New Jersey & Delaware Bay - New Jersey & Delaware Bay Surf Fishing Reports

Phil of the Tackle Box in Hazlet said good beach days have been happening at Sandy Hook as big blues chomped on bunker chunks there as well as back by the Keansburg Pier. Striper wise, the rivers Shrewsbury and Navesink have held bass off the bulkheads on storm shads and plugs at night. The dark hours have also been productive along the riverside of the Hook. Decent fluke activity was reported off the Keyport beach and bulkheads.

The Bayside bluefish bite seems to be on a steady pattern according to Betty and Nicks in Seaside Park. Choppers of 4 to 8 pounds are eating up bunker chunks tossed off the seaside piers as well as a few out front in the surf. During daytime, the blues are hitting poppers Bass continue to gobble up clams at IBSP, though you may have to fight through a few dogfish and blowfish to get to them.

At Charlie’s Bait and Tackle in Normandy Beach, Pete speaks of chunk baits nailing a few bluefish while clams are still knocking on bass during the daytime hours. The night shift is producing some mean and nasty stripers on black bombers as I can attest to. I launched some Bombers out with Tim Brackman where we proceeded to land eight bass all 25 to 40 pounds, along with a few gator blues to 14 pounds. On the down low, keep an eye out for tiderunner weakfish in the suds, they are around!

“It appears fluke season has gotten off to a pretty solid start,” said Greg of Fisherman’s Headquarters in Ship Bottom. Bucktail and Gulp combos are scoring keeper slot and large slot over fish. Stripers are still the main game in Ship Bottom as clams tossed on higher tides are getting the job done. Sporadic shots of slammer blues to 12 pounds are running through the surfline hitting chunk and mullet baits.

Kyle of Fishermen’s Supply in Point Pleasant said oh yeah bass have been hitting all over. Point beach gave up fish on a mix of bait and artificials as some fish taped out at 45 inches. In the canal, bass, blues and weakfish are all on the menu and Kyle suggest throwing ZMan soft baits, 7-inch Diesel minnows as they are sturdy and you can literally go through five bluefish before they get too wrecked to use. A few fluke have been caught on the beach by accident so if you want to actually target flatties, you’ll probably land a bunch.

Frank at Gabriel Tackle in Brick said bunker chunks and mullet are claiming a good selection of blues in the 5- to 10-pound bracket. Clams are still top notch for attracting stripers from 28 to 40 inches in the Chadwick area surf. Off the bayside, seems like more blues are around and you can pick a dock to chunk bunker and mullet from in the Seaside area.

The bass train keeps on a rollin’ through Grumpys Tackle in Seaside Park. Clamming continues to pull up bass anywhere from 10 to 30 pounds at IBSP and in the Seaside area. Pluggers are tossing wooden swimmers at night to tangle with even larger fish. A couple of bluefish were caught this week on bunker chunks. Blowfish continue to nip away at baits in the surf as well.

At the Hook House in Toms River, Mario had a mixed bag of reports starting with stripers inhaling large surf turkey fresh clam baits in the Seaside and IBSP suds. Chopper blues are also hitting in the surf, but the bayside docks are an even better bet to tangle with 3- to 8-pound yellow-eyed demons on chunk baits. Fluke have also begun to hang on bucktail and Gulp combos in the undertow as water temps continue to rise up to near 60 degrees now.

At Jingles Bait and Tackle in Beach Haven, fresh and salted clams continue to attract quality stripers to the hook as fish up to 44 inches have been chewing on the baits throughout the day hours, especially on the south end of the island. The ocean temp is around 58 degrees now and there have been plenty of overslot fish in the 39- to 44-inch range mixed in with the slot fish. Bluefish seem to be gravitating more toward Barnegat Light as they are hitting chunk baits and poppers. Some fluke and blowfish are also available in the suds.

Dan of Fin-Atics in Ocean City Dan mentioned that the best bet for stripers and drum fish is on the south end of the island and down into Sea Isle City; 57th street gave up some big fish for one angler who nearly lost a rod from a big fish. Corson’s Inlet coughed up some mid-range bluefish of 2 to 5 pounds hitting poppers and plugs. A couple larger weakfish to 6 pounds were whacking pink soft baits at Corson’s as well.

Down in Cape May, Jeff of Hands Too Bait and Tackle said giant stripers have been around and its hard to find your slot fish as clams and bunker are taking pretty much all 30- to 40-pound class fish on the Delaware Bayshore beaches. Some shots of bluefish are available to hit lures and chunk baits. A few weakfish are hanging around the bridges during the night shift using bucktails and worm combos.

Man, did they pound the drum in Brigantine this week! Andy of Riptide Bait and Tackle reported a phenomenal week of black drum fishing in the surf as some days anglers reported seeing over 60 fish caught in a tide! All along Brigantine was hot but the North Jetty was lit up and the south end jetty also gave up a near 90-pound boomer. Fresh and salted clams were the key baits for success on fish from 10 to 35 pounds. This week could be very good as well later when the full moon hits again. And don’t forget about stripers, as bass up to 30 pounds were crushing clam baits as well off the surf big time. Sounds like Brigantine/Atlantic City area fishing just shifted into a whole other gear!