Cape May Harbor, NJ Fishing Guide

Species at Cape May Harbor

• Striped Bass

  Spring/fall migration; feeds hard on moving water 50-68F

  Season: Apr–Jun, Oct–Dec · Tide: moving water · Light: low light · Water: 50–68°F

• Bluefish

  55F triggers gator blitzes on bait in spring and fall

  Season: May–Jun, Sep–Nov · Tide: moving water · Light: any light · Water: 55–72°F

• Summer Flounder (Fluke)

  Ambushes bait swept through inlets on current; 68F sweet spot

  Season: May–Sep · Tide: moving water · Light: bright daylight · Water: 58–75°F

• Weakfish

  Spring spawn run; bites near 60F at first light on outgoing

  Season: May–Jun, Sep–Oct · Tide: the outgoing tide · Light: low light · Water: 58–68°F

• Tautog (Blackfish)

  Cooling water packs tog on structure; bite best near slack

  Season: Apr, Oct–Dec · Tide: slack water · Light: bright daylight · Water: 45–58°F

• Black Drum

  Big spawners flood Delaware Bay at dusk on max current

  Season: Apr–Jun · Tide: moving water · Light: low light · Water: 55–68°F

• Red Drum (Redfish)

  Bull schools roam lower-bay shoals; bite from 58-60F up

  Season: May–Jun, Sep–Oct · Tide: moving water · Light: any light · Water: 58–78°F

• Sheepshead

  Picks crabs off pilings as water warms past mid-60s

  Season: Jun–Oct · Tide: moving water · Light: bright daylight · Water: 65–80°F

• Spotted Seatrout (Specks)

  Roams grass and creek mouths; fall bite peaks as bait stages

  Season: May–Jun, Sep–Nov · Tide: moving water · Light: low light · Water: 60–80°F

• Black Sea Bass

  Stacks on inshore structure in spring and pre-migration fall

  Season: May–Jun, Sep–Nov · Tide: slack water · Light: bright daylight · Water: 48–68°F

• Scup (Porgy)

  Schools inshore over structure once water clears mid-50s

  Season: Jun–Oct · Tide: moving water · Light: bright daylight · Water: 55–77°F

• Northern Kingfish

  Summer's warmest water pulls kings into surf and bay sloughs

  Season: Jun–Sep · Tide: moving water · Light: any light · Water: 68–80°F

• Atlantic Croaker

  Bottom-feeds bay flats and channels through warm months

  Season: Jun–Oct · Tide: moving water · Light: low light · Water: 60–78°F

• False Albacore (Albie)

  Cooling 72-to-64F bait migration sparks blitzing albies

  Season: Sep–Oct · Tide: moving water · Light: any light · Water: 64–72°F

What's biting at Cape May Harbor, month by month

Typical seasons for this stretch of coast — a warm or late year shifts them by a few weeks. The live forecast scores today's actual conditions.

Seasonal runs at Cape May Harbor

The big annual events on the Jersey Shore calendar.

• Fall Striped Bass Run Inshore · Oct 15 – Dec 15

  The headliner — trophy 40s & 50s pour down the beaches chewing bait; November is the money month.

  What turns it on: Water into the 55–65°F sweet spot + north winds + the first cold snaps.

  Target: Striped bass, Bluefish

• Fall Mullet / Peanut Bunker Inshore · Sep 15 – Oct 31

  Bait drains out of the bays — finger mullet then peanut bunker — and the beaches erupt in blitzes.

  What turns it on: Cooling water in mid-September flushing bait onto the beaches.

  Target: Striped bass, Bluefish, Weakfish

• Spring Striped Bass Run Inshore · Mar 25 – May 20

  Big migratory bass stack in Raritan Bay and the rivers on fat spring bunker before pushing down the coast.

  What turns it on: Water into the upper-40s–50s + bunker flooding the bays.

  Target: Striped bass

• Spring Bluefish Inshore · Apr 25 – Jun 1

  First gorilla blues and lean racers tear through the suds alongside the stripers.

  What turns it on: Water hits the upper-50s and the bunker show.

  Target: Bluefish

• Fluke (Summer Flounder) Inshore · May 4 – Sep 25

  The bread-and-butter summer drift — bucktails and bait through the inlets, channels and back bays.

  What turns it on: Fluke move inshore once the season opens in early May.

  Target: Fluke

• Fall Blackfish (Tautog) Inshore · Oct 15 – Dec 15

  Crabbing the jetties and inlet rocks for white-chins — the biggest 'tog of the year move in late.

  What turns it on: Dropping temps concentrate fish on the jetties before they slide deep.

