New Jersey & Delaware Bay - Southern New Jersey Fishing Reports
Spanish Mackerel Invasion - Jersey Surf "Se Calienta"
In the days following a white marlin prowling the surf from Island Beach to Manasquan River, Spanish mackerel turned on in a big way this week. The Fisherman’s Beach Talk reporter, Nick Honachefsky, reports this week on our website, “invasion has begun as scores of Spanish mackerel were ripping drags along the coast as metals were crushed on a daily basis.” On top of the surf blast, good-sized bluefin (big fish just under the 73” size limit) are showing up nearshore while mahi are now in the mix too (and just begging to be weighed in for Dream Boat contention!) According to Offshore Report writer Tom P., “mahi are in mid-summer numbers at the inshore, mid-range and offshore pots, and under flotsam.” In this week’s full video forecast, we have a rundown on some of the bigger catches including swordfish and golden tilefish, with some true “doormat” status fluke as well in deep water and along the sticky stuff. It’s the final weekend of July, and Jersey “jetty jocks” are gearing up for tautog as of Sunday!
The end of July saw a huge bait migration all along the South Jersey Coast. Into the inlets, the bays, the rivers and the feeder creeks, we saw massive numbers of bunker, herring, spearing, and mullet moving around. From young of the year to full sized adults, the waters are over flowing with baitfish. This alone should make for some fantastic August fishing for just about any species; flounder, weakfish, blues, and stripers. And dont forget those summertime, warm water loving species such as the blowfish, kingfish, triggerfish, cobia and sheepshead. If July was any indication of just how many fish are within reach, August should be one for the record books.
Lots of action around Tuckerton according to reports from Dockside Cafe and Marina.The crabbing has been excellent as has the blowfish bite in the bay. Flounder are being caught on Gulp closer to the...
Lots of action around Tuckerton according to reports from Dockside Cafe and Marina.The crabbing has been excellent as has the blowfish bite in the bay. Flounder are being caught on Gulp closer to the inlets and there are some nice weakfish mixed in with them. Also received some good reports of flounder being caught near the Fish Factory on the bottom of the incoming tide. More
The 90-plus degree weather early in the week had a lot of would-be anglers passing on fishing according to Mike with Tuckerton Bait and Tackle. By the end of the week, the temperatures were still...
The 90-plus degree weather early in the week had a lot of would-be anglers passing on fishing according to Mike with Tuckerton Bait and Tackle. By the end of the week, the temperatures were still warm but not oppressive and that brought the anglers out in droves. Most were taking advantage of the cooler waters around the inlets and finding a good founder bite with plenty of keepers in the 19- to 21-inch range. Those were all eclipsed when Tony Knight came through the door with a fatty that hit the scale at 6 pounds, 10 ounces. Minnows and squid have been a deadly combination along with Gulp Paddleshads and 6-inch grubs. Regardless of the bait, Mike advises to always keep your bait moving up and down, and switch from rapid jigging, to a slow and methodical jerk-jerk-pause-jerk-jerk pattern. Along with the flounder, anglers are catching some nice sized weakfish as a by-catch. These fish are the nicest sized fish of the season, running from 20 to 24 inches. End of incoming water and an hour after high tide are the prime times for catching both species. In the bay, the waters are really heating up, so much so that there have been some peanut bunker die-offs in the lagoons around Mystic Island. But the warm bay waters have attracted large schools of blowfish, and anglers are finding it fairly easy to load up on these fish if they have enough chum to last a full tide cycle. The hottest fishing is occurring in the middle grounds of the bay, off of Holgate and along the edge of the ICW in about 8 to 10 feet of water. Great Bay is also seeing a lot more shark activity with some 7- to 9-footers spotted in the area. More
Violet with Chestnut Neck Boat yard was weighing in a 60-pound wahoo when we spoke this week. This fish, along with several nice yellowfin, were taken by the Biggwood family on their boat Git-R-Wet a...
