New Jersey & Delaware Bay - Southern New Jersey Fishing Reports

We started this report with a call to my old friend Mike Hayes over at Tuckerton Bait and Tackle who told me October was more of an average month for fishing. He stated this year was off when compared to last season with a few fish such as blowfish being scarce this year. Striped bass fishing in the second half of October was decent for mixed size fish which were mostly local fish and he said it looks like the better fishing will be in November this year. However Mike said he will be closing the shop as per tradition as of November 1 for the season.

Bass are stacked up along the sod banks and reports from the anglers that are fishing them are telling of some good catches of local mixed size stripers, that’s according to Justin over at Allen’s Dock. In addition Justin said some bass are also being caught along the ocean front beaches along with occasional small blues. He too said the tog fishing has been picky since the big storm but is improving daily.

A call to the crew over at Jersey Devil Marina got us another report of local stripers on the move. They said striped bass was the only fish anglers were chasing as of this call and told us it looks like the bass will be in real good supply when the migratory fish start adding to the fish in local waters. This should mean good bass fishing in November maybe even into December if the weather stays mild.

Perch fishing in the Mullica River was decent most of the year then got an interruption from the nor’easter and rebounded just in time for the second half of October and should go well into November, said sources over at the Chestnut Neck Boat Yard. In addition they mentioned local stripers also started to move into the lower river and are more than likely dining on the perch and these fish should stay in place through November. As a result the shop is stocking eels and spot for the linesiders.

I spoke with Capt. Dave Showell at the Absecon Bay Sportsman Center and he told me he has started his fall fishing for striped bass and will be fishing for the linesiders right up until the end of November. Dave said his first couple trips produced excellent fishing with anglers limiting out with keepers and slots. Hopefully the fishing will remain that good into November, he said.

The Brigantine jetty is serving up some good tog fishing on greens and sand fleas according to Andy Grossman of Riptide Bait and Tackle. He said the fishing started to slow after the one October nor’easter but gradually picked up steam and barring any interference from the weather November is looking good for the whitechins. He also mentioned plenty of mixed size local stripers being caught in the back bay with both artificials and bait taking the bass. “Once we start seeing the migratory bass along the ocean front we should see some real good bass action in November,” Andy said. On the downside he said the kingfishing has been slow and it looks like that fishing is over for the season, especially looking into the teeth of the second October nor’easter during the week of October 19.

We got word of a nice mix of fish being caught when we spoke with Noel Feliciano over at One Stop Bait and Tackle. He told us if you are looking for the tog green crabs and sand fleas will put you into the whitechins off the rocks and in the back bay. In addition there are still some croakers and spot being caught mixed in with the tog. When it comes to the striped bass anglers are catching some nice mixed size bass in the back waters of the bay. As to the month of November the fishing is looking good especially when you ad in the migratory bass, bluefish and bonito that should start moving down the coast any time now.

Congratulations to Angela and Paul Suhr who fish out of the Waterfront Marina and who caught their first fall stripers on their new boat. Sean Reilly told me that like most anglers fishing this time of the year they had the hungry for a striper syndrome. May you catch many more! Sean also mentioned that the tog fishing has been very good on the wrecks outside and in the back bay. Likewise the marina also got reports of swordfish being caught offshore when anglers have been able to get out. He said it looks like the offshore fishing is finally starting to come into its own since the storm, just in time for the November fishing.

We got a good report from the folks over at Fin-Atics, with Bill Wiggins starting off by saying some kingfish and small blues are still active in the local surf and he expects that fishing to turn to stripers in November. If you are looking for the bass the better fishing has been for the local fish in the back bay waters on bait and plugs. On the bottom fishing front sea bass, tog, a few kingfish and other ground fish are bending rods. With a one fish limit on tog it won’t be until mid November when the bag limit goes up that the fishing gets heavy. Going into November sea bass numbers look good but you have to pick through the shorts to get your 15 keepers. Bill said November is traditionally the month that the migrating stripers turn the fishing hot along the beaches.

“Stripers, perch, a few weakfish and southern kingfish in short provided some good late month fishing along the southern coast,” said Nick over at Hands Too Bait and Tackle. He said the back bay fishing was decent for stripers and other fish on the top of the incoming tide and anglers fishing the suds were also doing well along the ocean front beaches. On the downside he said the tog still have yet to recover from the big blow and fishing for the whitechins has been picky.

When it comes to firsts Port Norris got its first striped bass blitz the third week in October according to Dave over at Big Dave’s Tackle. He also mentioned the continued good fishing for mixed size striped bass in the back waters of the bay and the lower Maurice River right up to the Dam. If you are looking for the blackfish the rock piles are serving up a nice mix of shorts and keepers on green crabs and sand fleas, as well as the sod banks in the back bay. Here too the word for November is all the things are starting to fall in place. November should serve up some of the best striper and tog fishing of the season barring any weather problems.