The New Jersey sea bass season reopened Oct. 1 and continues through the rest of the year with a 12 1/2-inch minimum and bag limit of 10 until Nov. 1 when it increases to 15.

Due to poor weather conditions, Capt. Ron Santee moved his first sea bass trip on the Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands back to Friday, Due to rescheduled blown out charters, he’s also unavailable this weekend before returning to daily sea bass trips.

The Saturday forecast for NY/NJ Bight is for west winds at just 10-15 knots though seas up to 5 feet continue.

The best may be yet to come for anglers entered in the Fisherman magazine Dream Boat Challenge. October is a prime time for several species involved in that contest which is open to subscribers and extends to Nov. 15.

As of the Sept. issue, Rashawn Williams was leading for the rigged Steiger Craft 21 center console with 150-hp Yamaha with 17 points earned with entries of a winning 13.06-pound fluke and a fourth-place 2.41-pound porgy. However there were no entries at all for bluefish and blackfish.

That will change in October when party boats start making trips to far offshore wrecks where sea bass over the 4-pound minimum should be abundant while tautog exceeding 7 pounds are a target inshore.

Bluefish used to be biggest in the fall, but when a spring run of 15-pounders developed the minimum was increased to 15 pounds. However, the huge spring blues have stopped appearing.

Blues in the teens should be available on the sea bass wrecks, but the 15 pound minimum may be a problem. Those wrecks also often have plenty of porgies over the 2-pound minimum. Surprisingly, they occasionally produce weakfish well over the minimum of 5 pounds.

There are lots of fishing tackle prizes for all of the species, and the overall second place prize is a trip to Tropic Star Lodge in Panama.

*******

The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported mostly fussy bluefish ranging from 2 to 10 pounds yesterday as both plain and tailed diamond jigs worked and a few anglers limited.

The marine forecast in NY/NJ Bight is for northeast winds at 20-25 knots before dropping to 10-15 in the afternoon. Seas may range up to 13 feet, and there’s a small craft advisory up through Wednesday.

Small bluefish seem to be building up and providing good jigging at times.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar had a very good Saturday night trip which provided a boat limit of blues as well as many releases of choppers along with out-of-season sea bass. It was a different story the next morning as the marks were there, but the blues were fussy. Some fares did limit as plain 3-ounce diamond jigs worked best.

Capt. Dave Riback reported yesterday for his Queen Mary boats at Point Pleasant as follows:

“
09/28/2025

Lots of searching for Capt Cole paid off!  Started where we left off Saturday AM & PM.  Lots of Sea Bass & Porgy on the spots but the Blues &  Bones had mostly moved on.  Cole took advantage of a nice day with a nice crowd, many of which were avid fisherman, to go searching.  Many spots had some but not enough for more that a drift or two. Pick 5-20 fish then move to the next area of structure.  Finally, towards noon a piece that was holding lots of life made the day. Limits of Blues and many Bonito and some Alby too! Nice mix to  spice the catch of Blues.  Monday looks best!  Tuesday is canceled due to lack of participation. Sea Bass opens Oct 1, but may be hampered by rough sea conditions Wed & Thursday. Friday both boats are already sold out. Saturday & Sunday next week have plenty of room aboard. The following week, Oct 7- 12 are wide open except Monday the 6th is booked.  See ya aboard for a mix of Sea Bass, Bonito, Blues & Porgy
09/28/2025

09/28/2025

wide open except Monday the 6th is booked.  See ya aboard for a mix of Sea Bass, Bonit

The marine forecast for NY/NJ Bight is for northeast winds at 5-10 knots before blowing up to 25 knots at night as small craft warnings will go up through Wednesday.

After recently suffering a massive heart attack in the Everglades, Crazy Alberto Knie is on the mend, and spending some time at home. He’s got a lot more treatment ahead, but things are looking up!

Capt. Frank Masseria made his first striper trip of the fall with his Vitamin Sea from Port Monmouth a successful one with bass up to 35 pounds — and expects to see even bigger bass after the next northeaster.

****

The marine forecast for NY/NJ Bight is for northeast winds at 10 knots before shifting to east in the afternoon.

