Updated: Thursday, June 4, 2026 · Next update: Thursday, June 11, 2026
This New Jersey fishing report for early June finds the Jersey Shore in early-summer form. Fluke (summer flounder) are the lead target, with the season open and the action building in the bays, the inlets and on the nearshore lumps. Striped bass stay in the game, sea bass stack on the wrecks, bluefish run the beaches and the first weakfish show in the back bays. The main condition to plan around is moving water: fluke and stripers both key on the tide, with first and last light best for bass.
What’s Hitting
Fluke are the headline in early June, building in the bays, the inlets, on the nearshore lumps and on the inshore reefs. Striped bass work the surf, the back bays, Raritan Bay and the rivers. Black sea bass are open and stacking on the wrecks and reefs. Bluefish blitz along the beaches, and the first weakfish turn up in the back bays.
Where to Find Them
Drift the bay channels, the inlets and the nearshore lumps for keeper fluke, focusing on the inlets and the back-bay channel edges on moving water. Work the surf and the inlets for stripers, and the back bays of Barnegat and Raritan for both bass and early fluke. Sea bass sit on the wrecks and reef sites in 60 to 100 feet. Bluefish blitz the open beaches on the bait pods, so watch for birds and boiling water.
Tides & Conditions
Fluke fishing is best on the moving tide in the bays and inlets. Stripers feed hard at first and last light in the surf. Expect water warming through the 60s. Mornings are the most consistent window, and the wind decides whether the open-water sea bass and fluke runs are on.
Tackle & Tactics
- Fluke: move off the flat sand and onto rougher bottom. Work a bucktail with a Gulp or squid strip trailer vertically on short, controlled drifts, with a teaser above it. A squid-and-spearing combo on the bottom also produces. Set up to cross a piece of structure in about a minute, then reset, rather than making one long drift over barren sand.
- Bay and inlet stripers: a small swimming plug or a soft plastic on a light jighead worked along the channel edges at dawn is the most consistent approach; switch to live bait on a circle hook when fish sit deep on the tide.
- Surf and river stripers: bunker chunks and clams in the surf, plugs and soft plastics in the bays and rivers.
- Sea bass and blues: clams and jigs on the wrecks; metal for the blitzing blues.
Local Intel This Week
Boaters can launch from the Manasquan River ramps in Brielle, the Barnegat Light and Waretown ramps on Barnegat Bay, the Leonardo State Marina ramp on Raritan Bay and the Frank S. Farley ramp in Atlantic City, which together cover most of the productive water. Shore anglers have the Manasquan and Barnegat inlet jetties, Island Beach State Park and the Sandy Hook beaches; each puts you on moving water without a boat, so time a visit for first or last light. New Jersey rules call for circle hooks when bait fishing for stripers.
Check current state and federal regulations and seasons before keeping fish.
This Week’s Tip
For bay fluke, target the edges where the channel drops into the flat. Keepers sit on the deeper side of the drop and ambush bait sliding off the shallows on the moving tide. Drift the edge, not the middle of the channel, and you’ll trade short fish for keepers.
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