New Jersey & Delaware Bay - Southern New Jersey Fishing Reports
NJ/DE Bay Region Fourth of July Forecast
The Fourth of July weekend has arrived, and so too has the July edition of The Fisherman. Get a peek inside the New Jersey, Delaware Bay edition for a tactical approach to topwater yellowfin as well as a deep-dive into plugging bigeye and wahoo on the troll. We have a giant bluefin just under the NOAA “trophy” closure out of Manasquan, while mako shark action is still in place as of this morning due to a slow-moving bureaucracy in DC. Get a comprehensive look at the holiday weekend fluking opportunities with a 12-pounder and at least one other “Dream Boat” fluke from Raritan Bay. Spanish mackerel are snapping along the Delaware Coast, with sheepshead reports intensifying from throughout the South Jersey region. Wherever you may be fishing the New Jersey, Delaware Bay this weekend – or even if you plan on heading out to the Pocono’s – we’ve got you covered in our Independence Day weekend report from The Fisherman Magazine.
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Yes, it was the age of $6 per gallon gas, it was the age of new flounder regulations in New Jersey. Its definitely a tail of two cities as far as flounder fishing goes this season. More anglers seem to be fishing the back bays harder this year. Is it the gas prices or the regulations at work here? Regardless, the back bay bite has been very good right during the month of June, but with increased water temperatures, those flounder will be looking for deeper, cooler, offshore waters regardless of how high the gas prices get. Will the fleet follow the fish to those wrecks and reefs where they can effectively only take one fish legally due to the new regs? Time will tell, but if history is any indication, there will still be some boats traveling 20 to 25 miles offshore for a shot at a 10-pound or better doormat.
Captain Gary of Cape Horn Marina and Irish Jig Charters tells us that yes there are still plenty of flounder in the bay, but there are also lots of dogfish and rays. He has moved his flounder trips o...
Captain Gary of Cape Horn Marina and Irish Jig Charters tells us that yes there are still plenty of flounder in the bay, but there are also lots of dogfish and rays. He has moved his flounder trips out to the reefs where he did very well this week. Averaging seven keepers per trip, his customers have been very happy to bring some filets home. But not all customers are looking for meat to take home, some are looking for monsters to catch and release. One shark trip did not disappoint with anglers going 3-for-4 on a variety of sharks. One thresher was lost, but two browns and a 7-foot blacktip shark were successfully released. Rounding out the report, Capt. Gary is seeing anglers come in every day from the bay with a mixed catch of flounder, weakfish, and blues More
The flounder bite continues to be very good in the Tuckerton Area according to reports from Dockside Cafe and Marina. We again hear that white Gulp Mullets in the 4- to 5-inch range are taking lots o...
The flounder bite continues to be very good in the Tuckerton Area according to reports from Dockside Cafe and Marina. We again hear that white Gulp Mullets in the 4- to 5-inch range are taking lots of flounder to 22 inches. Many anglers are reporting limit and near limit catches just using Gulp. Other anglers are finding that bucktails tipped with spearing, squid or mackerel are working well. Another report tells us that the crabbing is as good as it gets, with large heavy crabs more than willing to enter a crab trap or latch onto a hand line. More
Mike with Tuckerton Bait and Tackle tells us the two best bets in the Tuckerton area are crabbing and flounder fishing. The crabbing is really strong and many crabbers are finding plenty to take home...
Mike with Tuckerton Bait and Tackle tells us the two best bets in the Tuckerton area are crabbing and flounder fishing. The crabbing is really strong and many crabbers are finding plenty to take home. Same is true of the flounder fishing in the back bays and in Great Bay. Anglers who get out early in the day are having much more success than those fishing midday and late afternoon. Outgoing tide is also key, and when an early morning outgoing tide lines up, anglers are returning to the shop with limit catches of flatfish by 10 a.m. White Gulp Mullets, spearing, squid and live minnows were getting the job done. Hotspots this week heading into July Fourth include Little Sheepshead Creek, the Stink House and Grassy Channel down to Mile Marker 139. But be forewarned, the closer you get to MM 139, the more dogfish and cownose rays you will find. More
The hot flounder bite continues in Great Bay and along the mouth of the Mullica according to Violet with Chestnut Neck Boat Yard. Fish to 4 pounds are being caught on salmon red, nuclear chicken and ...
