Best time to fish in Highlands
Today, Wednesday, October 28, 2026 · local time (EDT) · New Jersey, United States Today, Wed, Oct 28 · EDT- High tides
- 10:01 am and 10:29 pm
- Major periods
- 1:31–3:31 am and 2:02–4:02 pm
- Solunar activity
- Medium
- Sun
- 7:21 am–5:58 pm
Today, Wednesday, October 28, the best time to fish in Highlands is 3:40 pm to 5:40 pm, with the 4:40 pm low tide, a major period, sunset and a light onshore breeze. It's an average day (6/10). The best day this week is Friday, October 30, at 8/10.
Your day in Highlands at a glance
The strip runs from midnight to midnight, local time. Night in gray, daylight in yellow; the blue curve is the tide; below, the solunar periods and the best windows.
Fishing forecast for the next 7 days
| Day | Rating | Best times | High tides | Moon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Today | 6average day | 3:40–5:40 pm2:50–3:30 am | ▲ 10:01 am ▲ 10:29 pm | Waning gibbous |
| Thu 29 | 7good day | 4:30–6:20 pm3:40–4:30 am | ▲ 10:55 am ▲ 11:29 pm | Waning gibbous |
| Fri 30 | 8good day | 5:30–6:10 pm4:30–5:40 am | ▲ 11:55 am | Waning gibbous |
| Sat 31 | 4fair day | 5:20–7:10 pm1:00–2:00 pm | ▲ 12:34 am ▲ 1:00 pm | Waning gibbous |
| Sun 1 | 6average day | 6:00–6:40 am12:40–1:40 pm | ▲ 1:40 am ▲ 1:04 pm | Last quarter |
| Mon 2 | 7good day | 6:00–7:30 am1:10–2:10 pm | ▲ 1:43 am ▲ 2:04 pm | Waning crescent |
| Tue 3 | 5average day | 6:20–7:10 am2:00–4:00 pm | ▲ 2:43 am ▲ 3:04 pm | Waning crescent |
Each day's rating comes from the tide, the solunar periods, the light and, when we have the forecast, the weather.
What can you catch in Highlands?
Sport fishing species with the most records within about 19 mi of Highlands: winter flounder, summer flounder, scup, longfin inshore squid and bluefish. October is one of the months when these are seen most: summer flounder, scup and longfin inshore squid.
- Winter flounder Pseudopleuronectes americanus · fish · 432 records Photo: Wikimedia Commons · public domain
- JanJ
- FebF
- MarM
- AprA
- MayM
- JunJ
- JulJ
- AugA
- SepS
- OctO
- NovN
- DecD
- Summer flounder Paralichthys dentatus · fish · 353 records Photo: U.S. Government - NOAA · public domain · Wikimedia Commons
- JanJ
- FebF
- MarM
- AprA
- MayM
- JunJ
- JulJ
- AugA
- SepS
- OctO
- NovN
- DecD
- Scup Stenotomus chrysops · fish · 291 records Photo: Wikimedia Commons · public domain
- JanJ
- FebF
- MarM
- AprA
- MayM
- JunJ
- JulJ
- AugA
- SepS
- OctO
- NovN
- DecD
- Longfin inshore squid Doryteuthis pealeii · cephalopod · 288 records Photo: Wikimedia Commons · public domain
- JanJ
- FebF
- MarM
- AprA
- MayM
- JunJ
- JulJ
- AugA
- SepS
- OctO
- NovN
- DecD
- Bluefish Pomatomus saltatrix · fish · 177 records Photo: SEFSC Pascagoula Laboratory; Collection of Brandi Noble, NOAA/NMFS/SEFSC. · public domain · Wikimedia Commons
- JanJ
- FebF
- MarM
- AprA
- MayM
- JunJ
- JulJ
- AugA
- SepS
- OctO
- NovN
- DecD
- Black sea bass Centropristis striata · fish · 172 records Photo: Wikimedia Commons · public domain
- JanJ
- FebF
- MarM
- AprA
- MayM
- JunJ
- JulJ
- AugA
- SepS
- OctO
- NovN
- DecD
- Weakfish Cynoscion regalis · fish · 141 records Photo: Northeast Fisheries Science Center, Fisheries Service… · public domain · Wikimedia Commons
- JanJ
- FebF
- MarM
- AprA
- MayM
- JunJ
- JulJ
- AugA
- SepS
- OctO
- NovN
- DecD
- Tautog Tautoga onitis · fish · 91 records Photo: Bobby McCabe · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- JanJ
- FebF
- MarM
- AprA
- MayM
- JunJ
- JulJ
- AugA
- SepS
- OctO
- NovN
- DecD
These are sightings and catches recorded since 1970 (reports from divers and anglers, scientific surveys and museum collections), not a promise that you will catch them. The months come from sightings only, adjusted for how many there are each month; hatched months have too few to tell.
