New Jersey & Delaware Bay - New Jersey & Delaware Bay Surf Fishing Reports
New Jersey & Delaware Bay Video Fishing Forecast September 28, 2023
Get Ready – The Powder Keg May Get Lit!
It's the final weekend in September, as New Jersey's fluke season comes to an end while black sea bass reopens on Sunday, October 1. In this week’s video fishing forecast for the New Jersey, Delaware Bay region, we take a trip back in time to October 7, 2022. That’s the day that winds began laying down after back-to-back nor’easters, and by October 8 the bull rush of cow stripers was underway at the Jersey Shore. Now that Lee and Ophelia have passed, can we expect that powder keg to blow once again? Spend a few minutes with our October print edition of The Fisherman going over plug and lure selection for the fall, then see about applying those tactics to the weekend beaches. There are still sheepshead around, redfish too in and around Cape May; plus we have our weekly freshwater report with the Pocono Outdoors Guy and more of our interview with Borough of Seaside Park mayor John Peterson, Jr. who is apparently one of the many local elected officials at the Jersey Shore placed on the “strictly need to know” basis by the governor and his army of bureaucrats.
Nick Honachefsky-New Jersey & Delaware Bay Surf Highlights
October 02, 2023 - 12:37:55
If you picked up the October edition of The Fisherman, my printed Beach Talk report was cut off at the beginning; however, it picks up on page 60 with the report from Phil at the Tackle Box under the photo of Walter Anen with his Island Beach State Park striper. At this point, 10 straight days of nor?east blows have basically made the surf unfishable all week long, but it looks like were finally going to break the pattern mid to late week. If the pattern follows a similar path like last year, some huge behemoth bass moved in after a sustained nor?east blow with scores of 30- to 50-pound fish. Will it happen again? Keep an eye out on Tuesday morning when winds are forecast to turn northwest which is what happened to kickstart the season last October. Meantime, anglers were hitting canals, jetties, piers and bridges to pull on blackfish, some sheepshead and to target stripers. Look for the 2- to 4-pound bluefish to make a rebound this week after the seas settle. Fish should be primed and ready to feed, look for some quality action to show this week.
Phil of the Tackle Box in Hazlet said stripers pushed back inside the bay during the blow as the Highlands Bridge area and the backside of the Hook had some quality stripers hanging around. Look for a...
Phil of the Tackle Box in Hazlet said stripers pushed back inside the bay during the blow as the Highlands Bridge area and the backside of the Hook had some quality stripers hanging around. Look for a few bluefish to be in the river systems as well.
No reports came in to Betty and Nicks in Seaside Park but John would expect bass and blues to be caught this upcoming week when the seas settle down. He will have plenty of fresh mullet in stock to to...
No reports came in to Betty and Nicks in Seaside Park but John would expect bass and blues to be caught this upcoming week when the seas settle down. He will have plenty of fresh mullet in stock to toss out. Look for all sorts of new cuts and sloughs as the tides and currents have really been restructuring the beaches.
At Charlie?s Bait and Tackle in Normandy Beach, anglers have been heading to the canal to pull on blackfish off the bulkheads, which I took part in this week as Mickey Melchiondo and I ran out of gree...
At Charlie?s Bait and Tackle in Normandy Beach, anglers have been heading to the canal to pull on blackfish off the bulkheads, which I took part in this week as Mickey Melchiondo and I ran out of green crabs quick releasing over 25 tog. There were also anglers livelining spot in the canal to land fish between 26 and 32 inches. The local surf should bounce back with 2- to 4-pound bluefish and stripers hounding mullet schools as there are still plenty of mullet in the backwaters.
Greg of Fisherman?s Headquarters in Ship Bottom said there has been steady action on blackfish at the Barnegat South Jetty. Green crabs are dialing in bucktoothed brawlers, some of which are pushing t...
Greg of Fisherman?s Headquarters in Ship Bottom said there has been steady action on blackfish at the Barnegat South Jetty. Green crabs are dialing in bucktoothed brawlers, some of which are pushing the 4-pound mark. That chew should continue on through October. Resident stripers were hanging around the back bay sedges as well as inside Barney Inlet. Don?t forget that the LBI Surf Fishing Classic kicks off on Saturday, October 7.
