New Jersey & Delaware Bay - Southern New Jersey Fishing Reports

The folks at Dockside Cafe and Marina told us that anglers are finding stripers, perch and drum in the area and that the crabbing is just starting to take off. Stripers and drum are being caught in Great Bay on bloodworms or clam baits. Many of the bass have been in the slot keeper range and above. The drum are taking clam baits and occasionally the bloodworms intended for bass, and they have been reported to be in the 15- to 25-pound range. The river and creeks are also producing some nice size perch as they are moving into their spawning areas. Live grass shrimp and bloodworms are the baits of choice.

The good striper bite continues according to reports out of Empire Fishing and Tackle. Fish are being taken in the Mullica River as well as in Great Bay on bloodworms and clam baits. Keeper size fish and above are being taken every day, the action is pretty hot right now. Those fishing with clams are also coming across some nice size drum in the bay. On the tog grounds, both inshore and offshore, the action was very good with limits of fish being reported to 6 pounds on green crabs.

Mike with Tuckerton Bait and Tackle tells us that there are a lot of bass around the area. Anglers are picking up fish in the back bays from local docks, in the rivers and creeks and also in the bay. Bloodworms were the top bait, but now that fresh clam is available, many anglers are making the switch and in the process upping their odds at hooking a drum while striper fishing. Several nice drum were caught at Graveling Point in recent weeks, and anglers also report that their baits are getting all chewed up by crabs, so they are starting to move around as well. Mike also tells us the tog action has been really good this spring, with more green crab demand than he’s ever seen. Anglers are not only scoring on the nearshore wrecks and reefs, but the land based anglers, including those fishing the end of Seven Bridges Road reporting hitting their bag limits during the latter part of April.

The striper bite in the bay is still pretty hot according to Justin with Allen’s Dock. The fish are taking both bloodworms and clam baits and there are plenty of fish in the keeper slot range being caught. In the river, the fishing has been a bit tougher with anglers marking lots of fish but having a hard time getting them to bite. They are probably only in the mood to spawn, but when the spawn is over, Justin expects the fishery to bust wide open. There were reports of drum being caught in the bay, but none have been brought to the scales just yet. Justin is stocked up with bloodworms, clams, eels and live minnows will be arriving in plenty of time ahead of flounder season on May 4.

Anglers are seeing a decent striper bite in the Mullica if they are drifting live eels according to Violet with Chestnut Neck Boat Yard. The fish have been turning their noses up at artificials, including trolled baits. Live eels have been the key to putting some fish on deck, and those fish have ranged in size from 24 to 36 inches. For the land based angler, Graveling Point was the hot spot again as anglers have been finding lots of fish in the keeper size range and over, all on bloodworm baits.

The stripers are all around the Absecon Area according to Capt. Dave with Absecon Bay Sportsman’s Center. The back bays have been very good for fish to 30 inches on bloodworms, clams and even on artificials like Gulp Paddleshads. Along the inlet, there are even more fish and these are hitting both soft and hard plastic lures, and these fish are pushing the 36-inch mark.

Brigantine is on the board with its first weakfish in the shop, a 19-incher according to Capt. Andy with Riptide Bait and Tackle. The oceanfront has also come alive with reports of stripers from the beach and jetty on RipTide Rotters (clam). There have also been the first reports of black drum in the area, from the beaches, also taking the Riptide Rotters. All of this action is ahead of schedule as compared to last year's report, so May should be a fantastic month along the beaches and behind Brigantine.

After waiting out the spring weather, the crew of Jersey Nutz Sportfishing Charters finally got out to the tilefishing grounds. Unfortunately they found very cold water temperatures and way too many dogfish in 600+ feet of water. The crew will definitely give it another try as there is a high demand from anglers for this type of fishing. Summer tuna charters are also in high demand and prime dates are filling up.

Tog and stripers were taking center stage in Atlantic City during the week of April 15th according to reports from Noel with One Stop Bait and Tackle. The tog bite was on fire with anglers catching keeper fish to 3 pounds, and many coming close to their limit of four keepers per trip. All of these fish are being caught from the Atlantic City Jetty System. Also from the jetties, the biomass of striped bass this spring has been nothing short of amazing. Anglers are throwing artificials as well as clams and bloodworms and finding stripers in the slot range and over. But it’s been pretty amazing that even with a narrow slot, so many fish being caught are within this size range and are able to be harvested. In the back bays, the stripers are also feeding right alongside large drum. Here, bloodworms and fresh clams are the top baits.

