Waterlands

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Atlantic bluefin tunaShoulder season

Cape · New Jersey

Cedar Point

39.95°N · 74.19°W · Cape · Coastal waters from Manasquan Inlet to Little Egg Inlet NJ out 20 NM

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Best score today · 8 PM · Atlantic bluefin tuna

79/100Great
Now
4812 PM EST
Best window
6-11 PMEbb tide
Tide now
Flooding0.4 ft ▲

Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine

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24-hour conditions

Wednesday, Nov 11 · 1 AM

Time1A
Score39Fair
Tide0.7 ft ▼Ebbing
Wind13 kn NNEgusts 29 · steady
Air temp52°Cool
WeatherOvercast100% cloud
Water61°FPersisted

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

No rule for Atlantic bluefin tuna is on file here yet, so its status is unknown, not closed. Confirm limits with NJFW before you keep a fish.

Source: NJFW · synced yesterday

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Atlantic bluefin tuna is best here

Shoulder season for Atlantic bluefin tuna · 4 more weeks at shoulder

Atlantic bluefin tuna season by week of the year. Shoulder season for Atlantic bluefin tuna · 4 more weeks at shoulder.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • Not here
  • This week

Atlantic bluefin tuna in New Jersey →

Spot profile

Cedar Point

Depth
2-6 ftNearest water
Structure
Point · Inner · ProtectedPoint · flat bottom
Season
Shoulder seasonAtlantic bluefin tuna

NOAA NCEI DEM, sampled Sep 13 on a 3.4 m grid. Depths are feet below NAVD 88, not chart datum (MLLW), so they can differ from a chart by a few feet. Not for navigation.

About this spot

Fishing Cedar Point

Cedar Point is a cape in Coastal waters from Manasquan Inlet to Little Egg Inlet NJ out 20 NM, New Jersey. Depth in the nearest water is 2-6 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads point, inner water and protected.

Waterlands scores 16 species here; the best right now are scup, striped bass and tautog. It is peak season now for striped bass, tautog, black sea bass and bluefish, and shoulder season for scup, little tunny, spot and weakfish. Scup peak from June through October. Striped bass peak from April through May and from October through December. Tautog peak in April and from October through December.

Tackle & technique

Atlantic bluefin tuna
Bluefin tuna follow schools of herring, mackerel, sand eels and menhaden over banks, ledges and shoals, mostly in the top 150 feet. Troll spreader bars and daisy chains to find fish, then switch to live bait, chunks or stick baits once a school is located. Heavy tackle and a NOAA HMS permit are required, and size-class limits change through the season.
Scup
Scup school over hard and mixed bottom, rock piles, mussel beds, piers and jetties, usually in 10 to 60 feet of water. Fish a high-low rig with small hooks and squid or clam strips on the bottom, and chum with clam to hold a school under the boat. If nothing bites within 15 minutes, move to the next piece of structure.
Striped bass
Striped bass feed where moving tide pushes bait past structure: inlets, points, jetties, bridge pilings and rips in the surf, usually in 2 to 40 feet of water. Fish dawn, dusk and night hardest, casting plugs, bucktails and soft plastics or drifting live bunker and eels, and chunk bait on the bottom in current. In midsummer the larger fish drop deeper or feed mostly after dark.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

  • Coates Point

    Cape · 4.0 mi

    69
    Top: ScupShoulder season
    • Scup 69
    • Tautog 69
    • Striped bass 68

    2 kt EH 4:43 PM · 0.4 ftL 11:48 PM · 0.0 ft

  • Crossway Creek

    Bay · 4.3 mi

    69
    Top: BluefishPeak season
    • Bluefish 69
    • Spotted seatrout 68
    • Striped bass 68

    1 kt NH 5:09 PM · 0.4 ftL 12:06 AM · 0.0 ft

  • Flag Point

    Cape · 0.3 mi

    68
    Top: ScupShoulder season
    • Scup 68
    • Striped bass 68
    • Tautog 68

    1 kt NH 4:34 PM · 1.1 ftL 11:26 PM · 0.4 ft

  • Money Island

    Cape · 1.6 mi

    68
    Top: ScupShoulder season
    • Scup 68
    • Striped bass 68
    • Tautog 68

    1 kt NH 4:34 PM · 1.1 ftL 11:26 PM · 0.4 ft

Scores and forecasts are for planning only and can be wrong. Conditions on the water change fast; check the marine forecast before you go. Regulations change during the season, so confirm limits and closures with NJFW before you keep a fish.