Stone Harbor Fishing Reports (December 2025)

Frank Breakell
Stone Harbor, New Jersey
Reported: 2 years ago

What a fun day out! Skel and I ran out to see what we might find. First stop was the reef. We spot locked over a pile of rubble and hauled up short sea bass, after short sea bass. I managed three blues and a triggerfish too. Made a move...

Frank Breakell Stone Harbor, New Jersey Reported: 2 years ago

What a fun day out! Skel and I ran out to see what we might find. First stop was the reef. We spot locked over a pile of rubble and hauled up short sea bass, after short sea bass. I managed three blues and a triggerfish too. Made a move to o eof the wrecks, but it was barren. Ran a few miles further out and tried another wreck. We found more sea bass, but they were even smaller.
The question burning in our minds was simple; push further out in search of bigger sea bass, or, run back inside and enjoy the bent rods? We ended up pushing further out. We found some sea bass pots and worked the area in between them. There were clouds of fish! We started off with bait, Mole crabs, clam, and squid. Then I changed up to jigging. Jigs were the ticket. Bigger fish and quicker results. While hauling up a ton of short sea bass, we slowly drifted close to one of the pots. We noticed some movement and realized there was a big school of little mahi holding to the structure. We tried chunks of peanuts, whole peanuts, and all sorts of lures. Skel managed to finally get one of the slightly larger mahi to bite his chunk. It bent the rod for about three seconds and spit the hook. I finally had enough. I ran back over to the little piece of rubble and dropped our jigs. We started
right back where we left off. The sea bass were voracious, and for some reason, bigger. We hauled in fifteen keepers in short order, along with loads of shorts. I even got a big porgy.
Unfortunately time wasn't on our side. I could've stayed out there all day. But, obligations take precedence over fun at times...

Scup Fishing in Stone Harbor, New Jersey

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Frank Breakell
Stone Harbor, New Jersey
Reported: 2 years ago

Fished the surf this morning with Christopher and his crew. Early 6am start allowed for viewing the sunrise, always a nice bonus. The surf wasn't bad, but a steady two feet pounding the shore. That'll come into play later. I set up six rods to start. Two with bloodworms and...

Frank Breakell Stone Harbor, New Jersey Reported: 2 years ago

Fished the surf this morning with Christopher and his crew. Early 6am start allowed for viewing the sunrise, always a nice bonus. The surf wasn't bad, but a steady two feet pounding the shore. That'll come into play later.
I set up six rods to start. Two with bloodworms and Brown Dog Bomb kingfish rigs, two with cut bait (bluefish, kingfish), and two shark rods with chunks of bluefish and kingfish. It didn't take very long for one of the kingfish rigs to attract a hungry fish.
Our first victim was a little kingfish, which we released. I figured out the fish were in fairly tight to the beach, so I kept the casts short. The cut baits and shark baits were eaten by pesky fish and crabs. We picked at kingfish while the tide slowly began to ebb. I was hoping the turn out would spark the bite a bit. The only thing it did was bring in some weakfish and skates.
We ended up with six kingfish, three skates, and two weakies. Not stellar by any means, but a nice day. Things got a bit slow as the tide slowly ran out. Then suddenly one of the shark rods started to get pecked. Seemed like a skate or doggie bite, but when dude grabbed it, it took of screaming. He held on tight and reeled when he could. The beast dragged him down the beach a good way. I followed and coached him as he battled the heretofore unseen assailant. Finally, a good two hundred yards from where we started he began to gain line and draw the beast in toward shore. Suddenly the surface erupted and the head and pectoral fin of a sizeable sand tiger emerged and thrashed. I told him to expect heavy resistance when it hit

Tiger Shark Fishing in Stone Harbor, New Jersey

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Frank Breakell
Stone Harbor, New Jersey
Reported: 2 years ago

Flounder fishing has been pretty good in the back bays lately. Gulp and various meats have been working well. The sea bass bite on the Inshore wrecks is on fire. You can't hit the bottom with a jig without being hooked up. The surf continues to produce nice striped bass...

Frank Breakell Stone Harbor, New Jersey Reported: 2 years ago

Flounder fishing has been pretty good in the back bays lately. Gulp and various meats have been working well.
The sea bass bite on the Inshore wrecks is on fire. You can't hit the bottom with a jig without being hooked up.
The surf continues to produce nice striped bass and puppy drum, both on fresh clams. Salted works for stripers too.
And to add to the fun there have been some nice weakies and blues around as well. Fishing is in full swing here and should only get better.

