New Jersey & Delaware Bay - Northern New Jersey Fishing Reports

As the remnant from Ophelia were barreling through on Saturday, September 23, I spoke to Capt. Akira from True World Tackle who said he?s been busy putting folks on striped bass in the river. That action should only intensify into October. While busy at the shop, he said plenty of folks were finding keeper fluke in the New York Harbor before the blow; keep in mind that while New Jersey?s fluke season ends as of September 7, on the New York side of the only (and only in those waters) the season will continue until October 9. Akira said there have been some small weakfish reported near the Statue of Liberty and porgy fishing is getting better out east near Coney Island.

Joe from Fairfield Fishing Tackle said they?re all looking forward to the action in October. ?I like to striper fish, that?s my favorite thing to do,? Joe said, adding ?I think it?s really going to light up in October.? For your lips to god?s ears my friend. Heading into October, Joe said guys on the beach have already been catching stripers at Sandy Hook, there?s bunch of bluefish around, and of course striped bass action has been heating up in local rivers. ?Fluking has been okay, not great,? he said with days to go until the final bell, adding that porgy action has been good up on Long Island Sound.

The folks at Tackle World said they?re optimistic about the striped bass run to begin in early October. You can usually forecast the action based on what folks are buying, and heading into the final days of September there?s been a lot of striper gear sold, but also quite a few tautog jigs. Word from Tackle World is that quite a few folks enjoyed a solid month of blackfish from shore and inshore locations.

The folks from Ramsey Outdoors said a lot of folks are prepping for the fall trout stocking throughout the Garden State, but word from out along the coast is that striper action was continuing to improve through the final days of September. The Ramsey crew is gearing up for their annual striped bass fishing trip aboard the MIJO out of Atlantic Highlands on Wednesday, November 8. The boat sets sail at 7 a.m. and returns at 2 p.m., with the cost just $100 per person. For details visit either of Ramsey?s two locations, in Succasunna and Ramsey.

Capt. Phil Bouchard had the Misty Morn out in search of fluke on the Wednesday before Ophelia turned things sour, and put his anglers on plenty of shorts with a decent pick of keepers. Pool winner was Ruben with a 5.6-pounder. ?We will try to fish when the weather settles down,? Phil said.

?Due to the storm, Ebbtide Fishing Charters didn?t sail this week,? said Capt. Bob Henn in a September 24th email, though is also mentioned that he?s looking forward to the fall striper run and the October 1 opening of black sea bass. ?All indications are that both seasons should be very good seasons,? Capt. Bob said, noting that available dates for charters are filling up fast.

?We have been experiencing a great early start to the striper season with multiple boats catching some nice big bass in the past two weeks,? said Dave Reni at Raritan Marina, adding ?Most have been caught by drifting live bait in the ocean, near the Verrazano Bridge.? This is a good sign to come in mid- to late-September, with Reni describing stripers in the 40-pound class. ?Standouts have been Amedrano and Dhume who are relentless in their pursuit of the target species,? Reni reported. In between weather fits, the Erlandson family did well chunking butterfish around the Triple Wrecks during the day for 50- to 80-pound class yellowfin, while a canyon overnighter produced a couple of large wahoo, a lot of mahi, some 50-pound class yellowfin, and a white marlin on the troll.

John at Keyport Marine Basin said he?s happy to see the miserable weather month of September to end. ?We?re just waiting for the stripers to arrive, and I?m willing to bet they?re here already, we just can?t get to them due to the weather,? John said. He did have a couple of solid weakfish reports from the middle to end of September, but all eyes will soon be peeled in search of stripers. ?Let?s all just say a prayer for the weatherman,? he said.

Capt. Victor Hartley aboard the Keyport Princess said they were finding some fluke and bluefish before the Ophelia, and weather permitting he planned on sailing for a marathon fluke trip on the final day of the fluke season on September 27. Starting September 29 it?s striped bass every day through the rest of the year. ?Hopefully we?ll be able to catch that little slot range,? he said. Expect the striper run to get going earlier than normal in October.

Out at Up Front Bait and Tackle Steve said striped bass had already kicked in on the rivers and Raritan Bay, while Hudson River and East River bites have been solid already in September. There?s plenty of spot and small bluefish in the area this season, and a lot of bait around to greet the striped bass this season. ?We?ve got a lot of fish around here, we?ll see what happens,? Steve said of the stripers, forecasting a banner run of black sea bass in October.

?Early in the week was good fishing with a couple stripers caught, also some spot,? said Mike at Wagner?s Marina prior to the passing of Ophelia, adding ?rain and wind came everything stopped.? While the height of the October striper run is coming to Raritan Bay, Mike said they?re already getting ready for winterizing.

