New Jersey & Delaware Bay - Central New Jersey Fishing Reports

Capt. Joe said the Jamaica II continues to target cod, ling, and blackfish when the weather allows. In May, they have trips for cod and ling on the 3rd, 4th, 7th, 11th, and 14th.

Tony at Paramount Deep Sea Fishing said they had an awesome day on the water this past Wednesday with a high hook of 20 ling. Most anglers had between 6 and 12 ling and 1 to 3 keeper blackfish, with a blackfish limit or two on board. The pool winner was a 6-pound blackfish with a small keeper pollock as the runner up. Thursday offered okay fishing, not as good as the day prior due to the current they encountered. They picked at ling and a few blackfish. They found more action in the morning compared to later in the day. They got back out Friday and reeled in some ling as well as a nice 9-pound blackfish!

Matt at the Reel Seat said the striper fishing up in the Raritan has been exceptional as surf and boat anglers are both doing well. Tog action has been slow in the ocean, but a few people found good fishing inshore in the inlet and canal. Folks are still waiting for the blues to show up in full swing as Matt and others around the shop heard some scattered reports. Black drum continue to chew on fresh clams in the bay.

Capt. Adam of Canyon Runner Sportfishing said Canyon Runner ProStaff are starting to pick away very well at stripers in the Raritan Reach Channel on live bunker this week and back in Jamacia Bay. Up on Long Island sound, there is just smaller bass now and not that consistent as water is still on the cold side. Down to south Jersey and Delaware Bay, things are heating up for their members on the bass and more so on tog in 80 to 90 feet of water. As for the tuna, nothing local yet, but red-hot down off the Outer Banks with CR Pro-Staff Carly A and Fishing Frenzy doing well on every trip

Jason at Fishermen’s Supply said back in the river, things sparked with increases catches of stripers from the train bridge back into the canal, primarily on soft plastics at the bottom of outgoing tide. A few bluefish were caught as of late, but nothing concrete yet. Anglers marked them out on boats in the usual spots, even the north end of the canal. Jason said, “Once the water temp spikes, things should take off.” Blackfish continue to bite at the train bridge. He got reports of out-of-season fluke via by-catch so that’s encouraging for when that season opens. In the ocean, blackfish continue to pick on clams.

Capt. Bob on the Gambler said they have been finding consistent action on the tog grounds. He said, “We go through many shorts to land a keeper, but it's been nice fishing after a long winter.” Their tile trip got back Friday night. They said the dogfish didn’t interfere too bad, but not great for the tiles either. They caught some, with a 22-pound pool winner, just not what it was last year by this time. He said he might attribute it to colder water.

Cody at Jersey Nutz Sportfishing said there is a world class striper bite happening right now in the Raritan Bay. Cody said, “There’s stripers anyway you’d like to catch them!” They are only a few weeks left to get out there.

Capt. Jay Ziola from Miss Magic Sportfishing Fleet said striped bass fishing has been consistent overall with some days better than others. He said, “After this new moon, fishing should be great.”

Capt. Alan of Mushin Sportfishing said captains Jay and George found much better bassing Monday morning for John F’s charter when comparing to a few days prior! He said, “It seems like a new body of fish sliding into the bay.” Captains Jay and George had an open boat trip Wednesday split between regulars Fran, Damon, Mark and friends. They landed on them to start and found great action! The next day they found solid bassing again with the Chan family on board. Capt. Alan said, “Doubles and triples all over!” Captains George and Mike had Ed S and his daughters out for the annual spring striper trip on Friday. A fun-filled morning with their limit in the box early on and in catch and release mode. Fish of all sizes with lots of smiles! Their PM trip had Tom C and friends into solid bass fishing. They kept a limit and released a bunch. Saturday morning Capt. Dan and Mate Darryl the Creature had Phil M and friends out for a Christmas gift trip. There was solid action for the morning. They boxed their limit and released a bunch! That same afternoon, David T and friends got out and found slightly tougher fishing but put some bites on fish of all sizes. They boxed up what they could and released some.

Capt. Danny said the Norma K III started the week off searching for blackfish. They found good life early on Monday morning with a few for the box and plenty of shorts. After the first two hours, it slowed significantly. Tuesday was a bit better with lots of life as they picked through some shorts to box up some fish dinner. Thursday’s bite started out slow. They did some searching and managed to end the day with a decent bite. Capt. Danny said, “The fish did not come easy today, but it’s all part of the tog game.” They continue to sail daily when weather permits.

