October 30th, 2025 New Jersey/Delaware Bay Fishing Report with Jim Hutchinson, Jr.

This week’s report comes from Dewey Beach, DE where the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and its Striped Bass Management Board voted 13-3 in favor of "status quo" measures for striped bass. With that vote commissioners also agreed to establish a new Working Group comprised of stakeholders, scientists and fisheries managers to look more closely at the health of striped bass “in consideration of severely reduced reproductive success in the Chesapeake Bay.” That original “status quo” motion was made by reps from New Jersey and Delaware, with New York adding the Working Group concept to work proactively on future striped bass management goals. Reps from Massachusetts and Rhode Island tried substituting a 12% reduction motion to reduce allowable days of recreational striped bass fishing in 2026, but that motion failed by an 11-5 vote.

We have the full breakdown of that commission vote (24:35) at the end of this week's report from outside the room where it happened, but we lead off with Tuesday's 16-2 vote in favor of a 20% cut to the commercial menhaden harvest beginning in 2026. Improving weather (5:10) heading into the first week of November and we hope to be the real kickoff in the fall striper run. Black sea bass bag limit increases to 15 fish on Saturday, and shorebound tautog action remains pretty solid (12:45). Deep dive into the November edition of The Fisherman (17:50) and our calendar of events, George has your weekly freshwater report (22:00) from the Poconos.