Phil and the boys from the Tackle Box were eeling stripers at night during the third full week of September and had some solid fish. ?Really good ones, drag-pullers, Paddy had one after another,? Phil said, adding ?it?s very good to see larger fish moving into the area.? He said there have already been acres of peanut bunker on the Raritan, and the rivers are loaded with peanuts and big spearing. After the double shot of tropical storms in mid to late September Phil believes that things could really blow wide open. ?There?s definitely a lot of fish around already,? Phil said, with stripers already on the prowl from the channels on out in front of Sandy Hook. ?It?s setting up to be one helluva fall,? he added.

Capt. Joe Baumle said the Sour Kraut Sportfishing didn?t sail much in the latter part of September because of the weather, and when we spoke he was actually up at Cabela?s in Pennsylvania stocking up for the fall action. He said he plans on mixing in stripers with some bottomfish (black sea bass and porgy) come October 1. As for the ending of fluke on September 27, Capt. Joe?s feeling was that fluke had already been staging for their offshore departure before the storms, and he imagined that many fish were making their easterly push soon after.

Lou at Atlantic Highlands Municipal Harbor said nothing was going on when we spoke during a storm Saturday. ?Wind and rain here now, that?s about it,? he said. ?But during the week we had some fluke, and we?ve got a lot of bait fish in the area lately, hopping all over the place in the harbor,? Lou said in late September, adding ?To me that?s good news for the striper season.? He and many others believe that?s a terrific sign actually for October striper action on the Raritan. He also reported that folks were finding decent tuna catches offshore in September, with yellowfin and bluefin available in between weather windows this month.

The crew at Julian?s Bait and Tackle are all geared up for the fall striped bass run. There?s a lot of anxiousness about the passing of two tropical systems in mid to late September, which many hope will lead to an early blast of striped bass fishing. Last season, Sandy Hook and Sea Bright beaches lit up with fall striped bass, and with plenty of bait in the twin rivers pouring out into Raritan Bay, things could get interesting fast.

?I haven?t been out the whole week,? said Capt. Joe Occhipinti aboard the Little Hawk. We spoke on the Sunday after Ophelia passed and agreed that the steady NE, if followed by a few days of offshore winds, it could really kick things into gear with striped bass. ?I?m hoping these bass are going to be here early, as we?re all striped bass, all the time com October,? Capt. Joe said. He thinks he?ll begin eeling upriver at the beginning of the month, but as soon as things turn hot and heavy on the Raritan he?ll be there for the madness. ?There are fish in the river already at night, a good sign,? he said, adding ?Maybe things are moving around early this year.?

The crew at Bahr?s Landing Marina was battening down the hatches when I called, as Ophelia was battering the coast. Tim has been busy in the final weeks of September with folks sneaking in a final couple of fluke trips, but all eyes should be on the striper prize at this point heading into October. Striper action picked up quite a bit around the Raritan in those final days of September, and the crew at the Landing expect the snotty weather weekends should push a few more bass to the west in and range of the Bayshore fleet.

Capt. Pete Wagner aboard the Hyper Striper didn?t have many nice things to say about the weather systems in the latter half of September, pointing to the heavy dose of easterlies leading up to the last day of fluke season. ?We had good bottom fishing for nice larger size scup and tog before the blow,? he reported, adding ?most likely start striper fishing when we finally get back out.?

Capt. Chad Hacker aboard Tagged Fish Charters had some fluking before Ophelia blew through, but now he?s gearing up for blackfish, sea bass and striper in October. ?I think it?s going to be a great run of striped bass,? he said, adding ?I really think this is going to be another great one.?

?Living the dream,? said Wayne at Twin Lights Marina. Winds were howling and the rain falling in buckets when we spoke, but he thinks all things are lined up for a pretty solid October for striped bass. ?I think it?s going to be good season,? Wayne said, adding however that the new regulations aren?t going over well in the community. ?They just don?t give you much of a slot with this 28- to 31-inch thing, it?s going to be tough on the recreational fishing industry,? Wayne said.

Don?t tell his wife, but I spoke to Capt. Fletcher Chayes of Two Rivers Charters on the day his daughter was getting married! Congrats to the Chayes family. That said, he was able to sneak off a minute or two to let me know he had found good bluefishing towards the end of September with fish to 8 pounds, as well as some schoolie bass all on plugs. ?Bigger bassing should be good after the blow,? Fletcher said, urging folks to call soon before dates fill up. He also mentioned that bonito were responding well to bait for light tackle fans.

Like everyone else along the Jersey Shore, Capt. Matt aboard BeastMode Fishing didn?t have much to report during the fourth full weekend in September due to the weather. But he?s looking forward to the black sea bass opener on October 1, and plans to run east in search of tuna and mahi throughout the month.

I spoke with Greg Hueth of the Big Mohawk III on the morning of September 24th as he was getting out of dry dock at Johnson Brothers in Point. He was looking ahead towards the post-Ophelia effects, hoping to see the boat back in her berth in time for the October 1 reopening of sea bass. ?Finished up fluke season, and now back into black sea bass, we?re looking forward to it,? Great said. As to how the 2023 flatfishing went, Greg noted ?Fluke season was very good, happy with the results.?