Violet with Chestnut Neck Boat yard was weighing in a 60-pound wahoo when we spoke this week. This fish, along with several nice yellowfin, were taken by the Biggwood family on their boat Git-R-Wet at the Cigar. Much closer to the dock, Walt Russel weighed in a 5-pound flounder caught in the back bays. The back bays are also seeing a good crab bite and up the river the perch are loving the warm river waters. The mouth of the Mullica is giving up more weakfish than Violet has seen in the last 5 years. Anglers are fishing shedder crabs early in the morning or late in the evening for these fish. More
Flounder are still an option for anglers in the back bays and for those headed off to the reef sites according to reports from Absecon Bay Sportsmans Center. The back bay fish are gorging themselve...
Flounder are still an option for anglers in the back bays and for those headed off to the reef sites according to reports from Absecon Bay Sportsmans Center. The back bay fish are gorging themselves on the abundance of bait fish that is around right now. Spearing, rainfish, whitefish, bunker and grass shrimp are so thick in the back bays and creeks, that it's no surprise that many of the flounder are sticking around. Anglers offering a large easy to meal are scoring on fish to 22 inches, with 6-inch Gulp and live spot being top contenders. The Garden State South Reef is seeing some much larger fish with weigh-ins this week of fish to 6 pounds. These fish are also finding a 6-inch Gulp irresistible, along with an appropriately sized bucktail to just barely thump along the bottom structure. More
With the back bay waters heating up, surf and jetty anglers are seeing an amazing flounder bite from the beaches of Brigantine according to Capt. Andy with RipTide Bait and Tackle. Gulp was the favor...
With the back bay waters heating up, surf and jetty anglers are seeing an amazing flounder bite from the beaches of Brigantine according to Capt. Andy with RipTide Bait and Tackle. Gulp was the favored bait of choice this week as many anglers reported that the Gulp on a top teaser was killer. The beach gave up a fat 19-incher for Daniel Massimini, while Anthony Pitucci took two keepers from the jetties, with one of them putting him in first place in RipTide Summer Tournament with a 3-pound, 13-ounce fish. The Absecon Inlet was also giving up some real nice flounder for boaters fishing the incoming water. Tyler Arndt picked up two keepers and John F bested a 5-pounder. Those warm back bays are attracting a lot of sheepshead around the Brigantine Bridges with several fish in the 8-pound range reported in the week heading into the final full weekend of July. More
Most of the fish reported this week came from the Atlantic City Surf and Jetties according to Noel with One Stop Bait and Tackle. The cool, clean oceanfront water has attracted bluefish, flounder, ki...
Most of the fish reported this week came from the Atlantic City Surf and Jetties according to Noel with One Stop Bait and Tackle. The cool, clean oceanfront water has attracted bluefish, flounder, kingfish, spot and weakfish. Also helping to attract all those predators is the fact that the surf is loaded with schools of bait fish including spearing, peanut bunker, adult bunker and some huge mullet. The flounder and weakfish are showing a preference for live minnows while the blues will take just about anything. Kingfish, spot and the occasional croaker are being caught on bloodworms. The jetty structure is also holding sheepshead and triggerfish which are taking green crabs, sand crabs and fiddlers fished on tog jigs. More
The flounder bite in the Margate Back Bays continues to be strong with a lot of small fish around but plenty of keepers too according to Justin with Ray Scotts Dock. Justin averaged about four weig...
The flounder bite in the Margate Back Bays continues to be strong with a lot of small fish around but plenty of keepers too according to Justin with Ray Scotts Dock. Justin averaged about four weigh-ins per day this week, proving that the keeper sized fish are still around, they just take a bit more work (or luck) to find. Most of these fish are just over the 18- to 19-inch mark, and are coming from the bays on incoming water. Gulp, minnows and mackerel fillets all were working equally well on the short fish and the keeper sized fish. And again this week, the back bays saw an invasion of adult bunker schools. Under these fish, anglers found slot sized stripers using live adult bunker which were freshly snagged and transferred to in-line circle hooks (per the current regulations). More
The back bays of Margate continue to hold large numbers of flounder according to Captain John of the Keeper. Most of these fish are shorts, but with over 100 fish caught per trip, there is plenty of ...
