New Jersey’s spring striper run is at full strength along the entire coast. Bluefish have arrived in numbers from Sandy Hook to Cape May, black sea bass season is open, and the back bay fluke fishery is starting to produce.
Striped Bass — Full Spring Run
The Jersey Shore striper run is at peak intensity. Sandy Hook, Long Branch, Belmar, Manasquan Inlet, Barnegat Inlet, Atlantic City surf, and the Cape May rips are all producing.
Surf anglers are doing well with bunker chunks and clam at dawn and dusk. Boat anglers trolling Mojos and bunker spoons on the bunker schools off Sandy Hook and Monmouth Beach are getting big fish — multiple 40-plus inch bass this week.
The Raritan Bay back is excellent on live bunker. Bridges of the Driscoll, Cheesequake, and the Manasquan River are also producing on live eels at night.
Slot regulations: NJ allows one fish per day between 28 and less than 31 inches. Anything outside the slot must be released. Use circle hooks with bait per state requirements.
Bluefish — Arrived
Bluefish have moved in. Big choppers (10 to 15 pounds) are being caught from Sandy Hook to Cape May. Topwater poppers, metal lures, and chunked menhaden are all producing.
Bluefish often run mixed with stripers — be ready for either.
Black Sea Bass — Open
Black sea bass season opened May 17 in NJ waters. The bite on the nearshore wrecks is excellent. Squid and clam strips on a high-low rig is the standard. Limit catches are common.
Fluke — Building
Summer flounder season opened May 4 in NJ. The back bay bite is starting to build — Sandy Hook Bay, Barnegat Bay, and Great Bay are all producing fluke on drifted live killies and squid strips.
The ocean bite is still spotty but should improve in the next two weeks.
Conditions
Water temps 58–63°F. Spring winds variable.
Spots & Access This Week
From north to south, the Sandy Hook Bay area and the Leonardo State Marina ramp put boaters on the trophy bass schools off Monmouth Beach. Barnegat Inlet, Manasquan Inlet, and Great Bay are the central-coast hubs for both surf and boat access, and the Cape May rips draw the southern fleet. Surfcasters have miles of open beach from Island Beach State Park to the Cape May beaches — focus on the cuts and sloughs at dawn and dusk. The bridges of the Driscoll, Cheesequake, and the Manasquan River produce after dark on live eels.
Tackle Breakdown & This Week’s Tip
For the bunker-school bass, a heavy boat rod with 30–50 pound braid and a snag-and-drop rig or a Mojo trolling setup handles the 40-inch class fish. Surfcasters want a 9–10 foot rod, 20–30 pound braid, and a fish-finder rig with bunker chunks or clam. Back-bay fluke fall to a light spinning outfit and a drifted bucktail tipped with Gulp or a killie-and-squid combo on the moving tide. Keep wire or heavy mono leaders handy for the bluefish mixed in.
This week’s tip: when the bass are gorging on bunker schools, locate the bait first with your electronics and stay on its edges rather than driving through the middle — running over the school pushes both bait and bass down. New Jersey’s striper slot is one fish from 28 to under 31 inches, with circle hooks required when using bait, so rig accordingly and release everything outside the slot promptly.
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