Fishing guides › Delaware & New Jersey
FISHING GUIDE · LONG BEACH ISLAND, NEW JERSEY
Long Beach Island & Barnegat Bay, New Jersey Fishing Guide
Long Beach Island offers surf fishing along its ocean beaches, jetty fishing at Barnegat Inlet and calm-water bay fishing behind the island. The fall is the big season, when stripers and bluefish chase mullet and bunker along the beach. Party and charter boats from Barnegat Light fish the wrecks and reefs for sea bass and ling, and run offshore for tuna.
📍 Long Beach Island is a barrier island in Ocean County, New Jersey. Barnegat Inlet is at its north end, with Barnegat Light and its south jetty on the island side and Island Beach State Park across the inlet. Holgate, part of the Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, is at the south end. Barnegat Bay, Manahawkin Bay and Little Egg Harbor lie behind the island.
📅 New Jersey Fishing Calendar — best months, closed seasons, bait & rigs →
Map: spots, ramps and marinas
★ Fishing hot spot · ● Boat ramp · ● Marina · ▭ Protected area (solid red = no fishing, dashed = fishing with rules)
Open the full Delaware & New Jersey map →
Quick facts
- The Barnegat Bay estuary covers 75 square miles, including Barnegat Bay, Manahawkin Bay and Little Egg Harbor, and over 600 square miles of land drain into it.
- Henry Hudson named it 'Barende-gut' (Dutch for inlet with breakers).
- The Sedge Islands Marine Conservation Zone, New Jersey's first, covers 1,900 acres at the south end of Island Beach State Park, near Barnegat Inlet.
- The Holgate unit of the Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge at LBI's south tip is open to fishing September 1 - March 31, or as posted.
- The 72nd LBI Surf Fishing Classic runs August 29 - November 29, 2026, for striped bass, bluefish, fluke, tautog and kingfish.
What you can catch
- Striped bass
Surf, Barnegat Inlet jetties and the bay; best in fall. - Bluefish
Surf and inlet, peaking late September into October with the mullet and peanut bunker. - Summer flounder (fluke)
Bay and surf; expect many shorts for each keeper in the bay. - Black sea bass
Wrecks and inshore grounds out of Barnegat Light. - Tautog (blackfish)
Barnegat Inlet jetties and wrecks in fall; many shorts. - Weakfish
Caught at Barnegat Light along with stripers, blues and fluke in September. - Northern puffer (blowfish)
Bay fishing in early fall, especially between the 'BI' and 'BB' markers. - Bluefin tuna
On inshore lumps north of Barnegat Light in summer, on jigs and topwater.
Month by month
| January | Striped bass open only in the ocean (0-3 miles); bay closed for stripers. Tautog open (4 fish). |
|---|---|
| February | Ocean-only stripers. Tautog open through Feb 28. |
| March | Striped bass open in the bay from Mar 1. Holgate open to fishing through Mar 31. |
| April | Tautog open Apr 1-30 (4 fish). |
| May | Fluke opens May 4 (bay slow while water is cold); sea bass opens May 15. Stripers along the Island Beach surf. |
| June | Sea bass drops to 1 fish June 22. Holgate closed to fishing until Sept 1. |
| July | Lots of short fluke in the bay; good bay crabbing; bluefin on the inshore lumps. |
| August | Tautog reopens Aug 1 (1 fish). LBI Surf Fishing Classic starts Aug 29 (2026). |
| September | Holgate reopens Sept 1. Stripers, blues, fluke and weakfish at Barnegat Light; false albacore and Spanish mackerel on metal. Fluke closes after Sept 25. |
| October | Peak striper and bluefish surf action. Blowfish in the bay; tautog at the Island Beach south jetty. |
| November | Sea bass 15 fish from Nov 1; tautog 5 fish from Nov 16. Surf Classic ends Nov 29 (2026). |
| December | Ocean stripers, sea bass and tautog open through Dec 31. |
Tips
- Register free with the New Jersey Saltwater Recreational Registry (age 16+), renewed every calendar year.
- Wear cleats on the tip of the Barnegat Light south jetty, and park on the street at night because the lot gets locked.
- Beach driving needs a permit from each town; no beach buggies at Barnegat Light, and Holgate needs a Long Beach Township permit.