The following report from Capt. Mark DeBlasio of Blue Runner at Point Pleasant sums up the offshore bite in a few words.

“Absolutely savage bite today for our open boat crew .. fish to 110lbs. Weather was beautiful and we were on our way home before 9am .. as good as it gets !

*****The marine forecast is for northeast winds at just 5-10 knots before going southeast in the afternoon.

The annual Jersey Boat Sale & Expo is open through Sunday at the Blue Claws ball park in Lakewood. For details go to JerseyBoatSale.com

Vinny D’Anton only caught a 3-pound blue on his Chug Bug this morning in the Manasquan surf, but was amazed at the action with fluke on a tiny jig head with Gulp. That season has closed. but the action made up for that. Conditions were good. but no mullet were spotted.

The forecast is for northeast winds at 5 knots before going southeast in the afternoon.

Good deeds aren’t always rewarded, but that was fortunately not the case this week for Capt, Mark DeBlasio on his Water Proof from Point Pleasant as follows: “Anthony and Paul had Rich Albro and crew out for a daytime chunk trip. Started off a little slow with just one bite early. Around 9am they had a little flurry and caught 4. Then a call came over the radio of a boat in need of a defibrillator. We have one onboard and the guys made the quick call to run 6 miles and drop off it off. After dropping it off, they went back to where they left and got started back up. Fish came through and they saw lights out fishing until they had enough. I guess good karma paid off .. we are praying for the fishermen in need of the AED.

The Queen Mary from Point Pleasant reported good action with bonito and blues during Monday and Tuesday trips.

The marine forecast for NY/NJ Bight is for west winds at 5-10 knots.

Capt. Ron Santee could fish the last day of the NJ fluke season, but running all over the ocean to catch very few fluke isn’t worth the effort. He’ll switch to bottom fishing with his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands on Sunday.

Offshore tuna trolling and jigging for yellowfins and bigeyes except for the night yellowfin chunking . Scott Cusick reported getting a big surprise at night when a whale shark put on a show. That huge fish is a harmless plankton feeder.

The N.J. fluke season closes Thursday night. The Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands switches to bottom fishing on Friday, but is chartered Saturday,

****The marine forecast in NY/NJ Bight is for southwest winds at 10 knots which shifts to southeast in the afternoon.

Paul Haertel of the JCAA put Joseph Albanese into a 7.45-pound fluke in the Barnegat Inlet area.

“

It’s officially fall, and Vinny D’Anton has received reports from other Monmouth County surfcasters that some small stripers are finally hitting along with small blues in the surf. He got an even better report from Pastor John who caught eight small bass on the N.Y. side at Breezy Point.

Jim, Hutchinson Sr. reports for the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Assn. as follows;

“Fall is now officially here, and that means several things to the captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association. First, is that Thursday, September 25, is the final day of the summer flounder season in New Jersey. This season has been a decent one for these favorite targets of the   BHCFA. Captain Steve Palmer does not plan to let this fluke season end without a special trip planned on the “Miss Beach Haven.” Captain Steve has a Fluke Mania trip for the last day of fluke fishing. He will have prizes, food, drinks, and a good time for all. The trip can be booked online at www.missbeachhaven.com. Captain Brett Taylor of “Reel Reaction Sport Fishing is back fishing with his new Yamaha outboard. He had Luke Warwick of Medford with his son Dillon on an afternoon fluke charter. They worked wrecks but could only muster 20 shorts and 1 keeper fluke. On the way in they worked the jetty and had action on bluefish to 25-inches on jigs. Second, Wednesday, October 1, marks the reopening of the season for black sea bass. The limit will be 10 fish daily for the month of October, and then 15 daily for the rest of the year. All indications point to an abundance of these fish around the inshore structures. Finally, the arrival of fall means cooler weather accompanied by a cooling of water temperatures. That means the fall arrival of striped bass. The captains of the BHCFA still have some openings on charters for bass, but they are filling up fast. Captain Dave Wittenborn of the “Benita J” reports he is almost out of open dates for offshore tuna fishing before he turns to stripers. Additional information on the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association can be found at www.BHCFA.org“

The wind is finally back in the south, and goes to southwest at 10-15 knots tomorrow.