hot spot

Located at the northeast corner of Block Island, Clay Head offers action from spring through fall on a variety of species.

Old Bare Shoal (38 56.843N / 75 13.703W) lies between the Green Can (38 57.004N / 75 15.008W) and Reef Site 5 (38 54.005N / 75 11.008W) on the Delaware side of the bay, rising from 48 feet in the Anchorage to 3 feet at the top before dropping back to 23 feet in the Broadkill Slough (38 54.933N / 75 13.043W). A heading of 105 degrees off the Mispillion Jetty will take you directly across the shoal.

Whether you get them coming or going, the lower stretch of the Connecticut River is a great spot to intercept that first cow striped bass of the season.

Anglers all across the Garden State have been getting snake bit by one northern coast hot spot – the Rattlesnake. It is said the name derived from the odd shape of the rocky mass in that it appears like a rattlesnake coiled and poised for a strike. Make no mistake though, this hot spot definitely doesn’t bite (certainly not based on fluke reports from recent seasons).

Legend has it that the England Banks were named as such by early skiff fishermen who launched their boats from the crashing surf; as they rowed fastidiously to the grounds roughly 2 to 3 miles offshore, the distance to get there seemed like they “were rowing to England.”

As a kid growing up in the 1980s, no other event was looked upon with such fervor as ice fishing on Lake Hopatcong. The thrill of pulling chain pickerel and yellow perch through a hole in the ice is why the big lake continues to get my blood flowing to this day.

On June 15, 2018 an 11-month project was completed when the State of Delaware sank the Twin Capes, a ferry boat that once served the Cape May/Lewes run across Delaware Bay. The ferry was sold by the Delaware Bay and River Authority to Coleen Marine in Norfolk, VA. Coleen Marine did all the preparation work then when the ferry hit the bottom of the ocean they sold it back to the State of Delaware. This process is necessary because of liability concerns.

A certain little spot packs a big bite in South Jersey. About 14 miles on a slight southeast course out of the Great Egg Inlet sits the Dog Lump, where the nautical contour lines elicit an uncanny resemblance to an actual dog—ears, nose, body, tail and all—but all those funny looking lines tell of drastic changes in water depths that attract late summer and early fall pelagics.

Mountain Lake gets its name from Jenny Jump Mountain overlooking its glacial 122 acres. Located in Liberty Township, Warren County, its maximum depth is 38 feet, mean depth 17 feet. Although trout get stocked once in the spring prior to opening day, any holdovers are unlikely because the lake becomes anoxic in the depths during summer, no oxygen present below the thermocline.

Composed of clay and gravel covered by mussel beds, this spot hosts schools of striped bass and bluefish throughout the season.

There are four general areas “out east” that tuna hunters use as reference points, and they hold bluefin and other pelagics from June through December.

Looking for a place to fish on Opening Day? Why not give one of Connecticut’s 12 Trout Parks a try?

This spot can play host to some very good striped bass, bluefish and blackfish action throughout the spring summer and fall