Raritan Bay bass blitz fires as bunker schools stack thick in the shallows

The Raritan Bay is absolutely on fire right now, and I mean that literally — water temps hit 72 degrees this week and the bass are acting like someone rang the dinner bell. I've been fishing these waters for twenty years and I haven't seen bunker this thick in the shallows since 2018. We're talking acres of peanuts from the Amboys all the way up to the Outerbridge, and where there's bunker, there's bass.

The action starts at first light when the bunker push into 12 to 18 feet of water along the channel edges. I'm talking specifically about the drop-offs near the Raritan River mouth and the flats off South Amboy. The bass are absolutely crushing them on the incoming tide, especially that first two hours after slack low. I watched a guy boat six keeper stripers in forty minutes yesterday morning throwing a 6-inch white Hogy paddle tail on a 3/4-ounce jighead, working it just under the surface through the bait schools.

Live bunker is the absolute ticket right now if you can net them. I'm rigging them on a simple fishfinder setup — 3/0 circle hook through the nose, 2-ounce egg sinker, 30-pound fluorocarbon leader. Drop them right on the edges where the channel meets the flats and let the current do the work. The bass are sitting in that 15 to 20-foot zone waiting for the bunker to drift down to them. I'm seeing fish from 24 inches all the way up to a few in the mid-30s.

The Shark River has been producing solid fluke action, especially on the outgoing tide when the bay water drains through the inlet. The temperature differential between the bay and ocean is creating a perfect setup — warmer bay water at 72 degrees meeting cooler ocean water at 68. That gradient is stacking fluke right in the inlet mouth and the first mile of ocean. I'm drifting 4-inch white Gulp Swimming Mullets on 1/2-ounce bucktails in 25 to 30 feet, keeping them just off the bottom on a slow retrieve. The keeper ratio isn't spectacular, but the fish are there — mostly 18 to 20 inches with a few pushing that magic 19.5-inch mark.

Manasquan Inlet is fishing well for both bass and blues, especially around the rock jetties on the outgoing water. The current rips are holding bait tight to the structure, and the predators are taking advantage. I'm seeing guys do well with 1-ounce white bucktails tipped with pork rind, bouncing them along the rocks on the north jetty. The key is timing it right — you want to be there two hours before high tide and fish through the turn.

Down at Barnegat Light, the night bite has been exceptional. The new moon we just had created some serious current flow, and the bass are feeding aggressively after dark. I'm talking about the bay side of the inlet, working the channel edges with live eels on a simple Carolina rig. The water is clean and warm, and these fish are feeding with confidence. I had a charter client land a 32-inch bass at 11 PM last Thursday on a 12-inch eel drifted along the 18-foot contour.

The bunker schools are the real story here. This isn't just random bait — these are mature peanuts that have been staging in the bay system for weeks, getting fat on the abundant zooplankton that the warm water has produced. The bass know it, the blues know it, and even some early weakfish are starting to show up to crash the party. I picked up three weakfish to 22 inches this week on small bucktails worked through the bunker schools — first weakfish I've seen in decent numbers in the bay since early May.

Looking ahead, this full moon coming Friday is going to create some serious tidal flow. I'm expecting the bunker to get pushed around more, which should fire up the bass even more. The key is going to be mobility — don't get married to one spot. Follow the birds, watch your fish finder, and when you see those dense bait marks, get your lines in the water fast. This kind of action doesn't last forever, but when it's on like this, you need to drop everything and get out there.