There were some tog being caught in the back bays right now according to Justin with Scott’s Dock (formerly Ray Scott’s Dock). Many of these fish are small, but anglers were finding some fish in the 2- to 3-pound range from the bridges. As tautog ends with the month of April, back bay striper action is starting to catch fire and we heard reports of fish being caught on bloodworms and clam baits. There have also been plenty of fish caught along Longport and Absecon Inlet with soft plastics being popular here with fish to 34 inches.

While the crew at Waterfront Marina provided current reports on the tog and striper action, all thoughts are on the May 4th opening of the summer flounder season. The Longport area has been especially productive for both tog and stripers for the last few weeks. Tog were taking green crabs and stripers are taking a variety of baits including bloodworms, clams and soft plastic baits. Offshore, the wrecks and reefs were loaded with life and many anglers reported easy limits of tog to 5 pounds.

“Incredible” is how the crew at Fin-Atics described the tog and striper action of late. The tog were not only being caught from the wrecks and reefs, but also from the local jetties, sea walls and bridges. Fish to 4 pounds were reported from land based anglers, while the wreck anglers managed fish to 8 pounds. Stripers were found from the river all the way out to the inlet. The river and bay fish were taking bloodworms or clam baits. The fish closer to the inlets were also falling for these baits, but were even more likely to be caught on 6- to 8-inch soft plastics and 6-inch minnow type hard plastics. Larger fish were in the rivers, but the “Goldilocks” fish (those in the keeper slot range) were much more plentiful as you got closer to the Great Egg Harbor Inlet.

After a couple of disappointing blowout weeks, Capt. Mike with Mighty Heron Charters finally got out to the wreck sites for some tog action. While trophy tog were the target, the mega whitechins did not cooperate. Instead, the crew wound up with a very respectable total of over 80 fish, 17 of them keepers. Capt. Mike is already planning for the start of the spring black sea bass Season, which will include some deep water trips for jumbo sea bass.

Many of the customers we spoke with this week from Bait N’ Hook tell us that the hottest spot in South Jersey just might be Atlantic City. Here, anglers are both tog fishing and striper fishing along the jetty front and boardwalk. Tog were taking green crabs, there are tons of fish and many anglers are finding keepers in the 2- to 3-pound range. Much of the striper action has been on darker colored soft plastics, including 9-inch Slug-Gos, 10-inch Hogy Eels, and 8-inch NLBN Straight Tails. An amazing number of these fish have been in the slot range for the last few weeks with more fish coming through each week in the “over” size range.

The back bay striper bite continues to be very good according to reports from Pier 47. As the spring progresses, it seems as though new schools of stripers move through the area. One week all the fish are 22 to 26 inches, and the next week sees fish from 28 to 33 inches. This past week was again a mix, but with more larger fish pushing in from the ocean in the 32-inch plus size range. Anchoring up in the deeper holes along the ICW and fishing fresh clam is one way anglers are scoring these fish. Other ways include the use of soft and hard plastic artificials, including Zooms and Bombers, fished along the sod banks and bridge pilings.

As the Delaware Bay and the ocean cleans up after weeks of storms, the striper action is starting to heat up along the banks according to reports from customers of Hands Too Bait and Tackle. Anglers fishing from Poverty Beach, around Cape May Point and up into the Villas are starting to see stripers on both bait and on hard plastic lures. The fish are not monsters and have been ranging in size from 22 to 30 inches. Tog action also started to improve on the jetties as the water cleaned up. No reports of drumfish just yet on the Jersey side of the Bay, but with April 23 full moon, things should kick into high gear soon after.

Higbee’s Bait and Tackle continues to report that day in and day out, the Fortescue Beach is giving up lots of striped bass on bloodworms. The size of the fish are all over the place with many just over 28 inches, and some as large as 47 inches. Under the cover of darkness is when the bigger fish seem to put on the feed bag, including a 47-incher for Tyler Smith of Millville.