The hot flounder bite continues in Great Bay and along the mouth of the Mullica according to Violet with Chestnut Neck Boat Yard. Fish to 4 pounds are being caught on salmon red, nuclear chicken and pink shine Gulp 5-inch Saltwater Grubs. These Gulp Grubs have been especially effective fished as a teaser, about 10 inches above a bucktail. Tipping the bucktail with a Gulp Mullet, live minnow or herring strip has also been very effective. Lots of small blues are also being caught using the same baits as are the occasional weakfish. But Violet stresses that the weakfishing can be really good if anglers target these fish and put all the right pieces together. Best bet for weakfish is shedder crab, early morning high tide and little boat traffic. More
Capt. Dave with Absecon Bay Sportsman Center was putting his customers on the fish heading into the final weekend of June. The back bay striper bite has been spectacular with some trips seeing limits...
Capt. Dave with Absecon Bay Sportsman Center was putting his customers on the fish heading into the final weekend of June. The back bay striper bite has been spectacular with some trips seeing limits of fish caught, including slot limits and overs, plus throwbacks from 20 to 28 inches. Most of these fish are being caught on live spot fished on a circle hook. These same waters are also producing good numbers of flounder on the outgoing tide. Anglers using Gulp Mullets and Gulp Paddleshads are seeing flounder to 3 pounds. The most recent hot Gulp Paddleshad color is pink belly shrimp. More
The VFS Flounder Fiasco Tournament was a close race as of Sunday morning, June 26th according to Captain Andy with Riptide Bait and Tackle. Lots of fish were weighed in, with first and second leader ...
The VFS Flounder Fiasco Tournament was a close race as of Sunday morning, June 26th according to Captain Andy with Riptide Bait and Tackle. Lots of fish were weighed in, with first and second leader positions within fractions of an ounce of each other. One of the largest flounder so far in the tournament fell to Guy Wilkins with a 6-pound, 10-ounce flattie. Many of these fish were caught on Gulp and Gulp/minnow combinations. We hear that whether you're fishing the back bays, inlet, beach or reefs, a 5-inch white Gulp Mullet was getting the job done. More
With many ports reporting that the flounder bite is moving offshore to the wrecks and reefs, reports from Ray Scotts Dock tells us that there are plenty of fish in the back bays. Anglers are findin...
With many ports reporting that the flounder bite is moving offshore to the wrecks and reefs, reports from Ray Scotts Dock tells us that there are plenty of fish in the back bays. Anglers are finding limits and near limits of fish in less than 15 feet of water behind Margate. These fish have been falling for live minnow/squid combos and Gulp Mullets. Another hot bite behind this barrier island is the sheepshead bite. Anglers are reporting that the bridges, piers and rip-rap are producing up to a half dozen fish per tide. Green crabs and fiddlers fished on a 1/4- to 3/4 -ounce tog jig are not only taking all these sheepshead, but also taking some really nice (out of season) tog. The striper bite along the bridges and sod banks was also very good this week with anglers scoring fish from 18 to 26 inches. White and pink Zooms were scoring well on the bridges, while sod bank anglers fished bone colored Zara Spooks for some explosive topwater action. More
Weakfish, flounder and sheepshead have all been abundant according to reports from Waterfront Marine. The weakfish bite has been a dawn, dusk and night time bite with pink soft plastics such as Zoom ...