- In the Sedge Islands zone, no jet skis, do not land on Sedge Island or go near osprey and falcon nest platforms; watch out for fast current and traffic in Oyster Creek Channel and the inlet.
- Shore anglers at Island Beach State Park have their own fluke rule: 2 fish at 16 inches.
Rules and license
New Jersey DEP Division of Fish & Wildlife; U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (Forsythe refuge); NJ State Park Service (Island Beach/Sedge Islands); NOAA Fisheries (federal waters) · Official rules page ↗
- NJ Saltwater Recreational Registry: free, required at age 16+, renew each year.
- Striped bass 2026: 1 fish, 28 to 31 inches. Ocean (0-3 miles) open all year; bays Mar 1 - Dec 31; no striped bass fishing in federal waters.
- Fluke 2026: May 4 - Sept 25, 3 fish at 18 inches; Island Beach State Park shore anglers 2 fish at 16 inches.
- Black sea bass 2026: 12.5 inches; 10 fish May 15 - June 21, 1 fish June 22 - Sept 22, 10 fish Sept 23 - Oct 31, 15 fish Nov 1 - Dec 31.
- Tautog: 15 inches; 4 fish Jan 1 - Feb 28 and Apr 1-30, 1 fish Aug 1 - Nov 15, 5 fish Nov 16 - Dec 31.
- Holgate (Forsythe NWR): fishing Sept 1 - Mar 31 or as posted; no land fishing along the refuge's Wildlife Drive.
- Sedge Islands Marine Conservation Zone: fishing allowed under state rules; personal watercraft banned; stay out of bird nesting areas.
- Barnegat Light, Garden State North and South, and Little Egg reefs are federal Special Management Zones: hook and line or spear only.
Rules change. Always check the official page before you fish.
Boat ramps and marinas
The map above shows 22 boat ramps and 30 marinas from OpenStreetMap. Tap any dot for directions.
- BBCA Marina
- Barnegat Light Boat Ramp
- Barnegat Light Yacht Club
- Bayview Marina
- Beach Haven Municipal Boat Ramp
- Beach Haven Yacht Club Marina
- Beachwood Yacht Club
- Boat ramp near Double Creek Wide Place
- Boat ramp near Goose Creek
- Boat ramp near Mud Cove
- Bobbie's Boats
- Cape Horn Marina
- Cranberry Inlet Marina
- Duck Cove Marina
- First Bridge Marina
- Fourth Bridge Marina
- Harbor View Marina
- Harvey Cedars Marina
- High Bar Harbor Yacht Club
- Holgate Marina
- Hostrocers Marina
- Key Harbor Marina
- Lighthouse Marina
- Little Egg Harbor Yacht Club
- Morrison's Marina
- North Branch Yachting Center
- Pier 1 Marina
- Rand's Marina
- Riverfront Marina
- Robbie's Loveladies Marina
- Shelter Harbor Marina
- Ship Bottom Boat Ramp
- State of NJ Yacht Basin Marina
- Surf City Yacht Club
- The Marina at Barnegat Light
- Toms River Boat Ramp
- Viking Village
Sources
- https://www.eregulations.com/newjersey/fishing/saltwater/state-size-possession-limits
- https://www.eregulations.com/newjersey/fishing/saltwater/recreational-surveys
- https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/50/648.148
- https://www.fws.gov/refuge/edwin-b-forsythe/visit-us/activities/fishing
- https://nj.gov/dep/parksandforests/docs/2021%20Sedge%20Island%20pocket%20brochureWeb.pdf
- https://marineprotectedareas.noaa.gov/helpful_resources/states/new_jersey_pr.html
- https://barnegatbaypartnership.org/barnegat-bay/
- https://www.thefisherman.com/hot-spot/long-beach-island/
- https://www.thefisherman.com/article/72nd-lbi-surf-classic-kicks-off-aug-29/
- https://www.thefisherman.com/article/hot-spot-nj-artificial-reef-sites/
- https://onthewater.com/fishing-reports/2026/05/southern-new-jersey-fishing-report-may-21-2026
- https://onthewater.com/fishing-reports/2026/07/southern-new-jersey-fishing-report-july-30-2026
- https://onthewater.com/fishing-reports/2026/10/southern-new-jersey-fishing-report-october-8-2026
Checked October 2026. BigJoe does not invent facts: every number on this page comes from the sources listed above.