Big Bass In North Jersey & South Jersey Sea Bass Tips
We received solid reports this past Friday of a body of good striped bass moving into North Jersey waters in advance of the most recent heave. The coastal NOAA Weather forecast for the next few days has winds going south, southwest and northwest at different periods and different days, so how that and Friday’s new moon impact the action is most anyone’s guess. But the fact that big fish have moved into the region at about the time they should come as welcome news for striped bass anglers throughout the region. Black sea bass reopened in New Jersey this past Thursday, and in this week’s full video we have tips for “slow pitch” jigging the biscuits in this while on a trip off Cape May in roughly 100 feet of water. Reports from the past weekend have an influx of smaller sea bass invading the reefs and wrecks – perhaps they pushed out of the back bays around the last moon and the recent heave – so while you may have to work a bit to find the keepers, perhaps jigging is the way to go for a bigger box score. Good reports of tautog on the sod banks and jetty rocks, as well as redfish and sheepshead in the south; meanwhile party boats in the north have reported a few jumbo blues in the mix on inshore waters (and more big stripers should be arriving as you read this). Catch ‘em up!
South Jersey anglers made the best of a not so favorable week of rainy and windy weather. Many bigger boats were able to get out a couple of days to the wrecks and reefs for sea bass fishing. Some boats reported limit catches while others came up a little short. The weeks weather was much more conducive to fishing the back bays and jetties where tog, sheepshead, bluefish and stripers were very active. The tog are set up on just about any back bay structure, sod bank or inlet jetty. Some very nice fish in the 5-pound range were reported this week along with a few sheepshead to 10 pounds. Bluefish continue to be found from the oceanfront to the back bays feasting on the abundance of spearing in the area. Stripers are also spread out from the inlet jetties to the back bay feeder creeks. These fish have been much more active during daylight hours on poppers, while the nighttime bite is materializing under the bridge lights on soft plastics.
Mike with Tuckerton Bait and Tackle reports that the crabbing in the area is still good. The crabs are not as plentiful as they were during the summer months, but they are much bigger. Sunny days war...
Mike with Tuckerton Bait and Tackle reports that the crabbing in the area is still good. The crabs are not as plentiful as they were during the summer months, but they are much bigger. Sunny days warm up the bottom and get these jumbo crabs moving around and putting on what might be the last feed of the season. The bay waters are still warm so the blowfish are hanging around too. Anchoring, chumming and fishing small clam baits are putting some nice catches together of large to jumbo sized blowfish. The bluefish are also being spotted here and there in the bay, but the schools are small and the fish are still mostly snapper sized. For tog, the area near the Seven Bridges Road cant be beat. Keepers are plentiful with fish up to 18 inches reported on green crabs. The wind this week kept many boaters from venturing out to the reef for sea bass, but Sunday was a game changer. Mild weather and light winds made for an enjoyable day on the Little Egg Reef. Sea bass were caught in large numbers with limit catches being quite common according to the reports received. More
Capt. Dave with Absecon Bay Sportsmans Center checked in with a report of good striper fishing all along the back bays. Despite the wind and rain this week, the stripers were hungry and those that ...
Capt. Dave with Absecon Bay Sportsmans Center checked in with a report of good striper fishing all along the back bays. Despite the wind and rain this week, the stripers were hungry and those that went out found plenty of fish in the 20- to 27-inch range. Casting along the sod banks with Gulp Nemesis or Voodoo Paddle Tails brought plenty of fish to the boat. There are also plenty of bluefish around making short work of the tails of these soft plastic baits. A few fish were also caught on live spot, and as the season progresses, Dave expects this to be a key bait for large fish. For the sea bass angler, Dave is stocking plenty of fresh clam in the shop. The wrecks and reefs were very productive for the larger boats that could get out this past week. Sunday was really the only fishable day for smaller boats, and as of this writing we already have reports of limits caught from the Little Egg Reef. For anglers not fishing the ocean or bay, the mouth of the Mullica is giving up some jumbo perch. Catching your own grass shrimp is a sure ticket to a bunch of fish, but for those who dont have the time, bloodworms are working almost as good. More
Mitch with Chestnut Neck Boat Yard tells us that the striper fishing in the lower Mullica is good if you're able to contend with the huge number of boats fishing the area. Live eels are catching most...
