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Fish guide

Striped Bass

Morone saxatilis. Also called Striper, Bass, Linesider, Rockfish, Schoolie, Cow.

A striped bass with its dark lengthwise stripes swimming over a sandy bottom

Showing the fish for North Jersey Shore, NJ.

Season in North Jersey

Peak months: Apr, May, Oct, Nov.

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Spring run in Raritan Bay late March through May, bay 'full of bass' by mid-May; May 2026 surf fish to 44 in Long Branch to Seaside. Summer: rivers and the Point Pleasant Canal at night. Fall run: Monmouth beaches late Sept or early Oct, best in November, winding down late Dec or early Jan; Dec 2025 boats on bass off Long Branch while the surf was slow. (Our inference)

Season by region

Long Island
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Maine
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New Hampshire
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North Shore MA
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Cape Cod
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Rhode Island
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Connecticut
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North Jersey
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South Jersey
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Delmarva
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Virginia Beach
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Outer Banks
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Where to find them

Spring: Raritan Bay flats and the river mouths, Sandy Hook beaches and Island Beach State Park. Summer: the Shrewsbury, Manasquan and Point Pleasant Canal at night. Fall: the Monmouth and Ocean County surf, sandbar edges, holes and rips at high water, jetty pockets in a nor'easter.

From the wash out past the bar; spring and fall blitzes on bunker, sand eels and small bait.

What to look for

Bunker schools being pushed, birds over sand eels or rainbait, rips and drop-offs where waves make turbulence, inlet current at night.

What to throw

Bucktail or jighead with a 4 to 5 in paddle tail1/2 to 1 oz, 4 to 5 in tail. Slow hops along the bottom: lift, drop, let it touch, repeat.
Soft-plastic eel or stickbait (Slug-Go, GT Eel style)Weightless, or 3/8 to 3/4 oz jighead oz, 9 to 13.5 in. Weightless on top when fish are active or at first light; weighted versions drifted through rips, twitched through boulders or dead-sticked near bottom.
Swimming minnow plug (Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnow style)3/4 to 1 oz, 4 to 5 in. Steady medium retrieve with occasional twitches and pauses.
Pencil popper1 to 5 oz, Sized to the bait, from silversides to adult bunker. Slow and deliberate, speeding up when a fish shows interest; or hold the rod tip and bounce it hard while barely advancing the plug so it churns in place.

Bait

Live eels, Live bunker (menhaden), Live mackerel, Bunker or mackerel chunks, Cut squid, herring, crabs, Live spot (summer, North Shore). Fish-finder with a pyramid sinker and a long leader, with a float near the hook to keep the bait off the bottom away from crabs and skates. Use a circle hook with bait..

Leader

NY Sea Grant: light (6 to 12 lb) to medium (20 lb) line on a spinning rod; heavier surf outfits for big fish around rocks.

Common mistakes

  • Leaving bait on the bottom for crabs and skates (NY Sea Grant floats it up)
  • Using a J hook with bait instead of a circle hook
  • Fishing mid-day flat calm when the fish feed after dark and at dawn

Landing

Let a wave carry it up the beach; release fish should stay in the water.

Handling

  • Sharp dorsal spines
  • Sharp gill cover edges

Keep released fish in the water, support the belly, and use a circle hook with bait. ASMFC estimates about 9 percent of released stripers die, so handle quickly.

Keep or release

Good eating in the legal size window; check NJ rules, they change often. Release big spawners carefully.

Recipes for striped bass

Typical: Fall run fish usually 25 to 35 in. Large: Fish over 30 lb in late November; 20 to 40 lb blitzing off Raritan Bay in Oct 2025.

Limits

FishOS has not checked the NJ limits yet. Check the size, bag and season rules with the New Jersey Fish and Wildlife before you keep a fish.

Sources

All the fish of North Jersey

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Striped Bass: season, lures and limits | FishOS