Striped Bass Fishing in Stone Harbor, New Jersey

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Frank Breakell
Stone Harbor, New Jersey
Reported: 2 years ago

We ended the year with three great trips! We went out and spot locked over some wrecks and did well with tautog. Green crabs were the go to bait, but clams caught too. When running back inside, we spotted some birds and cruised in close to see what all the...

Frank Breakell Stone Harbor, New Jersey Reported: 2 years ago

We ended the year with three great trips! We went out and spot locked over some wrecks and did well with tautog. Green crabs were the go to bait, but clams caught too. When running back inside, we spotted some birds and cruised in close to see what all the fuss was about. Turned out to be striped bass (finally!). So, we dropped jigs down and had a blast catching and releasing stripers up to 40". We kept a few for the table as well. The first two trips were mostly about the stripers. The final trip was all tog. The weather has been unbelievable, and unseasonably warm. If it stays like this we could fish right through the winter.

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Frank Breakell
Stone Harbor, New Jersey
Reported: 2 years ago

Tried bridge hopping with Justin tonight. We hit a few normally productive areas, but they were dead zones. They all held bait, mostly spearing, some sand eels, but no stripers. Not a nibble. There were great blue herons at just about every place we went. That was cool. Not sure...

Frank Breakell Stone Harbor, New Jersey Reported: 2 years ago

Tried bridge hopping with Justin tonight. We hit a few normally productive areas, but they were dead zones. They all held bait, mostly spearing, some sand eels, but no stripers. Not a nibble. There were great blue herons at just about every place we went. That was cool. Not sure what the deal was with the lack of fish. Impending full Moon, strong current, general lack of bait, quick drop in water temperature,...who knows. Maybe next time.”
Tight Lines!

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Frank Breakell
Stone Harbor, New Jersey
Reported: 3 years ago

Not really doing a whole lot at this time with school back in session. We were out this past Saturday and mugged up on nice flounder. We were throwing back over sized fish, which was painful. The key was making short drifts over the structure and working it hard. When...

Frank Breakell Stone Harbor, New Jersey Reported: 3 years ago

Not really doing a whole lot at this time with school back in session.
We were out this past Saturday and mugged up on nice flounder. We were throwing back over sized fish, which was painful. The key was making short drifts over the structure and working it hard. When the bite stops, hit the next piece. The fluke have turned on just in time for them to go out of season on the 27th.
The back bays are alive with peanut bunker, spearing, and some mullet. When you can get anything to actually bite there are stripers and weakies around. Small blues too. But the bite is very spotty with all the bait. But worth the effort. Fun times are ahead. Sea bass will be opening soon. And tog is just around the corner. As are the stripers. Come on Fall!

Flounder fishing in Stone Harbor, New Jersey

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Frank Breakell
Stone Harbor, New Jersey
Reported: 3 years ago

The water us finally warming up to where is should be this time of the year. We are starting to get better fluke action on the reefs and wrecks in the 40-80' range. There are good numbers of sea bass around too, but mostly on the short side. 1-4# blues...

Frank Breakell Stone Harbor, New Jersey Reported: 3 years ago

The water us finally warming up to where is should be this time of the year. We are starting to get better fluke action on the reefs and wrecks in the 40-80' range. There are good numbers of sea bass around too, but mostly on the short side. 1-4# blues have invaded the Inshore lumps and can be taken on small metals or trolling. There have even been some king mackerel taken while trolling. We had one launch right in front of the boat the other day. There are schools of bait pretty much everywhere you look, so it's just a matter of time, or finding the right one, to get on the fish. It should only get better from here on. Tight Lines!"

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Frank Breakell
Stone Harbor, New Jersey
Reported: 3 years ago

The fishing has been pretty off out front on the inshore reefs. We continue to have upwelling thanks to the constant southerly winds. The water temperature is fluctuating constantly from the upper 50s to the low 70s. The fish can't get acclimated and just turn off. So, we have been...

Frank Breakell Stone Harbor, New Jersey Reported: 3 years ago

The fishing has been pretty off out front on the inshore reefs. We continue to have upwelling thanks to the constant southerly winds. The water temperature is fluctuating constantly from the upper 50s to the low 70s. The fish can't get acclimated and just turn off. So, we have been targeting the smaller fluke and little sea bass in the back bays.
The beaches are providing more consistent action with kingfish, spot, and a variety of other species. There are occasionally larger sharks and rays in the mix.
The back bays at night are loaded with peanut bunker and spearing. Small blues are constantly harassing them. There are some stripers around here and there. The bite is definitely not what is should be though.
Things would bust wide open if the water would just get stable.