Updated: Thursday, September 24, 2026 · Next update: Thursday, October 1, 2026
This New Jersey fishing report covers late September, and I edited the New Jersey reports for years, so I know this stretch always carries the same headline: the mullet run. The finger mullet pour out of the back bays and down the beaches, and everything in the surf eats them. Striped bass and bluefish are the lead targets on that bait. Plan around the strong tides of the Saturday full moon, with the dropping tide and first light as the prime windows on the sand.
What’s Hitting
The mullet run brings stripers and bluefish into the surf all along the Jersey Shore. False albacore work off the inlets from Manasquan to Barnegat and down to Cape May. Weakfish are in the back bays and inlets, and kingfish and blowfish are still in the surf. Bottom anglers find porgies, triggerfish and sea bass on the ocean structure, and tuna roam the canyons offshore.
Where to Find Them
Look for stripers and blues in the surf along the beaches from Sandy Hook to Cape May, and watch for birds and bait. The inlets, including Manasquan, Barnegat and Cape May, hold stripers, blues and weakfish. Inlets act as highways for mullet leaving the bays, so predators set up there to intercept them.
Albies roam off the inlets and along the beaches, and porgies and sea bass sit on the ocean reefs and wrecks.
Tides & Conditions
The Saturday full moon produces strong tides. Focus surf trips on the dropping tide and first light. Expect water temperatures in the upper 60s to low 70s and falling, and remember that a northeast blow is always possible this time of year.
Tackle & Tactics
- Stripers and blues: plugs, metal lures or swimming plugs that imitate mullet. A live or fresh mullet on a fish-finder rig also works well, since the rig lets a fish run with the bait without feeling the sinker.
- Albies: small metal jigs or epoxy flies cast into the breaking fish and retrieved fast.
- Weakfish: a soft plastic on a jig head fished at night.
- Porgies and sea bass: a two-hook bottom rig with clam or squid.
Local Intel This Week
Island Beach State Park is one of the best surf fishing spots on the coast; check park rules for buggy permits before driving the beach. The Manasquan Inlet and the Barnegat Light jetty provide good walk-on access to inlet fish, and Barnegat Light State Park, Cape May Harbor and Atlantic Highlands Municipal Harbor are other public options. Fish concentrate along the beaches with the mullet and at the inlets.
Fluke season is closed or closing, and sea bass seasons shift through the fall. Check current state and federal regulations and seasons before keeping fish.
This Week’s Tip
During the mullet run, the fish are often right in the wash, feeding on the bait trapped against the beach. Don’t overcast. Fish the first trough before you throw to the bar, because many surfcasters walk past fish in a few feet of water while launching casts far beyond them.
Planning a trip to New Jersey?
This report tells you what happened. ReelAI tells you what to do about it — a briefing for your date, your target species and how you're fishing, built from our reports plus live NOAA and USGS data.
Powered by ReelAI — fishing.digital's intelligence layer. Answers are generated from fishing.digital reports and public NOAA, NWS and USGS data, and may be incomplete or out of date. Regulations and marine safety information are summaries only; always confirm with the responsible authority before you fish.
