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Barnegat Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

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.

2/5
Slow. The wind owns today.26 mph gusts make boat control the real battle.
Next tide
Low 12:31 AM
Air / High
55 / 62 F
Wind
NE 19 mph

Sources: NOAA tides 8533615, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

2/5Slow. The wind owns today.26 mph gusts make boat control the real battle.

Barnegat feels the season turning: shorter days, grouping fish. Today brings clear skies, wind NE around 19 mph, steady pressure near 1027 hPa and a high of 62. Tides: high 5:57 AM and 6:12 PM, low 12:18 PM: the moving water either side of each change is when this place feeds. Water sits around 64 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:30 AM-11:30 AM and 9:59 PM-11:59 PM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Striped bassExcellent

Spring and fall are the shoreline seasons: ODWC points to windblown points, riprap and dams during the May shad spawn and the pre-winter feed.

BluefishExcellent

Fall turns the migration south toward the South Atlantic Bight, and fish feed along beaches and inlets on the way. Follow the bait and the birds.

Redfish (red drum)Excellent

Late summer into fall is spawning time (mid-August to mid-October on the Gulf, per TPWD), and big adults gather off passes and beaches. Surf and pier anglers soak fresh cut mullet, larger live mullet or blue crab on bottom rigs.

Tomorrow: Cooler at 57 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made β†’

Water and weather

Live readings.

Tides

NOAA station 8533615 (Barnegat Inlet, USCG Station). Fish the moving water either side of each change.

Fri
HIGH5:57 AM2.5 ft
LOW12:18 PM0.3 ft
HIGH6:12 PM2.5 ft
Sat
LOW12:31 AM0.0 ft
HIGH6:40 AM2.7 ft
LOW1:09 PM0.1 ft
HIGH6:59 PM2.5 ft

Long Beach Island tide chart: the week and the month β†’

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp55 F
High / Low62 / 55 F
WindNE 19-20 mph
Pressure1027.3 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain4% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:15 / 18:05
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~64 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunset

Which day to fish Barnegat this week

The best day on Barnegat this week looks like Sunday Oct 25, at 4 out of 5, against 2 today.

Best day this week: Sunday, Oct 25 β€” good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Tough

26 mph gusts make boat control the real battle.

Solunar majors
9:30 AM-11:30 AM and 9:59 PM-11:59 PM
Minor period
3:52 AM-4:52 AM
Sun
07:15 to 18:05
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Partly cloudy, 26 mph
Rain chance
0%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

The species that matter on Barnegat: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Striped bass illustration

Striped bass

Best: spring and fall inland; on the coast, during the seasonal migrations

The largest of the temperate basses, a sea-run fish of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts that now also lives in reservoirs across much of the country after hatchery stocking. Inland, it follows schools of shad and herring through open water. Spring and fall are the shoreline seasons: ODWC points to windblown points, riprap and dams during the May shad spawn and the pre-winter feed.

Bluefish illustration

Bluefish

Peak harvest: May-Oct, most in Jul-Aug (NOAA)

Bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix) are sharp-toothed schooling predators that move up and down the Atlantic coast with the seasons and feed in surface blitzes on menhaden, silversides and squid. Fall turns the migration south toward the South Atlantic Bight, and fish feed along beaches and inlets on the way. Follow the bait and the birds.

Redfish (red drum) illustration

Redfish (red drum)

Best: late-summer and fall bull run; inshore all year

Red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus), called redfish across the South, is a bronze inshore drum with a black spot near the tail, fished on grass flats, oyster bars, marsh creeks and beaches from the Chesapeake around Florida to Texas. Late summer into fall is spawning time (mid-August to mid-October on the Gulf, per TPWD), and big adults gather off passes and beaches. Surf and pier anglers soak fresh cut mullet, larger live mullet or blue crab on bottom rigs.

When to come: the Barnegat calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Striped bass
Bluefish
Redfish (red drum)
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 64 F (estimated, not a reading).

4050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~64 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Barnegat today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

2/5 Slow. The wind owns today. 28 mph gusts make boat control the real battle. Striped bass led the card at excellent. High of 64 F, wind to 28 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

2/5 Slow. The wind owns today. 29 mph gusts make boat control the real battle. Striped bass led the card at excellent. High of 63 F, wind to 29 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

1/5 Tough. Pick your battles. Post-front sun and slick water make them sulk. Striped bass led the card at good. High of 64 F, wind to 28 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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Before you go

License

New Jersey requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

NJ Saltwater Registry (free). Striped bass one-fish slot (verify current year). Tautog: tight seasonal limits: check NJ regs by month.

Access

Barnegat Lighthouse SP jetty walk, Island Beach SP 4x4 (permit), bay ramps at Waretown/Barnegat, LBI street-end accesses.

About this water

Inlet between Island Beach State Park and Long Beach Island, Ocean County, NJ. The heart of the Jersey Shore's fishing identity.

Fishing Barnegat: the full guide

The inlet and Old Barney

Barnegat Inlet cuts between Island Beach and Long Beach Island under the gaze of its 1859 lighthouse: the north and south jetties hold stripers in the sweep, tog on the rocks, and fluke spilling across the flood. The inlet's shoals demand boating respect (it is one of the coast's trickiest), but the moving water pays every tide.

Island Beach State Park surf

North of the inlet, IBSP runs ten undeveloped miles of surf: mobile-permit 4x4 fishing for the fall striper run, summer fluke in the cuts, kingfish on the calm flats. The pocket at the park's south end (against the jetty) is the proven stand: bait funnels along the rocks and everything follows.

Barnegat Bay behind

The bay spreading behind LBI serves the light-tackle year: spring stripers on the sedges before the ocean run, summer fluke drifts through Double Creek and Oyster Creek channels, blowfish and kingfish for the family sonar-free fleet, and October's bay-side blitzes as bait flushes toward the inlet. Sedge-island kayak water at its Jersey best.

A Barnegat year

April: bay stripers waking, first fluke rumors. May-June: the ocean run arrives, bluefish gorging in the inlet. Summer: fluke everywhere, tog picking on the jetties, night tides for bass in the rips. Fall: the run: mullet then peanut bunker then sand eels, stripers and albies on the beach, tog turning on as it closes. Winter: ling and cod party boats, and jetty planning.

Common questions

Is Barnegat Inlet safe for small boats?

It demands respect: shoals shift, outgoing tide against a sea breeze stacks steep water, and the Coast Guard stays busy. Locals run it daily by reading conditions: newcomers should pick calm windows and follow traffic.

Where do I fish the fall run at Barnegat?

The IBSP pocket and the jetties when bait is in the inlet's grip; the LBI beachfront when the schools slide south. Sand eels late in the season bring the Ava-jig classic: bass within a cast of the beach.

Is fishing good at Barnegat right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Slow. The wind owns today. 26 mph gusts make boat control the real battle.

Nearby waters

Toms River16 miManasquan Reservoir29 miSandy Hook49 miRaritan Bay49 miUnion Lake55 miRaritan River59 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Tide predictions
NOAA CO-OPS 8533615 β€” Barnegat Inlet, USCG Station
Harmonic predictions, datum MLLW, local time. 11 high and low events returned for today and the next two days. A prediction, not a measured water level: wind and surge move the real thing.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 39.7670, -74.1100 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written guide was drafted with AI assistance. Unlike our newer pages, it does not yet list the official pages its facts were checked against: that audit is under way, and anything it cannot verify will be taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.