New Jersey & Delaware Bay - Southern New Jersey Fishing Reports

Gina’s regulars at Dockside Cafe and Marina report plenty of good flounder action from the bay up to the mouth of the Mullica River. Weeding through short fish is the only way to find a keeper, but the keepers have become more common this week as the water temperature rises. The bigger fish seemed to have a preference for 4-inch Gulp Mullets or Grubs fished on bucktails. Interesting color combinations were reported including pink or black bucktails with nuclear chicken or chartreuse Gulp baits. Other reports were that a few drumfish were caught in the bay by anglers fishing with clam and some smaller blues made their way into the bay and were caught by anglers targeting flounder.

Mike at Tuckerton Bait and Tackle tells us that the weather and the weekend finally lined up and he and his customers couldn't be happier. Gallons of minnows met their fate this weekend in the mouths of hungry flounder. Anglers are still finding that short fish are outnumbering keepers by a 15-1 margin, but there is lots of action to keep anglers busy. Also keeping anglers busy, and on their toes, is the staggering number of huge smooth doggies around. Avoiding the doggies, if at all possible, is step number one in finding flounder. Mike also warns that there are brownies around too. Speaking of toothy critters, bluefish are scattered about the bay as are the stripers. The warm and sunny days really broke the crabbing scene wide open with full traps of keeper crabs for happy crabbers.

There are plenty of flounder around according to Justin with Allen’s Dock. The bay water temperatures warmed up a bit and the bite is also heating up. Gulp, minnows, spearing and strip baits are all working on fish to 24 inches, along with plenty of short action for everyone. Stripers are still being caught in the river with fish in the slot range and also bonus tag fish caught this week. The river is also seeing the white perch return to their summer haunts and are being caught on bloodworms and grass shrimp.

White perch have made a rebound this week and are spread out along the river according to Wally with Jersey Devil Marina. Bloodworms have been the top bait and anglers reported over a dozen good size fish per trip. Stripers continue to be caught in the Mullica, especially downstream of the Parkway Bridge. Live eels have been the best baits with fish reportedly in the bonus tag size range all the way up to 40 inches.

Anglers are still targeting stripers in the Mullica with good success according to Violet with Chestnut Neck Boat Yard. Live eels have been the key to getting these fish to bite as plenty of anglers say they are marking fish but coming up empty when trolling, jigging on throwing hard/soft plastics. The fish have been ranging in size from 18 to 34 inches with plenty of fish in the keeper slot range. Flounder action improved this week with reports of fish being caught consistently on the outgoing tide near the Fish Factory. The standards like minnows, spearing, squid and Gulp were all working, but anglers reported that the keeper ratio improved dramatically when fishing quartered shedder crabs on top n’ bottom rigs.

Pulling Capt. Dave at Absecon Bay Sportsman Center away from his blue crab shedding tanks is a tough task, but he made time for this week’s fishing report. Much like last week, anglers are using live spot fished in the creeks to find both keeper flounder and slot size stripers. His customers also report that the stripers have been willing to take 5-inch Gulp Mullets fished on half-ounce leadheads. Flounder anglers are finding plenty of short fish by fishing minnows, spearing and squid, but the larger fish are falling for the live spot or larger Gulp baits.

Capt. Andy with Riptide Bait and Tackle reports a bit of a slowdown in the striper bite, but the black drum are still around. Both are being caught on Riptide Rotters (clams) with stripers falling into the slot limit and drum to 20 pounds. In the back bay, flounder fishing is improving with more keepers being caught this week. The first hour of the outgoing tide got the fish biting and customers reported fish to 22 inches on live minnows.

Jersey Nutz Sportfishing is currently gearing up for the tuna season, which could break open any day now. Until that happens, they are putting anglers on some big tilefish with their deep drop canyon fishing trips. The crew boated limits of golden tiles recently.

Clam and bunker were getting it done this week on stripers and blues according to Noel with One Stop Bait and Tackle. While there are still some stripers to 40 inches around, the majority of fish this week fell into the bonus tag or slot limit range, which is good news for anglers looking to take home a fish. Blitzes of blues have been hitting the jetties with anglers throwing hard plastics from the tip of the jetties to the pockets. In addition to the gator blues in the 10-pound range, there have been plenty of good eating size fish in the 2- to 5-pound range. Keeper flounder are being caught along with plenty of throwbacks from the jetties, inlet and back bays. Squid and minnow combos have been the best overall baits, but anglers are also scoring on big spearing and mackerel strips. Some are reporting that the bigger baits, like the mackerel strips are producing the larger fish.