Mitch with Chestnut Neck Boat Yard tells us that the striper fishing in the lower Mullica is good if you're able to contend with the huge number of boats fishing the area. Live eels are catching most of the fish which range in size from 20 to 32 inches. Anglers fishing early in the morning or late in the evening are finding that plugging the banks has been particularly productive. Other anglers are covering large areas of the river by trolling Stretch lures and finding fish scattered about. Further up the river, the perch fishing is very good with anglers reporting some jumbos caught on bloodworms this week. Great Bay is seeing a slow down in the blowfish action, but some of the largest fish of the season were caught this week. More
A few stripers in the 24- to 28-inch range are being taken in the back bays of Brigantine and also from the surf according to the crew at Riptide Bait and Tackle. Chunked bunker or clam is producing t...
A few stripers in the 24- to 28-inch range are being taken in the back bays of Brigantine and also from the surf according to the crew at Riptide Bait and Tackle. Chunked bunker or clam is producing the surf action, while the back bay fish are keyed in on smaller offerings. Here, leadheads tipped with 3- or 4-inch Gulp are matching the hatch of spearing which are in abundance right now. Also in the back bay, anglers are reporting that the tog fishing was good under the bridges especially at slack tide. Leadheads tipped with green crabs put plenty of fish in the boat with many anglers reporting a keeper per trip. More
Alex with Ray Scotts Dock tells us that the togging was very good this week from the back bay bridges, to the sod banks all the way out to the jetties. The challenge was fighting the wind and rain....
Alex with Ray Scotts Dock tells us that the togging was very good this week from the back bay bridges, to the sod banks all the way out to the jetties. The challenge was fighting the wind and rain. But those who got out found their keepers immediately after anchoring up and dropping down their green crab. Snapper blues are starting to thin out in the back bay, but the beach front is seeing more of them, along with kingfish and spot. Reef anglers found that there are plenty of sea bass out there on days when the weather allowed them to breach the inlet. Limits were common and a few boats reported good catches of triggerfish along with the sea bass. More
After a summer of catching literally thousands of flounder, Capt. John of the Keeper finished up his season and is now headed to the Florida Keys for the winter. Safe travels and we will see you in Ma...
After a summer of catching literally thousands of flounder, Capt. John of the Keeper finished up his season and is now headed to the Florida Keys for the winter. Safe travels and we will see you in May for opening day of the 2021 season. More
Customers from Bait N Hook told us that the tog fishing was fantastic this week behind Atlantic City even though the weather wasnt great. After launching their kayaks, it was a short paddle (or p...
Customers from Bait N Hook told us that the tog fishing was fantastic this week behind Atlantic City even though the weather wasnt great. After launching their kayaks, it was a short paddle (or pedal) to the bridge pilings where they found tog hungry for their green crab offerings. We heard that there are lots of shorts, but it didnt take very long for that one keeper fish to hit. Most anglers had their limit in short order and played catch and release until they ran out of crabs. More
Waterfront Marine reported that the bluefish along Ship Channel are getting bigger. Fish to 20 inches were reported on cut mullet and cut bunker. Anglers are also finding the fish on the surface und...
Waterfront Marine reported that the bluefish along Ship Channel are getting bigger. Fish to 20 inches were reported on cut mullet and cut bunker. Anglers are also finding the fish on the surface under schools of spearing. Throwing small metals or small poppers are getting these super aggressive fish to bite. Early in the morning, even before sunrise there are small stripers in the same area taking walk-the-dog type surface lures. Most of the fish are in the 16- to 22-inch range, but a couple of slot fish have been caught. The Ocean City Reef Site saw lots of sea bass action this past week, but reports are that there were tons of smaller fish. Only a few limits were caught with most fishing being just short of the legal size limit. More
Fin-Atics reported that even though the Ocean City Reef had plenty of sea bass this week, finding large fish was a challenge. Many boats reported a low keeper ratio with only the occasional angler li...
Fin-Atics reported that even though the Ocean City Reef had plenty of sea bass this week, finding large fish was a challenge. Many boats reported a low keeper ratio with only the occasional angler limiting out. Plenty of small stripers are being caught behind Ocean City, especially at night from the bridges, sod banks and lighted docks. Leadheads with pink or white Zooms fished just before or just after high tide has been very productive. Lots of small baitfish scattered about the back bays are being concentrated by the bride and dock lights at night. Once the tide starts moving, reports are that stripers can be seen for several hours picking off small baits in the shadow lines. More
Not the best weather week according to Avalon Hodge Podge, but still plenty of boats got out to the Townsend Inlet Reef for sea bass fishing. We heard mixed results with some anglers reporting limits...