Weakfish, flounder and sheepshead have all been abundant according to reports from Waterfront Marine. The weakfish bite has been a dawn, dusk and night time bite with pink soft plastics such as Zoom Flukes getting the job done. Lighted bridges and sod banks with little boat traffic have been key to finding and getting these fish to bite. As a bycatch, some really nice stripers are falling for the same baits with fish to 26 inches caught. The flounder bite seems to be at its peak in the back bays where Gulp Mullets in white, pink and chartreuse are taking limits of fish to 4 pounds. Lastly, the sheepshead bite has been spectacular with fish to 8 pounds reported on fiddler crab tipped tog jigs. More
Fin-Attics in Ocean City has a huge kayak customer following. These anglers report fantastic back bay flounder and sheepshead fishing. The flounder are in as little as 10 feet of water along the ICW...
Fin-Attics in Ocean City has a huge kayak customer following. These anglers report fantastic back bay flounder and sheepshead fishing. The flounder are in as little as 10 feet of water along the ICW between Ocean City and Strathmere. Outgoing tides have been nudging out incoming as the tide of choice, and the Gulp on Gulp (bucktail tipped Gulp with a Gulp Grub teaster) combo seems to be outfishing all other baits. Some really nice fish to 5 pounds were caught this week and many customers said they were able to catch a limit of flounder for the first time in many years. The sheepshead bite also seems to be the best in years and we hear of up to 12 fish caught on a single trip with the largest fish (which was released) weighing in at 9 pounds. Green crabs and fiddlers are working well on the sheep, and outgoing tide has also been the tide of choice for this species. Lastly, the kingfish bite is on fire from the beachfront to the inlet with bloodworms being the top bait, but a few are starting to fall for Fishbites Bag O Worms. More
Another shop with a large and dedicated kayak fishing clientele is Bait N Hook of Sicklerville. The kayakers tell us that there are still plenty of flounder in the back bays and creeks from Atlanti...
Another shop with a large and dedicated kayak fishing clientele is Bait N Hook of Sicklerville. The kayakers tell us that there are still plenty of flounder in the back bays and creeks from Atlantic City down to Cape May. Outgoing water seemed to be the best tide and many of these anglers dont mess with live or natural baits due to storage issues, instead they rely on Gulp. White Gulp got the job done this week on fish to 4 pounds while fish 10- to 20-foot depths, following the contour of the main channel edges. Again we hear that a Gulp swimming Mullet on a bucktail and a Gulp Grub tied as a teaser was deadly. More
There is a very good selection of fish to choose from in Avalon right now according to Avalon Hodge Podge. Flounder still take top billing with anglers bringing home a couple of fish per trip. Weakf...
There is a very good selection of fish to choose from in Avalon right now according to Avalon Hodge Podge. Flounder still take top billing with anglers bringing home a couple of fish per trip. Weakfish are also getting a lot of attention both in the back bays and along the 8th Street Jetty. These fish are falling for pink Fin-S- Fish and pink Zoom Fluke fished on the bottom of the tide. Our more southerly visitors are also making a strong showing in the area. There have been sheepshead and trigger fish caught and the sheepshead have been pushing the 10-pound mark. More
After a year of anticipation and months of planning, the 16th Annual Grassy Sound Marina Flounder Tournament is in the books. What an exciting event it was with numerous weigh-ins in the Kayak, Boat ...
After a year of anticipation and months of planning, the 16th Annual Grassy Sound Marina Flounder Tournament is in the books. What an exciting event it was with numerous weigh-ins in the Kayak, Boat and Pier Divisions. Overall winner with the heaviest flounder went to Jacob Cana of EHT with his monster back bay flattie of 26 inches, weighing 6 pounds, 13 ounces. The winning fish was caught on a half-ounce leadhead tipped with a pink shine Gulp. The rest of the week saw a steady flounder bite with some weakfish and blues mixed in as bycatch. More
Many boaters took to the water heading into the final weekend of June in search of flounder, sheepshead and crabs . All three species have been cooperating nicely according to the staff at Pier 47 Ma...