The back bays of Margate continue to hold large numbers of flounder according to Captain John of the Keeper. Most of these fish are shorts, but with over 100 fish caught per trip, there is plenty of action for all anglers on board. The fish are being caught on minnows, spearing and Gulp grubs. Each trip is seeing a couple of keepers in the 18- to 20-inch range with the biggest fish of the week pushing 3 pounds. More
There are tons of flounder in the back bays of Margate according to Capt. John of the Keeper. These fish are taking live minnows, squid strips, Gulp Mullets and spearing. Most of these fish are fall...
There are tons of flounder in the back bays of Margate according to Capt. John of the Keeper. These fish are taking live minnows, squid strips, Gulp Mullets and spearing. Most of these fish are falling in the 14- to 17-inch range but they are fat fish and make for a good fight. Customers are culling through 15 to 20 fish per trip in order to find a keeper, but the keepers have all been solid 3-plus pounders. Anglers also picked up some small stripers and weakfish while flounder fishing. More
The flounder fishing in Great Egg Harbor Bay was very good this week according to reports from Waterfront Marine. Even with water temperatures approaching 80 degrees, keepers are still being caught n...
The flounder fishing in Great Egg Harbor Bay was very good this week according to reports from Waterfront Marine. Even with water temperatures approaching 80 degrees, keepers are still being caught not far from the Kennedy Park Boat Ramp. Spearing and small strip baits were very popular, and keepers were caught, but at about a 15 to 1 ratio. There have been a few more bluefish in the same areas, but they are mostly snappers with only a few fish reported to be over 12 inches. Small metals or spearing fished under a float are catching these fish as they pop up and crash large schools of rainfish or silversides. More
Lots of fishing opportunities this week in Ocean City according to Ed with Fin-Atics. Surf anglers have been very busy catching sharks, kingfish, spot, croakers, flounder and small weakfish. All of ...
Lots of fishing opportunities this week in Ocean City according to Ed with Fin-Atics. Surf anglers have been very busy catching sharks, kingfish, spot, croakers, flounder and small weakfish. All of these, including the sharks (believe it or not), can be caught on bloodworms on a top and bottom rig. Both the spot and croakers are on the small side, but the kingfish have been jumbos and when you find a school, it can be double headers for hours at a time. For keeper flounder, the deeper waters around the ICW as well as Corsons inlet have been the top spots. More anglers are using large Gulp and 1- to 2-ounce bucktails to combat the strong tides and to deter the smaller fish from biting. More
Bait N Hook Sportsmans Center reports that the good sheepshead fishing continues and that there are more triggerfish in the mix as well. This is in addition the to tog by-catch, so those kayak/br...
Bait N Hook Sportsmans Center reports that the good sheepshead fishing continues and that there are more triggerfish in the mix as well. This is in addition the to tog by-catch, so those kayak/bridge anglers are scoring plenty of fish Again we hear that the bridges around Longport, Margate and Atlantic City were red hot for the sheepshead and a few pushing 10 pounds were caught on fiddler crabs fished on Bottom Sweeper Jigs. Just before, throughout and just after high tide was key to catching these fish as the full moon had the tides ripping around the bridge pilings. Incoming tide was productive in the same areas for anglers fishing for flounder, and while most of the fish were short, a few anglers managed a keeper or two on bucktails tipped with Gulp. A final reminder from Bait N Hook Sportsmans Center is that the Bernie Parent Annual Fishing Challenge begins on July 26th and runs through August 9th. Check with the shop for details. More
Tammie with Avalon Hodge Podge tells us that early in the week the Ocean City and TI Reef Sites were giving up some very nice flounder. Anglers fishing 6-inch Gulp along with strip baits were taking ...
Tammie with Avalon Hodge Podge tells us that early in the week the Ocean City and TI Reef Sites were giving up some very nice flounder. Anglers fishing 6-inch Gulp along with strip baits were taking keepers in the 19- to 24-inch range. On Tammys advice I hit up the TI reef on Saturday with Steve M. on his boat Uncle Grumpy Gills. We did not fill the cooler, but it was a beautiful day at the reef with plenty of catch and release going on. The flounder were suckers for a chartreuse 3-ounce Westin Bucktail Shrimp tipped with a 6-inch Gulp Paddleshad in pearl white color. More
The pier at Grassy Sound Marina was the hotspot this week according to Debbie. Fish were weighed in every day and most of those keepers came from the pier adjacent to the marina. Barbar Nichter of R...