Not the best weather week according to Avalon Hodge Podge, but still plenty of boats got out to the Townsend Inlet Reef for sea bass fishing. We heard mixed results with some anglers reporting limits of fish to 18- inches while others only found hundreds of short fish. Closer to the shop, the 8th Street Jetty saw some striper, bluefish and tog action this week. The stripers were found at night on SP Minnows or Bomber lures at the top of the tide even with the waves cresting the top of the jetty. During the day, anglers fishing cut bunker or mullet rigs found blues in the 10- to 15-inch range. Tog fishing was also very good with anglers finding fish to 16 inches on green crabs with the top of the tide and the bottom of the tide productive. More
Debbie with Grassy Sound Marina tells us that the best action around is the abundance of stripers in the area. Boaters are fishing the brides and lighted docks with bucktails and Gulp at night and fi...
Debbie with Grassy Sound Marina tells us that the best action around is the abundance of stripers in the area. Boaters are fishing the brides and lighted docks with bucktails and Gulp at night and finding mostly short fish. The daytime bite has been on schools of snappers popping up here and there under large schools of silversides. Small thin metals are catching all the snappers you want while they are pushing baitfish to the surface, but the fish are maxing out at about 10 inches. More
Several boaters out of Pier 47 Marina reported fantastic tog fishing along Cold Springs Inlet this past week. Finding a keeper tog was like taking candy from a baby as many boaters reported their...
Several boaters out of Pier 47 Marina reported fantastic tog fishing along Cold Springs Inlet this past week. Finding a keeper tog was like taking candy from a baby as many boaters reported their keeper tog within the first few minutes of fishing. Switching from tog fishing to throwing plugs or bucktails at the jetty resulted in several small stripers to 24 inches, blues to 18 inches and our first reports of speckled trout in this area. Those that fished closer to the marina found small tog along the sod banks and bridge pilings. They also found plenty of short stripers willing to take top water poppers along the sod banks before sunrise. More
Lots of action in the Cape May area this week according to Jeff with Hands Too Bait and Tackle. Tog are the kings of the jetties and like we heard in other reports, it's not hard to find and hook tha...
Lots of action in the Cape May area this week according to Jeff with Hands Too Bait and Tackle. Tog are the kings of the jetties and like we heard in other reports, it's not hard to find and hook that one keeper. Green crabs are the number one bait and accounted for a lot of nice fish this week in the 4- to 6-pound range. Harder to find, but still around are the sheepshead, also taking green crabs as wells as fiddlers. Several fish were caught this week under the local bridges with the largest topping out at 10 pounds. Resident stripers are becoming more active during the daylight hours and anglers are finding them along the sod banks on hard and soft plastics and from the beach on clams and bunker. It's reported that these fish are quality slot fish, but just shy of 28 inches. Nighttime is still the best time to throw small soft plastics around the bridges for smaller fish on light tackle. These fish are much more aggressive but range in size from 16 to 20 inches. Just a mile or so off of Cape May, boaters are finding schools of false albacore popping up on huge bait pods. Small metals, epoxy jigs and Clark spoons are taking these fish as they bust bait on the top of the water. Bluefish have also been found exploding on schools of spearing from the ocean front, Delaware Bay and Cape May Inlet. Most of these fish are snapper sized, but every once in a while a boater will report a school of 4- to 5-pounders being caught. More
The party boat fleet out of South Jersey Marina reported that this past week saw very good sea bass fishing on the Cape May and Wildwood Reefs even with windy conditions and a relentless ocean swell. ...
The party boat fleet out of South Jersey Marina reported that this past week saw very good sea bass fishing on the Cape May and Wildwood Reefs even with windy conditions and a relentless ocean swell. Many anglers who put in the time and fished every drop of the 8-hour trip took home a limit of sea bass. Those who put in a half-hearted effort took home less fish, which is fair. The fish werent jumping in the boat, and the captains had to move around alot to find schools of feeding fish. The private and charter boat fleet reported similar results, with experienced dedicated crews limiting out on fish to 4 pounds while other groups came up a little short. Salted clams were the bait of choice with lots of anglers finding that a top hook baited with a Gulp mullet took some of the largest fish of the week. More
Captain Mike of Cape Queen Charters has had an amazing couple of weeks of sea bass fishing. While most boats out of Cape May hit up the Wildwood and Cape May Reef, Captain Mike runs a little bit furt...
Captain Mike of Cape Queen Charters has had an amazing couple of weeks of sea bass fishing. While most boats out of Cape May hit up the Wildwood and Cape May Reef, Captain Mike runs a little bit further (20+ mile wrecks) to find the largest and hungriest sea bass for his clients. For this charter boat, 200 fish days are fairly common, and filling the cooler with limits of fish to 5 pounds is not uncommon. Weekends are filling up fast, but weekday trips are available. Give Captain Mike a call to get in on some open boat trips for sea bass this month or some sea bass and porgy trips in November. Another option is to get on his short notice sailing list. This allows the Captain to call or text you when there is a good weather window for an open boat trip. More
