Striped Bass

Season in South Jersey

Peak months: May, Nov, Dec.

April 2025: bay bass at bridges and the Mullica, big fish moving down the Delaware River; May 2025 beach fish to 35 in on clams and bunker; June 2026 keepers from surf to inlets on live spot and clams. Fall run reaches Ocean County by late October, best November, into December (fall run article). (Our inference)

Season by region

Where to find them

Inlets on live spot and clams, LBI and Brigantine beaches on clam and bunker chunks, back-bay bridges and sod banks at night, Delaware Bay beaches in spring.

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.

Recipes for striped bass

Typical: Mostly 24 to 32 in at the inlets (June 2026). Large: Beach fish to 35 in; some over 33 in at Ocean City.

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

• On The Water: Southern New Jersey Fishing Report, April 17 2025 (Hook House, Creekside, Tony's, Tackle Direct, Tight Lines) (Angler knowledge)
• On The Water: Southern New Jersey Fishing Report, May 22 2025 (Angler knowledge)
• On The Water: Southern New Jersey Fishing Report, June 11 2026 (Angler knowledge)
• On The Water: The Jersey Shore Fall Striper Run (Angler knowledge)
• The Fisherman: Too Warm, Or Too Cold? Species' Preferred Temperature Ranges (Aguiar, 2023) (Angler knowledge)
• On The Water: Spring Fly Fishing for Striped Bass (Barrett, 2022) (Angler knowledge)
• US FWS species profile FWS/OBS-82/11.8: striped bass, Mid-Atlantic (Fay, Neves and Pardue, 1983), mirror copy (Official source)
• New York Sea Grant fish profile: Striped Bass (Cornell, 2001) (Official source)
• On The Water: Long Island and NYC Fishing Report, March 21, 2024 (Angler knowledge)

All the fish of South Jersey