Everything shifts in October. As the true autumnal season sets in with full colorful plumage, the saltwater comes alive. Cool nights spark the baitfish to push out of the backwaters and into the surfline as they are intercepted by migratory fish including stripers, blues, false albies, tuna and the like. From backwaters to offshore, all fronts are firing! Regulations to be aware of are black sea bass season which reopens from October 1 to October 31 with a 10 fish limit at 12.5-inch minimum length, then shifts November 1st to December 31st with same size limit but bag limit jumps to 15 fish per angler.
RARITAN BAY
Raritan Bay awakes like a Kraken from the depths as October ushers in scores of bluefish and striped bass. Action can be all over the bay from way back by Keansburg and Keyport to the Ammo Pier and Chapel Hill Channel out to Romer Shoal, West Bank and Flynn’s Knoll. Historically, gator bluefish would invade the bay to tear up all sorts of bunker and spearing schools though that happenstance hasn’t occurred in some time now, but it can always pop up if the blue schools push in instead of following the 20 fathom line. Big poppers and single hook metals will score with the slammers wherever they pop up. Stripers will be on the main menu as bass poke inside to gobble up the same bait schools and this is the time of year when visual strike are commonplace as bass hound dog and harass bait on the surface, crashing and splashing on them. Poppers are by far the most exciting way to get a shock strike, though soft baits and slide baits and spooks are a close second. Anyone looking to find a unicorn tiderunner weakfish can always drift sandworms by the Highlands Bridge or off Swash Channel to see if anybody’s home.
NORTHERN COAST
Little tunny schools should be lit up like July 4th fireworks off the Sandy Hook Rip and just off the nude beach and Sandy Hook beachfront as they speedily cruise around rainbowing on spearing and rainfish baits. Small metals cast out into the distance and ripped back at a lightning quick pace will get struck and a drag screaming run will follow. There should also be oceanic bonito mixed in with the albie schools anywhere from Long Branch and Monmouth Beach down through to the Manasquan Inlet. October is also prime time for the mullet schools to hug the beaches and thus bring in stripers close to shore to feed. Surfcasters can be in their glory as poppers and shads can dial in bass from the sands as boats nudge into the jetty tips of Spring Lake and Deal to pickpocket the surfcasters catching bass just outside of their casting range. Bottomfishing is really primed for exciting opportunity as tautog will be hanging all over the inshore wrecks and rockpiles at Sandy Hook Reef, The Farms, 17 Fathoms and any snag or secret rockpile you can find in 50 to 90 feet of water. Porgy fishing is tops as they machine gun clam and squid baits at all those same areas as tautog are holding on and never overlook the option to put some red hake aka ling into the cooler as well. If the bluefin tuna season is open, be prepared with heavy gear to run and gun to chase the vaulting schools. That always makes the day an interesting one.
CENTRAL COAST
While stripers do hug the northern coast, much of the action occurs south of the Manasquan Inlet as the Barnegat Bay allows mullet and spearing schools to flush out and head south of the inlet areas off the beaches from Bay Head, Brick Ortley and IBSP. Boaters run and gun on the schools whipping out poppers, slidebaits and shads to score with linesiders that can average in the 30 to 40 inch class with some larger model pigs pushing 40 to 50 pounds swarming down below the topwater activity. If bluefish show up, they will be everywhere with no rhyme or reason and can easily be caught on metals and poppers amidst the stripers. Back inside the Manasquan river, early morning sorties can pick off bass and blues hanging tight to the riverbanks before sunrise and the Barnegat Inlet always has bass hanging inside by the Coast Guard station where anglers will drift live spot to tangle with any big ones waiting to exit the inlet. The Axel Carlson reef and Barnegat Light Reef always seems to attract false albacore and bonito over the structure where running and gunning at sunrise with metal lures at the ready to intercept their roving paths. The reefs are also tops to pluck off blackfish, sheepshead and ling if you put your time in with fresh clams and green crab baits. Along this stretch too, bluefin tuna will show up right along the beaches out to about 5 miles near spots like the seaside Lump, Tolten wreck and the Mohawk. Always have some tuna poppers and RonZ lures to jig them up if legal at the time.
OFFSHORE
Another solid tuna season passed over the summer as bluefin were omnipresent inshore and yellowfin were thick offshore. That should continue well through October at the Hudson Canyon, Bacardi, Triple Wrecks and Resor Wreck areas where most of the catching took place over the summer months. Historically October turns around into a chunk bite on butterfish and sardines as overnight trips to the Edge are rewarded with plenty of yellowfin, bigeye, bluefin and the occasional swordfish on tap. The entire continental shelf could be holding tuna as they move up and down along the line from the Hudson, Toms, Lindenkohl and eventually later in the month shift down to the Baltimore Canyon. White marlin were ripe through the summer with some unprecedented catches at the big tournament and there still may be some white marlin and blue marlin hanging around if the temps stay in the 70’s and even high 60 degree warmwater eddies spinning off the Gulf Stream. Later in the month, longfin tuna will be taking the place of the yellowfin and the birds always seem to attack hammered diamond jigs swoop jigged down in the depths. Of course, if you want to bring home some golden tilefish for the grill, they should still be available in the 350 to 600 foot depths, popping out of their lairs to gobble down herring, squid and chunk baits.
October is truly the month of surprise and activity. No better time than now to get the boat moving as many marinas make anglers pull their boats by November 15th, so get on it!