The golden afternoon grew into evening, soft and pink and purple, and we all sensed something special in the autumn air. Diving gulls and gannets revealed they were moving and feeding alright, but too far offshore.ĭead low tide let us walk far off the beach, but we just couldn’t reach those tempting swirls beneath the birds. We started our sojourn the evening before, casting poppers off 24th Avenue in South Seaside Park.

I’m still living off the excitement and success of last year’s November blitz, when along with son Tom and daughter Chris, we stole a crisp autumn morning that turned into a day to remember. When discussing perennial hot spots along the Striper Coast, any hardcore surfcaster can easily rifle off the traditional greats – the light at Montauk, Cape Cod Canal, the boulder-strewn waters of Block Island, or the remote striper outpost at Cuttyhunk.īut when all the pieces are in place, as striped bass stack up along the Central Jersey coast to feed before making their final push south, and as the surf action begins to fade in New England and on Long Island, IBSP makes a sound case for being one of the great places to hit during the annual run. And some seasons, the main bodies of southern-bound stripers pass the New Jersey Coast in federal waters, more than 3 miles off the beach, frustrating even boat anglers.īut then there are years, such as 2016, when the fishing gods smile upon us, and bestow blitz conditions to anglers who limit themselves to the break of the surf. Some seasons those fish, namely stripers, never stray into the surf zone during their southerly migration. “ Fish are where you find them” sounds a little like something Yogi Berra would’ve said, but it’s especially true when surf fishing Island Beach State Park (IBSP) in the fall. Photo by Tom Lynch (As striped bass migrate south, this Garden State stopover draws surfcasters from up and down the Striper Coast.

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