This week along the Jersey coast, July is delivering the goods. The fluke fishing has shifted into its summer ocean pattern, the mid-range tuna grounds are alive, and the surf crowd is scratching out kingfish and blues between beach crowds.
What’s Hitting
Fluke are the bread and butter, with keepers coming off the ocean reefs and lumps in 40 to 80 feet and steady action in the back bays on the moving tide. Bluefin tuna are within mid-range reach, from the Mud Hole out to the 30-fathom lumps, with mahi starting to show around the pots. Sea bass are mixed in on the structure, kingfish are in the surf wash, and blues are around the inlets.
Where to Find Them
Ocean fluke want structure — the reef sites off Sea Girt, Axel Carlson, and the Old Grounds south are all producing. In the bays, fish the channel edges of Barnegat and Great Bay on the last of the incoming. The bluefin have been on the inshore lumps early, with bird play giving them away.
Tides & Conditions
A stretch of light wind has kept the ocean drift-friendly — ideal for the reef fluke game. Water temperatures in the suds are in the low 70s, right for kingfish. Pop-up thunderstorms remain the main scheduling hazard this week.
Tackle & Tactics
Ocean fluke want a 4- to 6-ounce bucktail tipped with Gulp, worked vertically on braid. Bay fish take the lighter version of the same rig. For the bluefin, run-and-gun with poppers and stickbaits when they show on top, or troll ballyhoo and bars when they stay down. Kingfish in the surf eat bloodworm bits on small hooks.
Local Intel This Week
Leonardo State Marina serves Raritan Bay, the Belmar Marina ramp covers the Shark River and northern ocean grounds, and the Somers Point ramp is the workhorse for Great Egg Harbor. Fish are concentrating on ocean structure and the channel edges on tide. Fluke size and bag rules differ by region and change annually — check current New Jersey regulations before keeping fish.
This Week’s Tip
On the reefs, a fluke drift that dies is a drift wasted. If the wind and tide cancel each other out, power-drift with the motor bumped in and out of gear to keep the bucktail moving — motion is what triggers the bigger flatfish.