Capt. John Zema at Yankee Rose Fishing said they had a good troll bite on Wednesday with limits to take home for the table. The fish were scattered so they had to troll and found them on mojos. They also released a bunch of big ones and one under.

Frank at Gabriel Tackle said bluefish are here in the Manasquan and the canal. Striper fishing in the bay remains good on worms, soft plastics, and top water. Striper fishing in the canal also picked up on live eels. Blackfishing in the canal remains good on sandworms and green crabs, but remember, blackfish closes on the 30th. They heard reports of drum in the south end of the bay and clams seem to be the way to go. He said, “Not much to report off our local beaches, a few reports of some short stripers and a few bluefish landed, that’s a good sign for the beaches to kick off soon.” Raritan Bay has picked up, it’s definitely worth taking a ride up or jumping on a charter.

Amanda at Charlie’s Bait & Tackle said anglers are picking at blackfish in the canals, however, it definitely slowed a bit. Stripers are biting inside near the inlet. She heard mixed reports of some blues running, but nothing consistent. Out front, blackfish action has been okay. Stripers are being caught out front down in Seaside as well as farther north near Sandy Hook.

John at Betty & Nick’s said anglers are picking away at bass from the beach on clam, but nothing outstanding. Bass are also being caught from the back bay on bloodworms and clams. He said the drum bite we had last week has since slowed.

David at Grumpys Bait & Tackle said they are still seeing bass in the bay, primarily a clam bite. Drum made a reappearance after being missing for a few days, and they are still biting on clams. Some reports came in of blues in the back bay. A couple of them were reportedly smacking topwater. The canal is slowly picking up with some blues. Out front, bass are bending rods on clams.

Francine at Hook House Bait & Tackle & Go Fish Bait and Tackle said anglers fishing the bayside continue to find drum and bass on clams. She said, “Sometimes worms will get them biting, but that seems to be dying out,”. Crabs are showing up. She heard reports of keeper tog off the north jetty.

Our friends at Creekside Outfitters said Jason Green caught a 4.70-pound tog on the Fish Finatic in 80 feet on Creekside’s salted clam! Tog season is still open a few more days, last day is April 30th.

Our friends at Bobbie's Boats said blackfish action has been good on the rocks and wrecks. Green crabs and salted clams are working well. Small resident stripers are being caught along the rocks and along the creeks in the shallow, warmer water. Sod banks along the bridges are holding some too.

Capt. Sam Rescigno of the Mary M IV said they have been targeting blackfish with good action some days and tough fishing other days. He said, “It’s been kind of tough this spring, some anglers are getting limits, other struggle, some just get shorts.” They will be out again this week.

Capt. Ted of the Super Chic said they will be starting May 17th for sea bass. They have open boat dates in May and June on their Facebook page. They are also taking reservations throughout the year for anything else folks would like to fish for.

Greg at Fisherman’s Headquarters said surf action should be starting off soon. He said, “The water is a little on the colder side for this point in the season.” The bayside currently has more activity with black drum and striped bass being landed. For drum, he suggests using a circle hook, a shorter leader, and clam. For stripers, both clam and worms are working. He mentioned he heard of a worm hatch recently. Soft plastics and poppers are working as well. The Raritan Bay has good reports coming out of it. The Barnegat Inlet has plenty of tog.

Steve at Jingles Bait and Tackle in Beach Haven said the striper action is starting to pick up in the surf. They had two nice weigh-ins of keeper bass from Holgate and Beach Haven, both on surf clam. The weather has been getting consistently nicer for surf fishing. One angler fishing the mid-island surf landed a bluefish.

Tom at Surf City Bait and Tackle said they started to hear reports of bluefish being caught on the island. They noted that they have Happy Baits restocked including paddle tail grubs, shads, jig heads, and plugs. Steve Gross picked up some clams from the shop and fished the beach and reported he landed a 31-inch bass. Mike Richter caught a nice striped bass on the mid-island beach on Monday. Two others were landed in north Surf City Monday night, another down near the Ship Bottom area, and a couple south end adds up to a start to beach fishing. The blackfish action is hot in the inlet and they are stocked up on green crabs.