NJ Headlines – Black Drum, Weakfish & Jumbo Striped Bass

On the heels of April’s moon and a glorious Easter/Passover weekend, spring fishing just entered a new phase at the Jersey Shore with the arrival of black drum and weakfish. On the drum front, most early action is coming from behind Absecon/Little Egg area right now, but expect the Cape May to Lewes grounds to come alive with drum fishermen soon enough. It would appear as if another slug of jumbo stripers has made its way up along the Delaware Bayshore and upriver to spawn, with a 50-plus-incher reported at Fortescue tops of the week. More on the coastal and Raritan striper bite in this week’s report, the very first weakfish reported in the New Jersey, Delaware Bay region, and scenes from Spring Lake and the 2023 trout opener in the Garden State leading into our Pocono Outdoors Guy’s update. As a reminder to Garden State anglers, as of this week’s video fishing forecast release date we’re just 19 days out from the start of fluke season at the Jersey Shore.