A diamond in the artificial reef rough that’s being polished to the point this might be the year its fishing potential, particularly for fluke, takes on a shine that will direct the GPS to its angling riches. That’s the expectation for the Delaware Bay Reef, established (along with the Manasquan Inlet Reef) in 2017, making it one of the two youngest in the Garden State’s 17 strong artificial reef system. It’s been 6 years since we first spotlighted the Delaware Bay Reef site as a Hot Spot, and a lot of good has come since then.
Four distinct features make the 1.1-square mile Delaware Bay Reef unique among its structure strewn kin, the first being that it’s established in an estuarine environment. The second is that it’s the shallowest of the reefs with a 19- to 35-foot clearance. The third is that the 17 deployments (three undertaken in late April, early May ‘25) consist of almost entirely of dredge rock, with some repurposed concrete being included in the most recent deployment. All told 1,100 tons were spread. The fourth? Well, it’s the only artificial reef on the New Jersey side of the sprawling Delaware Bay.
The plan by New Jersey’s Bureau of Marine Fisheries to establish a reef in Delaware Bay was on the drawing board starting in 2014. Involved was an amalgam of entities to “all systems go” status including the New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council, the state’s Shellfish Council, NOAA Fisheries and the Mid Atlantic Fishery Management Council, the latter which gave the ultimate approval of the site. Of critical importance in the process was inclusion of input from local stakeholders including commercial clammers, crabbers, oystermen and finfish interests (bunker and shad netters), as well as recreational fishing organizations.
Upon across-the-board approval, the permit was finally issued by the US Army Corps of Engineers. The reef itself is located 5.3 nautical miles from the shore point at Rio Grande. According to Capt. Peter Clarke, a principal biologist with the bureau and its artificial reef coordinator, the Delaware Bay location was chosen primarily because it had the least amount of any type of structure as per its flat, sandy bottom. However, it wasn’t long after the first deployment that things were percolating.
“Within the first few months invertebrate life was thriving, and with that, fish started to show,” said Clarke, explaining how the site has been attracting more and more life, especially species like fluke, croakers, tautog and black drums. “I’ll tell you, this site is set to deliver. It’s an extremely productive site and I expect it to be a dynamic fishery,” said Clarke who described the future as looking bright on the Delaware Bay Reef site. “It’s definitely going to be a go-to spot,” he added.
An avid angler himself, especially for fluke, tog and sea bass, Clarke emphasized that the makeup of the Delaware Bay Reef lends itself particularly well to fluke. The rubble-and-chunk strewn bottom affords ambush points galore for fluke eyeballing the schools of forage passing through, as well as sniping at the likes of small crabs and other unfortunates. This is prime light tackle fluke catching territory, be it with bucktail or jighead tipped with Gulp or Fishbites, live minnow, or a sure flattie flattener in Delaware Bay in the form of a juicy strip of smooth doggie. An added draw is that the minimum possession length is a yummy 17 inches for New Jersey anglers on this side of the Delaware Bay.
With the increasing number of invertebrates taking up residence, namely mussels and crabs, it’s a given that blackfish are taking up residence and will offer decent opportunities. The reef is a natural draw for transient black drum via its abundance of crustacean victuals, and a wad of surf clam, or a chunk of crab at the outskirts will surely feel the beat. As mentioned, also expect a few sizable croakers in the mix. The population of these miniature drum is on the upswing, with another drummer, the weakfish, also showing signs of a significant increase.
A thorough dissection of the Delaware Bay Reef is available by Googling “New Jersey Artificial Reef Program” to get to the actual njfishandwildlife.com page; a lot of livewell filling numbers will continue to be added as this particular reef site for Delaware Bay anglers is continually enhanced with new material.
To put yourself smack dab on top of the very first deployment of dredge rock deposited back in 2018 put 39° 02.856’N by 75° 04.051’W into your machine.