Marty at Fisherman?s Den in Belmar said the fluke action was good right up until the last tropical system in September, but he didn?t think that many boats would be able to back out to the grounds again until the day before the September 27th final bell. The silver lining of course is that the pair of tropical systems in September could really kickstart the fall run. ?I know a few guys who were catching stripers on topwaters in the surf before the blow,? Marty said, adding of the fall storms, ?This is only going to make it that much better.? Reason being, there?s a lot of bait stacked up in the local rivers which should soon be exiting for the fall migration.

The Golden Eagle sneaked out before the unfishable weather arrived from Ophelia, and found a great bluefish bite. ?It was a slow start that turned into a fantastic day,? the reported, saying that during the second half of the trip ?we crushed them.? Blues were actively feeding up top, turning the water a frothy white, with diamond jigs, plain and tailed, working well on fish from 2 to 8 pounds. The pool winner on the September 21 trip was Toms River?s Dan Simpson with an 8-pound blue. The Golden Eagle is now sailing every day at 7:30 a.m. for stripers and blues.

?Another Great day fishing today with a beautiful ocean,? was the report we got from the Miss Belmar Princess, with the crew tabbing mid-week action heading into the September 23-24 weekend as ?another crushville.? Patrons found mostly blues, a couple of late-season fluke, porgies and black sea bass. ?Super solid fishing continues,? they noted. With fluke coming to a close to wrap September, expect the Miss Belmar Princess to get on the porgies and sea bass hot and heavy to kick off the month of October.

?Right before the blow we had a nice mixed bag, nice shot of fluke, blues, and porgies were picking up too,? said Capt. Joe Paton aboard Nearfall Fishing Charters. He said he?s looking forward to sea bass on October 1 which he expects to be solid right out of the gate. ?There?s been life on every stop we?ve made recently, so we?re excited about that,? he said of the fall sea bass opportunities. Capt. Joe said he is also looking for solid striped bass and bluefish action in October in between those porgy and sea bass trips.

Capt. Nick Caruso reported on a beautiful Day for Anthony and his crew on the fluke grounds aboard the Ol? Salty II leading up to the Ophelia impaired weekend. In addition to Aaron taking the pool with a nice flatty, the crew found false albacore, blues, porgies, mackerel and nice throwback sea bass which of course are back in play as of October 1. ?Great day on the Atlantic with a cool group of guys,? Nick said.

Capt. Pete Sykes has been doing some maintenance work on the Parker Pete in the latter days of September during the weather fits. ?I?ve got charters booked all week, we?ll see how that goes,? he said in the days leading up the official end of the fluke season. On the positive side Pete is hoping the NE storms of late will really kick the striper run into high gear, and how quickly the bite materializes will determine whether he?s chasing stripers or hitting the wrecks after October 1 in search of black sea bass. ?I really think it?s going to be a good fall,? he added.

Capt. Steve Spinelli of the Skylarker said he is starting his fall fishing schedule with porgy and sea bass as of October 1. ?Or we?ll be striper and bluefishing, depending on the action,? he said. A lot of bluefish at the Mud Buoy according to Capt. Steve, saying he also found some good fluke fishing in the latter days of September. ?Overall, I think it was a good year,? he said of the fluke bite in 2023.

Capt. Ralph aboard Last Lady Fishing Charters got into some solid action with triggerfish, blackfish, porgies and fluke in the days leading up to the late September tropical systems, including one jumbo trigger, one of the biggest Ralph ever had on the vessel. ?We?ll see if they?re still there after the storm,? he said. The Last Lady will have one more open boat trip to end the month of September, and then Capt. Ralph plans on sea bassing as of October 1 and continuing through the end of the year with a few open boat trips in between charters. Once the striped bass action turns on in October and into November, the boat will also target the linesides.

?Really didn?t make it out this past week because of the weather,? said Capt. Robbie Siciliano of Smokin? Reel Charters. We spoke by phone heading into the final days of the fluke season, and Robbie said he was looking forward to the fall fishing and especially the start of the sea bass season on October 1. He?s doing some open boat wreck trips, and also on the October hunt for tuna and light tackle bonito until the striped bass turns hot, but he said he?s also anxious for the increase of blackfish limits come November.

Nick at Bullet Hole Annex said a lot of folks are gearing up for the fall hunting season, stopping in to retool bows and collecting ammo. On the fishing side, Nick said action was pretty good with folks hitting stripers off Sandy Hook, with one guy hitting a few weakfish while walking the beach. Small stripers are hitting in the Hackensack already as of late September and Nick expects that action to get solid come October. Heading into the final days of the 2023 fluke season there were solid reports back to the shop.