With the first official day of summer coming up on June 20, it’s important to remember some of the other important transitional changes coming up between spring and summer.
In New Jersey, the 10-fish bag limit for black sea bass comes to an end on Thursday, June 19. Starting on July 1 a one-fish bag limit returns with the same 12-1/2-inch minimum size limit through August 31. The bag limits will return to 10 sea bass per person on October 1, with a 15-fish bag limit in place as of November 1. On the scup side of things, the 10-inch minimum and 30-porgy per person bag ends on June 30, with the season returning as of September 1.
In Delaware, black sea bass is open through September 30 with a 15-fish bag limit and 13-inch size, reopening again for the remainder of the year on October 10. As for porgies, Delaware anglers have a 9-inch size limit and 30-fish bag limit, though not as many “scup” are encountered in Delaware waters as they are to the north.
For those fishing across the border in New York, black sea bass fishing reopens on June 23 and runs through August 31 with a three-fish bag limit and 16-1/2-inch minimum size. From September 1 through December 31, the bag limit goes up to six fish per angler. For porgy pounders in New York marine waters, the fishery is open from May 1 through December 31 with a 30-fish per person bag limit; the size of a keeper scup there depends on where you’re fishing, as shorebound anglers get a 9-1/2-inch size limit while boaters must contend with an 11-inch minimum size limit.
Always keep in mind that the waters you’re in at any given moment are the regulations that you must follow. If leaving from Fortescue on the New Jersey side of the Delaware Bay for example, your summer flounder size limit west of the COLREGS is 17 inches with a three-fish bag; however, once you cross the boundary into Delaware waters, the size limit for flounder increases to 17-1/2 inches as of June 1, with a four-fish bag.
Your size, season and bag limits matter wherever you are at the moment, where you are heading and where you are finally pulling in to port. For more on the coastal regulations and license/registration requirements from Maine to Maryland go to www.thefisherman.com/marine-regulations.
