, and current plus 10oz-plus leads are needed to hold bottom during faster tide stages, per Capt Ron's crew.
Pickerel and largemouth keep biting as Delaware River runs off-color
Storm runoff has the Delaware River corridor murky this week — Dave's Sport Shop in Doylestown reports the river went dirty after recent rain, putting smallmouth bass fishing on hold, though nearby Nockamixon is still giving up bass and hybrids when conditions cooperate. Down in Pine Barrens cedar-water country near Cape May, Hands Too Bait and Tackle says largemouth are coming from Dennisville and Ponderlodge lakes (Ponderlodge sits inside the Cox Hall Creek WMA, per NJ Fish & Wildlife News) thanks to better water conditions, with pickerel also active on live killies and topwater baits in the tannin-stained creeks off Route 47. Allen's Dock echoes a good pickerel bite in those same cedar waters and adds solid largemouth action in local campground lakes and ponds. Up toward the Poconos end of the watershed, Hyper Striper Sportfishing reports smallmouth and hybrid stripers still producing well in Lake Wallenpaupack, best early and late in the day. It's a classic Pine Barrens split: stained, structure-heavy water fishing well while the main-stem river shakes off runoff.
Sea Bass Limits Out as Bluefin Fire Up Off the Jersey Shore
Black sea bass are limiting out boat after boat right now, with Blue Chip Sportfishing calling the bite 'red hot' on nearly every trip out of the northern Shore. Fluke fishing is a mixed bag along the coast: Capt Ron's out of Atlantic Highlands is finding quality doormats to 6 pounds on slower-current days, while Jingle's Bait and Tackle in Beach Haven reports plenty of fluke but mostly shorts in the surf and bay, and Fisherman's Headquarters notes an impressive 12-pound fish mixed into an otherwise smaller-fish pattern. Striped bass remain in the mix on bunker per Grumpys Tackle, alongside bluefish and a strong croaker and spot bite in the back bays. Offshore, bluefin tuna are firing: Fishermans HQ LBI boated 30-to-35-pound bluefin on the troll, and boats working the Barnegat Ridge and Masseys are finding 30-to-60-pound fish on jigs, poppers, and chunk baits. Blackfish season has also opened along the surf line, with triggerfish and sheepshead mixed into inlet structure.