Fishing at the Jersey Shore Bays & Inlets

1. Island Beach State Park (Striped Bass, Bluefish, Fluke, Weakfish, Kingfish, Black Drum, Winter Flounder)

Island Beach State Park, Ocean County

Island Beach State Park is a 10-mile barrier island offering the finest surf fishing on the New Jersey coast with 4-wheel-drive beach access and protected natural beach habitat.

2. Barnegat Bay (Striped Bass, Bluefish, Fluke, Weakfish, Winter Flounder, Tautog, Porgy, Crabs)

Barnegat Bay, Ocean County

Barnegat Bay is a 42-mile-long estuary stretching from Point Pleasant to Little Egg Inlet, offering world-class striped bass and fluke fishing with multiple boat launches and charters.

3. Barnegat Inlet (Striped Bass, Bluefish, Fluke, Weakfish, Tautog, Black Drum, Porgy, Sea Bass)

Barnegat Inlet, Ocean County

Barnegat Inlet connects Barnegat Bay to the Atlantic Ocean between Island Beach State Park and Long Beach Island, offering excellent jetty fishing for striped bass and tautog.

4. Long Beach Island (Striped Bass, Bluefish, Fluke, Weakfish, Kingfish, Black Drum, Tautog, Porgy)

Long Beach Island, Ocean County

Long Beach Island is an 18-mile barrier island offering excellent surf fishing from beach access points and the Barnegat Inlet jetties with multiple tackle shops and charter services.

5. Manasquan Inlet (Striped Bass, Bluefish, Fluke, Weakfish, Tautog, Porgy, Blackfish, Sea Bass)

Manasquan Inlet, Monmouth County

Manasquan Inlet is a popular jetty fishing location at the northern end of the Jersey Shore, offering excellent striped bass and tautog fishing year-round.

6. Point Pleasant Canal (Striped Bass, Bluefish, Fluke, Weakfish, Winter Flounder, Tautog)

Point Pleasant Canal, Ocean County

The Point Pleasant Canal connects the Manasquan River to Barnegat Bay, offering excellent fishing from the canal banks and bulkheads.

7. Seaside Heights Pier (Striped Bass, Bluefish, Fluke, Kingfish, Porgy, Winter Flounder)

Seaside Heights, Ocean County

The Seaside Heights boardwalk pier offers excellent surf fishing with deep water access and a popular fishing destination for visitors.

8. Seaside Park Beach (Striped Bass, Bluefish, Fluke, Kingfish, Weakfish, Black Drum)

Seaside Park, Ocean County

Seaside Park offers good surf fishing along its natural beachfront with less development than the boardwalk areas.

9. Lavallette Beach (Striped Bass, Bluefish, Fluke, Kingfish, Winter Flounder)

Lavallette, Ocean County

Lavallette offers good surf fishing in a quiet beach community on Barnegat Bay peninsula.

10. Ortley Beach (Striped Bass, Bluefish, Fluke, Weakfish, Kingfish)

Ortley Beach, Ocean County

Ortley Beach offers good surf fishing with public beach access between Seaside Heights and Lavallette.

11. Normandy Beach (Striped Bass, Bluefish, Fluke, Kingfish)

Normandy Beach, Ocean County

Normandy Beach offers quiet surf fishing on Barnegat Bay's barrier peninsula.

12. Chadwick Beach (Striped Bass, Bluefish, Fluke, Weakfish)

Chadwick Beach, Ocean County

Chadwick Beach offers good surf fishing on the Barnegat Bay barrier island.

13. Bay Head Beach (Striped Bass, Bluefish, Fluke, Winter Flounder)

Bay Head, Ocean County

Bay Head offers beach and bay fishing at the northern end of Barnegat Bay near Point Pleasant.

14. Mantoloking Bridge (Striped Bass, Bluefish, Fluke, Weakfish, Tautog, Crab)

Mantoloking, Ocean County

The Mantoloking Bridge area offers good fishing for striped bass and tautog in the Barnegat Bay thoroughfare.

15. Toms River Inlet (Striped Bass, Bluefish, Fluke, Weakfish, White Perch)

Toms River, Ocean County

Toms River inlet at the mouth of the Toms River offers good fishing in Barnegat Bay with public access at the municipal dock.

16. Waretown (Striped Bass, Bluefish, Fluke, Weakfish, Crabs)

Waretown, Ocean County

Waretown on Barnegat Bay offers good fishing with boat ramps and bay access in southern Ocean County.

17. Forked River (Striped Bass, Bluefish, Fluke, Weakfish, Crabs)

Forked River, Ocean County

Forked River is a popular boating and fishing community on Barnegat Bay with multiple marinas and launch facilities.

18. Lanoka Harbor (Striped Bass, Bluefish, Fluke, Weakfish, Winter Flounder)

Lanoka Harbor, Ocean County

Lanoka Harbor offers good bay fishing on the western shore of Barnegat Bay in Lacey Township.

19. Bayside Beach (Ocean Co.) (Striped Bass, Bluefish, Fluke, Weakfish)

Bayside Beach, Ocean County

Bayside Beach offers good Barnegat Bay fishing access in the Waretown area.

20. Bamber Lake (Largemouth Bass, Chain Pickerel, Crappie, Bluegill, Sunfish)

Bamber Lake, Ocean County

Bamber Lake in Lacey Township offers good freshwater fishing near the Barnegat Bay shore.

21. Atlantic City Beaches (Striped Bass, Bluefish, Fluke, Weakfish, Kingfish, Black Drum, Porgy)

Atlantic City, Atlantic County

Atlantic City's beaches offer excellent surf fishing with the famous steel pier providing deep-water access along the Absecon Inlet.