Kyle of Fishermen?s Supply in Point Pleasant said the back bridges are holding plenty of resident stripers if you want to fish them with live spot or soft plastics. Blackfishing in the canal is red ho...
Kyle of Fishermen?s Supply in Point Pleasant said the back bridges are holding plenty of resident stripers if you want to fish them with live spot or soft plastics. Blackfishing in the canal is red hot as usual. He expects the surf to clean up and hopefully see some bass chasing mullet and peanut bunker schools this week.
Frank at Gabriel Tackle in Brick said the canal has been red hot for blackfish on green crabs and a few guys are livelining spot to find resident bass there and inside the river. Look for some blues a...
Frank at Gabriel Tackle in Brick said the canal has been red hot for blackfish on green crabs and a few guys are livelining spot to find resident bass there and inside the river. Look for some blues and bass to hit the surf later in the week as the seas clean up.
The crew at Grumpys Tackle in Seaside Park said there were no reports for most of the week but fluke season ended well with a lot of flatties laying in the suds. Expect stripers to start feeding after...
The crew at Grumpys Tackle in Seaside Park said there were no reports for most of the week but fluke season ended well with a lot of flatties laying in the suds. Expect stripers to start feeding after the seas settle. Throw some white bucktails tipped with long slender soft baits to pick away at bass.
Mark at the Hook House in Toms River said most guys were fishing the canal this week livelining eels and spot for stripers that pushed inside to hunker down from the rough surf. Blackfishing is still ...
Mark at the Hook House in Toms River said most guys were fishing the canal this week livelining eels and spot for stripers that pushed inside to hunker down from the rough surf. Blackfishing is still top notch at the canal as well with green crabs the best baits.
At Jingles Bait and Tackle in Beach Haven, the word is water temps are now around 68 degrees and that there was some big erosion down in Holgate, so we?ll have to see what that looks like after the st...
At Jingles Bait and Tackle in Beach Haven, the word is water temps are now around 68 degrees and that there was some big erosion down in Holgate, so we?ll have to see what that looks like after the storms settle. Try tossing chunk mullet after the seas calm down you may find some bluefish and bass.
At Fin-Atics in Ocean City Dan said pier anglers have been pulling on both tautog and sheepshead through the rough weather. A big 10-pound sheepshead was taken off the Longport Pier this weekend, whil...
At Fin-Atics in Ocean City Dan said pier anglers have been pulling on both tautog and sheepshead through the rough weather. A big 10-pound sheepshead was taken off the Longport Pier this weekend, while the 9th Street bridge and Beer Pier are solid spots to pluck tog. A bunch of small sea bass are also hanging around the piers.
Down in Cape May, Jeff of Hands Too Bait and Tackle said chopper blues were still chasing the mullet around in the backwaters during the blow. The Coast Guard jetty continues to hold unicorns in the f...
Down in Cape May, Jeff of Hands Too Bait and Tackle said chopper blues were still chasing the mullet around in the backwaters during the blow. The Coast Guard jetty continues to hold unicorns in the form of red drum if you want to try chunking mullet for them. Try tossing soft baits on back sedges around high tides for resident bass along the sod banks.
Noel of One Stop Bait and Tackle in Atlantic City said stripers did bite through the rough stuff near the bridges and Casino jetty as live spot accounted for some 28- to 36-inch bass. Blackfishing was...
Noel of One Stop Bait and Tackle in Atlantic City said stripers did bite through the rough stuff near the bridges and Casino jetty as live spot accounted for some 28- to 36-inch bass. Blackfishing was solid at the new seawall as green crabs were the ?go to? bait to score with tog. You can catch a multitude of spot off the jetty rocks, then liveline them back for bass.
About the only thing happening down at Riptide Bait and Tackle in Brigantine was Andy getting a ton of news coverage for his Beach Cars of Brigantine calendar! If you haven?t gotten yours yet, do so n...
About the only thing happening down at Riptide Bait and Tackle in Brigantine was Andy getting a ton of news coverage for his Beach Cars of Brigantine calendar! If you haven?t gotten yours yet, do so now as they are moving fast. Other than that, look for kingfish and small bluefish to be on tap later this week.