New Jersey fishing report for the week of September 17, 2026. The mullet started moving down the beach this week and the fall run has officially begun. Blues and albies are in the surf, the fluke season is down to its last days, and the first stripers on the mullet have shown up along the northern beaches. It is the week the surf rats have been waiting for.
What’s Hitting
This week on the water it is bluefish and albies in the surf. Cocktail blues and some bigger fish are working the mullet schools along the beaches from Sandy Hook to Island Beach State Park, and false albacore have been blitzing bait along the Monmouth County beaches, at Shark River Inlet, and off Manasquan and Barnegat inlets. Fluke are still coming from the ocean structure and the inlets for anglers making the most of the last days of the season. The first stripers of the fall are on the mullet along the northern beaches at dawn, mostly schoolies with a few keepers. Offshore, the canyons have yellowfin and longfin, and the inshore lumps have bonito and some bluefin. Blackfish season opens soon and the sea bass are steady on the wrecks.
Where to Find Them
Blues and albies are wherever the mullet and rainfish are pushing along the beach, so cover ground and look for birds along Sea Bright, Long Branch, Asbury Park, and the Island Beach stretch. Albies are most consistent around Shark River Inlet and the Manasquan jetties. Fluke are on the ocean reef sites and the inlet channels. Stripers are on the beaches at first light around the mullet pods, and in the Raritan Bay rivers on the tide. The Barnegat Light and Manasquan jetties have all of it at dawn.
Tides & Conditions
Moderate tides this week between the moons, with the morning outgoing setting up the inlets. Surf temps are in the upper 60s to low 70s and dropping, which is what started the mullet moving. Winds have been light out of the west and northwest most mornings with a flat surf, then a southeast breeze in the afternoon. Water clarity along the beach is excellent.
Tackle & Tactics
For blues and stripers in the surf, a metal-lipped swimmer, a pencil popper, or a 4 to 5-inch paddle tail on a 9 to 10-foot surf rod with 30-pound braid, and a wire or heavy mono leader for the blues. Albies want a small epoxy jig or a metal on 20-pound fluorocarbon with a fast retrieve. Fluke want a bucktail tipped with Gulp or a strip bait on the reef sites. For the inlet stripers, a live spot or eel after dark.
Local Intel This Week
The Leonardo State Marina ramp serves Raritan Bay and Sandy Hook, with the Shark River, Manasquan, and Barnegat Bay public ramps covering the central coast. Shore anglers are doing well at Sandy Hook, the Shark River and Manasquan inlet jetties, Island Beach State Park, and the Barnegat Light jetty. Fish are concentrating along the beaches around the mullet schools and at the inlets on the outgoing tide. The fluke season closes shortly and striped bass have a slot limit; check current NJ Fish and Wildlife regulations and season dates before keeping fish.
This Week’s Tip
When the mullet are running the beach, fish the first hour of light and the last hour before dark, and fish the trough right at your feet before you cast to the horizon. The mullet run tight to the sand, and the stripers and blues are usually right behind them in a foot of water.
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