Located 23 miles offshore of Great Egg Inlet, the Deepwater Reef is the furthest artificial reef to reach in the New Jersey artificial reef program. That distance and the fact that it lies off South Jersey makes it a very interesting proposition for anglers in that it offers up some oddities and larger pelagics during the summer months.
Compared to other New Jersey reefs, there is not a mess of structure on the site, but what is there is large. A bunch of the old NYC Redbird subway cars (about 50) are strewn and scattered about, along with the 244-foot tanker Vincent Tibbets, a 120-foot tug AJ McAllister, 104-foot tug Divers Abyss and the 224-foot barge named bassbarn.com.
Water depth at the reef spans 90 to 135 feet with the deepest section housing the 244-foot tanker, the two tugs lie together on the south end of the reef while the redbird cars mainly scatter about on the east side.
On June 8, 2020 a 150-foot section of a caisson gate was dropped down on the reef in a section of 125 feet of water (38 58.300 x 074 10.900). A caisson gate is a barrier used to dam off the open end of a dry dock and is constructed of heavy gauge steel with several tons of ballast in the keel; To me, it looks like the wall in Game of Thrones it’s so darn big! That deployment among so many others in the Garden State was sponsored by The Sportfishing Fund, an organization dedicated to artificial reef building (TheSportfishingfund.org).
While most New Jersey reefs are about bottomfishing, and no doubt, you can get a fair share of tautog, black sea bass, cod and ling here during the colder months, the Deepwater Reef attracts species outside of the norm. Sharkers can set up on a slick here to find makos, threshers, and blue sharks during July and August. Bluefin tuna will cruise through the area from June through October as trollers and chunkers try to tempt them to strike.
Southern visitors will infiltrate the area and dedicated trollers dragging clark spoons, feathers and the like will find king mackerel, Spanish mackerel, bonito, albies, mahi and other species that come up for a visit when the water warms up in the summer. If one is heading out to the 30- and 40-fathom lines, the Deepwater Reef is always a solid spot to concentrate around on your way back to dock as you never know what may be hanging around the area.
Dedicated bottom brawlers will make the run to the reef during the winter months when sea bass begin to migrate offshore as limits can be easily plucked from the wrecks that time of year. Trophy blackfish hunters will also test the waters here in the winter as bulldog tog move offshore to find warmer waters.
Though in existence since 2002, the Deepwater Reef doesn’t get the attention nor the traffic as other reef sites, most likely due to its distance; but that means it’s usually ripe for the picking. Give it a shot this year, and maybe you can find a new “secret” spot to add to your arsenal.