The pier at Grassy Sound Marina was the hotspot this week according to Debbie. Fish were weighed in every day and most of those keepers came from the pier adjacent to the marina. Barbar Nichter of Ryoersofd took a fat keeper on the top of the outgoing tide using a pink Gulp, while Joe Betchyk from Norton used a live minnow to capture his 20-incher. And recently retired Harry Metzger managed three keepers from the pier with fish to 20 inches on minnows, squid and Gulp. The pier is also seeing a good amount of spot being caught by anglers using Fish Bites and sabiki rigs. More
The rental boat fleet is finding a lot of action behind the Wildwoods according to reports from Pier 47 Marina. Small flounder, large cownose rays, sharks, and sea bass are keeping anglers busy. Al...
The rental boat fleet is finding a lot of action behind the Wildwoods according to reports from Pier 47 Marina. Small flounder, large cownose rays, sharks, and sea bass are keeping anglers busy. All along the ICW, anglers are drifting around for flounder and coming up with all the above species with the rays in the 6-foot range really putting on a spectacular performance on flounder gear. The crabbing has been steady but with a lot of hungry throwbacks in the mix, the handline crabber has to be prepared with a lot of back up bait. More
A little bit of wind didnt affect the 92- boats and 32- kayaks registered for Sterling Harbors 28th Annual Duke of Fluke Tournament on Saturday. Top honors for largest fish went to Its A Trap c...
A little bit of wind didnt affect the 92- boats and 32- kayaks registered for Sterling Harbors 28th Annual Duke of Fluke Tournament on Saturday. Top honors for largest fish went to Its A Trap captained by Matt Gillis with a 7-pound, 8-ouncer. Heaviest five flounder bag award went to Feast or Famine captained by Wayne Reichle with a total weight of 22 pounds, 5 ounces. Greg Crotty secured the Kayak Division with his 3-pound 10- ounce fish caught from his Hobie Mirage Outback. Top honors also went to Kim Gallagher (Duchess Award), Anthony DeLio (Junior Angler), Capt. Christian Cabana (Sea Bass), and Capt. Rocco DiPasquale (Bluefish). More
The good flounder fishing continues out of Cape May according to reports from South Jersey Marina. The Wildwood and Cape May Reefs were giving up good numbers of fish to 4 pounds along with a few sea...
The good flounder fishing continues out of Cape May according to reports from South Jersey Marina. The Wildwood and Cape May Reefs were giving up good numbers of fish to 4 pounds along with a few sea bass. For larger fish, Reef Site 11 was the place to be this week as we had reports of limits of fish to 6 pounds. Other boaters fishing closer to Cape May Point tell us that there are a lot of small blues, kingfish, croakers, spot and some very decent sized weakfish being caught on bloodworms, bits of clam and Fishbites. More
Joe with Hands Too Bait and Tackle tells us that the beach fishing for sharks has been on fire according to the anglers tossing bunker for bluefish. They are catching from Poverty Beach down to Sunse...
Joe with Hands Too Bait and Tackle tells us that the beach fishing for sharks has been on fire according to the anglers tossing bunker for bluefish. They are catching from Poverty Beach down to Sunset Beach and there have been plenty of 6-footers released. The same area, both from the beach and off the beach, anglers are reporting croakers, kingfish, weakfish and flounder. All of these are being caught using bloodworms on kingfish rigs. Of note are the weakfish which have been running 18 to 22 inches which is fairly large for mid-summer weakies. More
Bloodworms are taking double headers of spot right from the Fortescue Beach according to Higbees Marina. Out in the bay, bloodworms are responsible for putting a mixed bag of fish in many anglers' ...
Bloodworms are taking double headers of spot right from the Fortescue Beach according to Higbees Marina. Out in the bay, bloodworms are responsible for putting a mixed bag of fish in many anglers' coolers. Kingfish, croakers, weakfish and small blues were all falling for the bloodworm baits fished on small hooks. For anglers focusing on the flounder bite, they were rewarded this week with fish to 3 pounds and several boats reported limit catches from Fortescue out to Miah Maull Light. More