  Target: Tautog

• Summer Kingfish & Croaker Inshore · Jun 20 – Sep 1

  Dog-day surf staple — clam or Fishbites on a hi-lo rig for scrappy kings, croaker and spot.

  What turns it on: Warmest water of the year; kings show once temps hit the low-60s.

  Target: Kingfish, Croaker, Spot

• Black Sea Bass (inshore) Inshore · May 17 – Jun 30

  Knuckleheads pile onto the inshore wrecks, reefs and jetties on the spring push.

  What turns it on: Spring migration onto hard bottom as inshore water warms.

  Target: Black sea bass

• Canyon Yellowfin Run Offshore · Jun 25 – Oct 15

  The bread-and-butter grind — run to the 100-fathom line, find a temp break, troll or chunk for yellowfin.

  What turns it on: The canyons warming past 72°F + clean blue water on a temp break.

  Target: Yellowfin tuna, Bigeye tuna, Albacore

• Pot-Hopping Mahi Offshore · Jul 10 – Sep 30

  Run-and-gun the lobster pots from the 30-fathom line out — every buoy is a shot at a slammer.

  What turns it on: Mid-to-high-70s water holding bait under the pot lines.

  Target: Mahi, Wahoo

• Nearshore Bluefin Offshore · Jun 1 – Jul 31

  Cow bluefin blitzing sand eels and bunker just off the beach — a short run out of Manasquan or Barnegat.

  What turns it on: Sand eels & bunker on the nearshore lumps in 60–68°F water.

  Target: Bluefin tuna

• Bigeye & Night Chunk Offshore · Aug 1 – Sep 30

  Anchor and chunk through the night on the canyon edge — dusk and dark are when the bigeye feed.

  What turns it on: Warm canyon water + the Aug/Sep full moons.

  Target: Bigeye tuna, Yellowfin tuna

• Fall Wahoo Offshore · Sep 1 – Oct 31

  High-speed troll the canyon edge for fall 'hoos — they stay up top and hit like a freight train.

  What turns it on: Warm-water remnants on the breaks, around the September full moon.

  Target: Wahoo, Mahi, Yellowfin tuna

• Mako & Thresher Offshore · May 20 – Jun 30

  First offshore shot of the year — slick a chum line 20–50 miles out and wait for a mako to crash the spread.

  What turns it on: Water through the high-50s into the mid-60s dragging bait in.

  Target: Mako, Thresher, Blue shark

• Fall Nearshore Bluefin Offshore · Oct 15 – Dec 15

  The fall encore — bluefin pile onto sand eels off South Jersey close to the beach.

  What turns it on: Sand eels balling on the nearshore lumps as water drops into the 50s–60s.

  Target: Bluefin tuna

• Winter Wreck Cod & Ling Offshore · Jan 1 – Mar 15

  Cabin-fever cure — bang clam baits on the offshore wrecks 15–40 miles out for ling and the odd cod.

  What turns it on: Cold water pushing fish onto the deeper wrecks in 100–200 ft.

  Target: Cod, Ling, Pollock

Coastal runs that pass Cape May Harbor

These species travel the coast with the seasons, so they show up on a schedule rather than living here year-round.

• Striped bass

  the fall run south is the event of the year — the most reliable cascade signal in the NE

  Timing: northbound Mar–Jun · southbound Sep–Nov · Driven by: water temp (55–68°F); follows bunker & sand eels · Pace: ~50–100 mi/week along the surf; ~1,000 mi in 6–8 wks

• Bluefish

  blitzes alongside the stripers

  Timing: northbound Apr–Jun · southbound Sep–Nov · Driven by: temp + bunker/herring · Pace: fast, tracking the bait

• Weakfish

  stock is depleted — a historic cascade that reports rarely light up now

  Timing: northbound Mar–Jun · southbound Sep–Nov · Driven by: warming water; bunker, silversides, shrimp · Pace: moderate; into the bays ahead of summer heat

• Bonito

  Atlantic bonito — erratic year to year; NC spring blitz + NE summer

  Timing: northbound Apr–Jun · southbound Sep–Oct · Driven by: sand eels, anchovies, butterfish · Pace: moderate; often just ahead of the albies

• False albacore

  false albacore — fall cascade Nantucket→Cape Cod→NJ→NC; the Cape Lookout run is famous

  Timing: southbound Aug–Nov · northbound Apr–May · Driven by: temp (75–86°F); bay anchovies, silversides · Pace: very fast — NC→Keys in ~23 days, ~50 mi/day

• Spot

  Chesapeake/VA panfish + a fall bait; keyword collides with generic "spot" — needs phrase context

  Timing: northbound Apr–May · southbound Sep–Nov · Driven by: temp; tidal creeks · Pace: big fall schools through the inlets