There are lots of flounder just yards from the dock according to reports out of Scott’s Dock. Private boaters, the rental fleet and the party boat Capt. Robin are not burning much gas at all before dropping lines and finding fish. The overwhelming majority of the fish are shorts, but it has been consistent action all week regardless of the tides or wind. Naked minnows are still the best bait for high numbers of fish while keepers are more likely to be caught on something more substantial like a bucktail tipped with a Gulp or strip of herring, squid or mackerel.

There are lots of flounder in the bay right now according to Waterfront Marine, but you have to pick through a lot of short fish to find some keepers. Minnow and squid or spearing and squid combos have been the top producing baits, scoring dozens of shorts and keepers to 23 inches. Outgoing has been the dominant tide which is showing water temps around 5 degrees warmer than the incoming tides. Bycatches have included some nice eating size bluefish in the 2- to 4-pound size range. At night, the local bridges and piers are seeing stripers feeding in the shadowlines. Anglers are finding fish to 26 inches on quarter-ounce leadheads tipped with 3-inch Gulp Mullets with pink or nuclear chicken top colors.

Billy at Fin-Atics relays that the new/updated Ocean City Fishing Pier is open and is a great spot for shore-based anglers to get in on the good summertime fishing right now. The ribbon cutting ceremony was on Friday and by Sunday we had already heard of flounder being caught from the pier. The back bays seem to be loaded with fish right now with many anglers telling us they have been able to scrape up a keeper or two out of the dozen of fish caught per trip. The advice this week was to keep it simple, plain live minnow fished on a top and bottom rig accounted for plenty of fish, and fishing the outgoing tide was paramount.

I stopped at Pier 47 Marina to gas up this weekend and the dockhands all had the same report; lots of short flounder, hard to find a keeper. It has still been the “way-back” bay creeks that have been producing the best number of fish this week. Up to two dozen fish with maybe one keeper “if you're lucky”. I had to admit to them that I was one of the “unlucky” ones without a fish in the box. They also reported that some slipholders were taking a trip to the Delaware Bay and found a great drumfish bite in the late afternoons off of Reeds Beach. Fish to 50 pounds were cleaned at the fillet table earlier in the week.

Nick at Hand’s Too Bait and Tackle says that the drumfish bite in the Delaware Bay is better than he’s seen in at least 15 years. Less than a mile off the beach, boaters are finding up to a dozen fish in a night. This week saw some “smaller fish”, namely 15- to 20-pounders, but also some big slobs in the mix in the 60-pound range. Fresh clams fished in 10 to 18 feet of water on the moving tide have been the key to boxing fish. Back bay flounder anglers have been seeing better numbers of fish since the water warmed, but the keeper ratio is still low. Minnows, squid, and Gulp baits are catching a lot of fish, but anglers are really working for a keeper or two in back of the Wildwoods.

Boulevard Bait and Tackle reported a strong week with flounder anglers really seeing the bite improve. Not only were short fish were on tap, but some customers found limits of keepers to 22 inches. There was also a notable weigh-in of a 6-pound back bay flattie. The fish are being caught on a variety of baits including live minnows, spearing and squid, but some customers swear that the only bait they put on a hook this time of the year is the house made salmon strip bellies. Anglers fishing along the surf and inlet are still finding some stripers on clam baits but there are also plenty of dogfish around to keep anglers busy. In the back bays, the blues are feeding heavily at night from the sod banks and near the lighted bridges. Hard plastics like the traditional Long A Bombers have been working on fish to 8 pounds.

I stopped in to see Big Dave himself at Big Dave’s Tackle on Route 47 in Port Elizabeth on Sunday. I not only got this week’s fishing report but also a tour of the shop. Lots of improvements over the last owner including a “rod room” which is like a fantasy come true. Rods, reels and tackle from fresh water to surf and everything in between. Dave tells us that the “beat goes on” in the Delaware bay for black drum. Fishing has been outstanding with a nice variety of smaller fish being caught, as well as those boomers pushing 65 pounds. Fresh clam has been the best bait and the action is just a few miles from the Cape May Canal. Out to the deep and the wrecks are producing good numbers of sea bass with the deeper wrecks giving up more keepers. Along the surf, inlets and back bays from Cape May County to Atlantic County, the stripers are still feeding on clams, bunker and bloodworms and reports of fish to 46- inches came in this week. Mixed in with the stripers are the occasional black drum and some monster bluefish to 10 pounds. Flounder action is getting better every week with anglers finding plenty of action. Some are finding it hard to get a keeper while others are limiting out. James Wilkes only brought one to the scale on Saturday, but it was a slab of a flounder. This fish was over 27 inches and just under 8 pounds, 8 ounces, and has been entered into The Fisherman Dream Boat Contest.