22. Absecon Inlet (Striped Bass, Bluefish, Fluke, Weakfish, Tautog, Black Drum, Porgy, Sea Bass)

Absecon Inlet, Atlantic County

Absecon Inlet between Atlantic City and Brigantine offers excellent jetty and boat fishing for striped bass and tautog.

23. Brigantine Beach (Striped Bass, Bluefish, Fluke, Weakfish, Kingfish, Black Drum, Winter Flounder)

Brigantine, Atlantic County

Brigantine offers excellent surf fishing on its beaches and jetty access at the Brigantine Inlet.

24. Brigantine Inlet (Striped Bass, Bluefish, Fluke, Weakfish, Tautog, Black Drum, Flounder)

Brigantine Inlet, Atlantic County

Brigantine Inlet offers excellent fishing in the Atlantic City backbays with access from both Brigantine and the Edwin B. Forsythe Refuge.

25. Great Egg Harbor Inlet (Striped Bass, Bluefish, Fluke, Weakfish, Tautog, Black Drum, Porgy)

Great Egg Harbor Inlet, Atlantic County

Great Egg Harbor Inlet between Longport and Ocean City offers excellent inlet fishing with jetties and beach access.

26. Ocean City Beaches (Striped Bass, Bluefish, Fluke, Weakfish, Kingfish, Black Drum, Tautog)

Ocean City, Cape May County

Ocean City's beaches offer good surf fishing along the family-friendly resort's 8 miles of shoreline.

27. Ocean City-Longport Bridge (Striped Bass, Bluefish, Fluke, Weakfish, Tautog, Black Drum)

Ocean City-Longport Bridge, Atlantic/Cape May counties

The Ocean City-Longport Bridge offers excellent fishing for striped bass and tautog in the Great Egg Harbor Inlet thoroughfare.

28. Corson's Inlet (Striped Bass, Bluefish, Fluke, Weakfish, Tautog, Black Drum, Porgy)

Corson's Inlet, Cape May County

Corson's Inlet between Ocean City and Strathmere offers excellent fishing in a protected state park natural area.

29. Strathmere Beach (Striped Bass, Bluefish, Fluke, Weakfish, Kingfish)

Strathmere, Cape May County

Strathmere offers quiet surf fishing on a narrow barrier island between Corson's Inlet and Townsend Inlet.

30. Townsend Inlet (Striped Bass, Bluefish, Fluke, Weakfish, Tautog, Black Drum, Porgy, Sea Bass)

Townsend Inlet, Cape May County

Townsend Inlet between Sea Isle City and Avalon offers excellent jetty and surf fishing.

31. Avalon Beaches (Striped Bass, Bluefish, Fluke, Weakfish, Kingfish, Tautog, Black Drum)

Avalon, Cape May County

Avalon offers excellent surf fishing with 4-wheel-drive beach access permits available for fishermen.

32. Stone Harbor Beaches (Striped Bass, Bluefish, Fluke, Weakfish, Kingfish, Black Drum)

Stone Harbor, Cape May County

Stone Harbor offers good surf fishing and access to Hereford Inlet on the Cape May peninsula.

33. Hereford Inlet (Striped Bass, Bluefish, Fluke, Weakfish, Tautog, Black Drum, Porgy, Sea Bass)

Hereford Inlet, Cape May County

Hereford Inlet between Stone Harbor and North Wildwood offers excellent jetty fishing with deep water access.

34. North Wildwood Beaches (Striped Bass, Bluefish, Fluke, Weakfish, Kingfish, Black Drum, Tautog)

North Wildwood, Cape May County

North Wildwood offers excellent surf fishing at the Hereford Inlet area with public beach access.

35. Wildwood Beaches (Striped Bass, Bluefish, Fluke, Weakfish, Kingfish, Black Drum, Porgy)

Wildwood, Cape May County

Wildwood's expansive beaches offer excellent surf fishing with multiple fishing piers and beach access points.

36. Wildwood Crest Beaches (Striped Bass, Bluefish, Fluke, Weakfish, Kingfish, Black Drum)

Wildwood Crest, Cape May County

Wildwood Crest offers good surf fishing at the southern end of the Wildwood barrier island.

37. Cape May Point (Striped Bass, Bluefish, Fluke, Weakfish, Black Drum, Tautog, Porgy, Sea Bass)

Cape May Point, Cape May County

Cape May Point at the southern tip of New Jersey offers excellent surf fishing in Cape May Point State Park with views of the Delaware Bay and Atlantic Ocean.

38. Cape May Inlet (Striped Bass, Bluefish, Fluke, Weakfish, Tautog, Black Drum, Porgy, Sea Bass)

Cape May Inlet, Cape May County

Cape May Inlet between Cape May and Wildwood Crest offers excellent boat and jetty fishing with access from Cape May Harbor.

39. Cape May Harbor (Striped Bass, Bluefish, Fluke, Weakfish, Tautog, Black Drum, Winter Flounder, Porgy)

Cape May Harbor, Cape May County

Cape May Harbor is a major fishing port offering head boat charters, party boats, and excellent shore fishing for striped bass and tautog.

40. Cold Spring Inlet (Striped Bass, Bluefish, Fluke, Weakfish, Tautog, Black Drum, Porgy, Sea Bass)

Cold Spring Inlet, Cape May County

Cold Spring Inlet at Cape May offers excellent inlet fishing from the jetties and beaches of Cape May Point State Park and the Cape May Canal.