• Redfish (red drum)

  bull-red fall surf run cascades by latitude: Mid-Atl Sep–Oct → FL Oct–Nov → Gulf Nov–Dec

  Timing: southbound Sep–Nov · Driven by: falling temps trigger the nearshore spawn run · Pace: cold-front-latency tide more than fish-following-fish

• Cobia

  SE-Atlantic stock — winters off S.FL/Keys, sight-fishing run up the beach; no clean fall cascade (disperses offshore)

  Timing: northbound Mar–Jun · Driven by: warming water; rides with cownose rays & bunker, near the surface · Pace: ~6-wk spring run; arrives NC May–Jun, Chesapeake late May

• Spanish mackerel

  Atlantic stock — strong cascade up the SE coast in spring

  Timing: northbound Feb–Jun · southbound Sep–Nov · Driven by: glass minnows & scaled sardines · Pace: tracks the 68–70°F water; ~2–3 wk lag SC→NC

• Mullet bait run

  the fall mullet run — the stripers & blues pile on it

  Timing: southbound Sep–Nov · Driven by: falling temps + photoperiod · Pace: the famous fall mullet run, S down the FL east coast; peak Sep–Oct

• Bunker (menhaden) bait run

  bunker/pogies — the stripers & blues are right under them

  Timing: northbound Mar–Jun · southbound Sep–Nov · Driven by: temp + plankton blooms · Pace: huge schools shift the coast; the #1 trigger for the fall striper/blues blitz

How Cape May Harbor fishes

Open water lies to the east of Cape May Harbor. A wind out of the east is onshore here — it stacks swell and chop into the mouth and pushes stirred-up water inshore, while a west wind flattens the surface and tends to clean it up.

Tide is the clock: moving water pulls bait through the mouth, and the turns around slack are when most of the roster feeds hardest.

Tides here are read from NOAA station 8535901 at 38.9483, -74.8917 — see it on NOAA CO-OPS.

Shops & partners near Cape May Harbor

Across New Jersey:

• 📦 Great Bay Outfitters

  Fishing kayaks, trolling motors and boat rigging, with kayak delivery across the Northeast.

We point you at people who put in the on-the-water work. Anything we're paid for says Partner.

Common questions about Cape May Harbor

What fish can you catch at Cape May Harbor?

Striped Bass, Bluefish, Summer Flounder (Fluke), Weakfish, Tautog (Blackfish), Black Drum, Red Drum (Redfish), Sheepshead, Spotted Seatrout (Specks), Black Sea Bass, Scup (Porgy), Northern Kingfish and 2 more. Each has its own season, preferred tide and water-temperature window at Cape May Harbor.

When is the best time to fish Cape May Harbor?

June has the most species in season (12 of 14) — Striped Bass, Bluefish, Summer Flounder (Fluke), Weakfish, Black Drum, Red Drum (Redfish), Sheepshead, Spotted Seatrout (Specks). Seasons shift by a few weeks in a warm or late year.

Is there anything biting at Cape May Harbor in winter?

January, February, March are the quiet stretch — none of the species we track are in their window then. The bite picks back up in April.

What tide is best for fishing Cape May Harbor?

11 of the 14 species here feed best on moving water. Moving water is what pulls bait through the mouth, so the hours either side of a tide change usually beat dead slack.

Which wind is bad for Cape May Harbor?

Open water lies to the east, so an east wind is onshore — it stacks swell and chop into the mouth and pushes dirty water inshore. A west wind flattens and cleans it up.

What are the seasonal runs at Cape May Harbor?

Fall Striped Bass Run (Oct 15 – Dec 15); Fall Mullet / Peanut Bunker (Sep 15 – Oct 31); Spring Striped Bass Run (Mar 25 – May 20); Spring Bluefish (Apr 25 – Jun 1); Fluke (Summer Flounder) (May 4 – Sep 25); Fall Blackfish (Tautog) (Oct 15 – Dec 15).

Where are the tides for Cape May Harbor measured?

NOAA CO-OPS station 8535901, at 38.9483, -74.8917. What Inlet? scores the live tide, current, solunar and weather for that station.

Inlets near Cape May Harbor

• Cape May Inlet 1 mi
• Swain Channel, Taylor Sound 3 mi
• West Wildwood, Grassy Sound 5 mi
• Nummy Island, Grassy Sound Channel 7 mi
• Stone Harbor, Great Channel 10 mi
• Bidwell Creek entrance 12 mi
• Stites Sound 14 mi
• Townsend Sound 16 mi

Fishing a different inlet today? Every one has its own species roster and bite pattern.

Browse every inlet in New Jersey, or the full inlet directory.