Many boaters took to the water heading into the final weekend of June in search of flounder, sheepshead and crabs . All three species have been cooperating nicely according to the staff at Pier 47 Marina. First, the crabbing has been so good that some boaters are filling a bushel basket with keeper crabs for the first time in their life. The crabs are way up the creeks behind the Wildwoods and sources tell me that you cant be too close to the Parkway. The deeper waters along the ICW are holding good numbers of flounder during the outgoing tide. These fish are being caught in waters from 12 to 22 feet. There are many more throwbacks than in weeks past, but still enough keepers to keep even the largest fishing boats fishing the back bays (especially with gas prices where they are). Lastly, sheepshead are making a strong showing in the area with fiddler crabs taking fish to 6 pounds. More
There is a split decision on flounder fishing according to reports from Sterling Harbor Bait and Tackle. While some anglers are sticking with the back bay action, others are looking to the local wrec...
There is a split decision on flounder fishing according to reports from Sterling Harbor Bait and Tackle. While some anglers are sticking with the back bay action, others are looking to the local wrecks and reefs for that trophy fish. While a few fish in the 7-pound range are being caught from Wildwood and Cape May Reef Sites, the action is not hot and heavy. The back bay action has been steady with many anglers able to bring home a fish between 17 and 18 inches and sometimes find that one fish over 18 inches. Weakfishing is seeing a comeback and reports from the Cape May Point Jetties tells us that there is a dawn and dusk bite. Anything pink is the cry, and these anglers mean almost anything. Soft plastics, hard plastics such as MirroLures, and pink teasers fished ahead of minnow plugs are all catching fish from 16 to 23 inches. Low tide was again the prime time to be fishing for these wary gamefish. Save the date for Sterling Harbors 29th Annual Duke of Fluke Tournament on July 16th. More
Boats fishing out of South Jersey Marina report that there are definitely some nice flounder out on the Cape May Reef. Fish to 5 pounds were taken this week with large Gulp baits such as 6-inch grubs...
Boats fishing out of South Jersey Marina report that there are definitely some nice flounder out on the Cape May Reef. Fish to 5 pounds were taken this week with large Gulp baits such as 6-inch grubs and long strip baits (sea robin, mackerel) producing fish. The reef is also holding a lot of quality sea bass which are currently out of season. A few blues and some kingfish round out the catch this week. More
Joe checked in from Hands Too Bait and Tackle with this weeks report. He tells us that there are still plenty of flounder in the back bays, but some boaters have found good fishing out at the Cap...
Joe checked in from Hands Too Bait and Tackle with this weeks report. He tells us that there are still plenty of flounder in the back bays, but some boaters have found good fishing out at the Cape May Reef Site. Fish to 5 pounds came in from the reef this week and we expect to see more of them out there as the back bay water temperatures rise. Closer to the shop, Joe tells us that the kingfish bite has been very good from the local beaches and jetties. There are also some weakfish being caught around Cape May Point by anglers throwing soft plastics. More
Another windy and rainy week plagued the Delaware Bay, but even with the adverse conditions, the summer patterns are beginning to emerge. The typical hotspots such as the EP Tower off of Egg Island a...
Another windy and rainy week plagued the Delaware Bay, but even with the adverse conditions, the summer patterns are beginning to emerge. The typical hotspots such as the EP Tower off of Egg Island and the Miah Maull Light are attracting all the usual visitors; flounder, kingfish, spot, blues and sharks. Live minnows and Gulp Alive are doing a number on the flounder here with Lance Ravis nailing a 21-incher this week by the Light. Kingfish, and spot are being taken on bloodworms and shedder crabs. The bluefish have been on the smaller side but are eating chunked mullet or chunked fresh spot both from the beach and out in the boats. First reported large shark in the area was caught and released, with the angler estimating the sand tiger at between 7 and 8 feet. More
