May 11, 2026 - 10:32:57
Danny at the Tackle Box in Hazlet said bass fishing exploded this week with Sandy Hook beaches being lit up with bass chomping on bunker chunks as well as clams. Surfsters tossing Jersey Cape Glides and NLBN rubbertails were also hanging fish. Fluke anglers were drifting killies on slip bobbers at the hook to score the first flatties of the season back at the Keansburg Pier as well as at North Beach. Black drum ate up some clam baits at The Hook and some medium sized bluefish hit yellow mag darters off Sandy Hook’s shores.
May 11, 2026 - 10:32:45
“It was an excellent week of striped bass fishing in Raritan Bay and surrounding waters this past week,” cited Phil over at the Tackle Box. He said that there was a decent mix of sizes, dominated by shorts and overs which had to be released that made up the bulk of the fishing. The best fishing was from the Shrewsbury Rocks to the Hook were jumbo bass to 50-plus pounds were caught on all kinds of swimming plugs. Phil mentioned that anglers were seeing the fluke fishing being dominated by shorts and keepers at a premium. He said it will be a couple more weeks before the bulk of the flatties move into the bay and most other fisheries are going to be late this year because of the cold water and winter we had. “It will be interesting to see how we start the sea bass fishing off this Friday,” he said.
May 04, 2026 - 10:28:52
Dan of the Tackle Box in Hazlet said Keansburg Pier has been lit up with stripers as they are hitting everything under the sun from clams, chunks, plugs, shads, you name it. Sandy Hook has also been hot as chunking bunker has been the best bet for big bass in all the Parking Lot areas as well as North Beach. Up at the Rip, anglers hoofing it out there are scoring big fish on wooden swimmers. Danny said the fluke are going start the season snapping as bass anglers dropping jigs have been hooking fluke all week long. There were also a couple reports of bluefish in the Sandy Hook surf.
May 04, 2026 - 10:28:42
Another person that told us it was a good week of fishing for stripers was Phil over at the Tackle Box. The fishing was a mix of slots, keepers and plenty of jumbo bass. Phil said the bass were all over the bay outside the Hook and in the back waters. The full moon also pushed some fluke into the bay and anglers fishing shads and trolling Mojos were catching and releasing fluke after the full moon. He said with the fluke season opening up on Monday hopefully we will see a good start to the fluke fishing.
