Add to the state's wide range of water types the variety of target species attractive to fly rodders and you can understand why so many anglers trek along New Jersey's beaches and boat its bays with long rods in hand. Striped bass are the bread-and-butter game species because of their numbers and the long season of their availability. They are viable fly-rod targets from April until December, and there is a chance of catching a trophy fish at any time. While these largely migratory fish are most abundant in fall, especially from Sandy Hook to Barnegat Inlet, as well as the rips off Cape May, some resident fish are available through the summer in most coastal waters.

Because the populations have increased in recent years, weakfish have become a target of many New Jersey saltwater fishermen.

Though the numbers of larger specimens have been diminishing in recent years, bluefish still account for many exciting hours offshore, along the oceanfront, and in the bays from April until October or early November. They can show up nearly any time and any place.

False albacore, officially known as the little tunny, can lay claim to the title of most exciting inshore fly-rod species. They're available for a relatively short time, yet these tackle burners attract hordes of fly fishers to the Jersey coast in September and October. The Atlantic bonito, a cousin to the false albacore, normally appear in late summer. Along the New Jersey coast, as opposed to New England, bonito tend to stay offshore and are generally regarded as a boat fisherman's quarry. Nevertheless, in the immediate past few years more of these fish have come into range of beach and inshore anglers in August and September.

Striped bass are one of the most pursued gamefish off the coast of New Jersey. Though they are available April-December, your best chances of hooking a trophy fish will be in the fall.

One of the East's pleasant surprises has been the return of the weakfish (known as gray trout in the South and squeteague [skwee-teeg] in New England) to New Jersey waters. Their numbers have increased dramatically over the past five or six years. Late April into June is the prime time for the largest numbers and sizes, and double-figure fish are commonly taken in all the major bays. Through the summer large numbers of smaller fish are present, especially during hours of darkness.

Nearly all the state's bays and beaches give up fluke (summer flounder) from June until October, and brackish waters of the bays yield wonderful fishing for white perch and young striped bass. While not popular as fly-rod fish, white perch offer an enjoyable change of pace.

Other species also provide sport when the prime players are not available. Spanish and bullet mackerel, which somewhat resemble small false albacore, appear in late summer during the years when Gulf currents push warm waters closer to shore. In deeper offshore waters, shark and tuna (yellowfin, bluefin, and skipjack), and occasionally white marlin, have been getting more play from anglers recently. Dolphin (dorado, mahi-mahi) can be numerous at times and easy to catch by casting to patches of floating grass, other flotsam, or lobster buoys. On occasion, jack crevalle, lesser amberjack, cobia, or other exotics, while they don't offer a regular, viable fishery, nevertheless make for a novel outing. Juvenile bonefish and Florida pompano have even shown up in bait nets, and a few years ago Bob Popovics filmed a large tarpon lolling in the surf.

In addition to New Jersey's location on the migratory and spawning routes of the bass, blues, albies, and bonito, a wide variety of baits draw predators into local waters. Sand eels, killifishes, spearing, herring, eels, shrimp, and crabs abound here in late spring and summer. Particularly beginning in September, 4 to 6 inch white mullet, small menhaden, locally known as "peanut bunker", as well as specimens up to a foot in length, and huge schools of 2 to 4 inch bay anchovies ("rainfish"), attract most fish to the shore. The rich, warm bays and estuaries of major tidal rivers provide nursery waters for prodigious numbers of these forage species.