New Jersey's shore is striped bass country: Sandy Hook catches the fall run first, and from there to Cape May every groin and inlet joins the migration. No license needed for salt water: just the free registry and a tide chart.
Reports current for Friday, October 23
Every one of the 14 New Jersey waters we cover has a live read this morning. None reaches 4 out of 5 and 8 are slow. Water runs 47 F to 74 F. Pressure is holding steady on most of them, so the day comes down to water temperature and wind. Wind touches 26 mph on the roughest of them.
Best right now: Cape May 3/5, Manasquan Reservoir 3/5, Raritan Bay 3/5
Live verdicts from this morning's reports.
New Jersey's striper doorstep: seven miles of federal beach where the fall run hits first.
Cape May: New Jersey's southern tip between Delaware Bay and the Atlantic, where state rules change at the bay line.
The inlet that built Jersey surf culture: Old Barney's rocks, treacherous shoals, and the bay-to-ocean exchange that feeds LBI's whole fishery.
Round Valley Reservoir: 2,350 acres and about 180 feet deep, with a self-sustaining lake trout population and more New Jersey state records than any other water.
Lake Hopatcong: New Jersey’s largest lake, about 2,686 acres in Morris and Sussex counties, with stocked walleye, hybrid striped bass and muskellunge.
Manasquan Reservoir in Monmouth County: a 770-acre water-supply lake open for fishing all year, stocked with hybrid striped bass, electric motors only.
South Jersey’s biggest lake: Union Lake holds bass, pickerel and crappie in tannic Maurice River water.
A bi-state lake in Passaic County, New Jersey and Orange County, New York, stocked with walleye and muskellunge, where either state's license is honored.
New Jersey’s first state park lake: Swartswood holds walleye, bass and hybrid stripers in Sussex County.
The Musconetcong: a 42.5-mile Highlands river from Lake Hopatcong to the Delaware, stocked with trout and partly designated Wild and Scenic.
The bay between New Jersey's Bayshore and Staten Island, fished under New Jersey's marine rules for striped bass, bluefish, fluke and blackfish.
A Hunterdon County water-supply reservoir where NJ Fish & Wildlife stocks northern pike, hybrid striped bass and trout, with a 10-horsepower limit on boats.
An Ocean County river with spring trout stocking and a year-round Trout Conservation Area below Riverwood Park.
Central New Jersey's river from the North and South branches to Raritan Bay, with stocked trout upstream, a catch-and-release gorge and dam removals reopening the lower river to shad.
Species activity across the state's covered waters. Peak of the year: October.
1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.
Seasonal surface curve for this state's dominant water type (estimated).
| Water | Type | County | Live gauge | Peak month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sandy Hook fishing report | Coastal | Monmouth | modeled | Apr |
| Cape May fishing report | Coastal | Cape May | modeled | Apr |
| Barnegat fishing report | Coastal | Ocean | modeled | Apr |
| Round Valley Reservoir fishing report | Reservoir | Hunterdon | modeled | Apr |
| Lake Hopatcong fishing report | Lake | Morris | USGS | Apr |
| Manasquan Reservoir fishing report | Reservoir | Monmouth | USGS | Mar |
| Union Lake fishing report | Lake | Cumberland | USGS | Mar |
| Greenwood Lake fishing report | Lake | Passaic | modeled | Apr |
| Swartswood Lake fishing report | Lake | Sussex | modeled | Apr |
| Musconetcong River fishing report | River | Warren | USGS | Oct |
| Raritan Bay fishing report | Coastal | Middlesex | modeled | Apr |
| Spruce Run Reservoir fishing report | Lake | Hunterdon | modeled | Mar |
| Toms River fishing report | River | Ocean | USGS | Mar |
| Raritan River fishing report | River | Somerset | USGS | Jun |
New Jersey compresses the Atlantic seaboard into 130 miles: the fall striper run down its beaches is the state religion, with Sandy Hook and Island Beach the twin cathedrals. Inland surprises persist: Round Valley's lake trout depths, the Delaware's shad run and smallmouth, wild brook trout in Highlands brooks, and pickerel in the Pine Barrens' tea-colored ponds. And it is all license-free in salt water: just register and fish.
April-June: stripers follow bunker up the beach; the Delaware shad run peaks; trout season opens inland. Summer: fluke culture on every bay and reef, night stripers for insomniacs. September: albies and bonito zip the inlets. October-December: the run: sand eels, birds, blitzes and beach buggies from the Hook to Cape May. Winter: Round Valley's lakers and the tying bench.
October through early December, moving north to south: sand eels and peanut bunker against the beach, birds diving, and stripers with them. Northwest winds after a blow are the classic signal.