Source: GBIF.org, which also gathers OBIS data. Only records licensed CC0 or CC BY 4.0, from 1,130 datasets (retrieved October 24, 2026). Where the data comes from
Photos: each species' image on Wikidata (Wikimedia Commons) or, if there isn't one, one from GBIF; only licences that allow this use, each with its author and licence.
What anglers catch most in New Jersey
Recreational saltwater catch across the whole state in September and October (2021–2025 average), from NOAA's recreational fishing survey (MRIP). It counts fish kept and fish released; bait fish are left out.
From shore
Beaches, piers, jetties and rocks
- Tautog 2.2 million 95% released
- Summer flounder 700,000 95% released
- Black sea bass 620,000 100% released
- Bluefish 370,000 85% released
- Striped mullet 360,000 *
Private or rental boat
Private boats and rentals without a captain
- Black sea bass 2.1 million 90% released
- Summer flounder 930,000 90% released
- Tautog 760,000 95% released
- Striped bass 370,000 90% released
- Bluefish 250,000 80% released
Charter or party boat
Charters and party (head) boats
- Black sea bass 240,000 85% released
- Scup 60,000 50% released
- Summer flounder 52,000 80% released
- Bluefish 13,000 45% released
- Striped bass 5,500 85% released
Fish a year · * Less precise figure: use with caution
All year: the top three every two months
| Months | Species |
|---|---|
| Jan–Feb | No data |
| Mar–Apr | Striped bass, Tautog, Clearnose skate |
| May–Jun | Summer flounder, Bluefish, Spot |
| Jul–Aug | Summer flounder, Black sea bass, Tautog |
| Sep–Oct | Tautog, Summer flounder, Black sea bass |
| Nov–Dec | Tautog, Striped bass, Spiny dogfish |
| Months | Species |
|---|---|
| Jan–Feb | No data |
| Mar–Apr | Striped bass, Tautog, Cunner |
| May–Jun | Black sea bass, Summer flounder, Striped bass |
| Jul–Aug | Summer flounder, Black sea bass, Searobins (Prionotus) |
| Sep–Oct | Black sea bass, Summer flounder, Tautog |
| Nov–Dec | Striped bass, Tautog, Black sea bass |
| Months | Species |
|---|---|
| Jan–Feb | No data |
| Mar–Apr | Tautog, Striped bass, Spiny dogfish |
| May–Jun | Black sea bass, Red hake, Summer flounder |
| Jul–Aug | Summer flounder, Black sea bass, Bluefish |
| Sep–Oct | Black sea bass, Scup, Summer flounder |
| Nov–Dec | Striped bass, Tautog, Black sea bass |
These are estimates from a survey of anglers, not a count, and they cover the whole state, not this exact spot. Each figure is the average for one year in those two months, rounded. Only species with a relative standard error of up to 50% are shown, NOAA's standard; those marked * are between 30% and 50%, and NOAA advises using them with caution.
Source: NOAA Fisheries, Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP), wave-level catch estimates for 2021–2025. Courtesy: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Where the data comes from
Piers, ramps and tackle shops nearby
Map: OpenFreeMap · © OpenMapTiles · © OpenStreetMap contributors
- Jetty 1.0 mi
- Atlantic Highlands Breakwater 2.1 mi
- Jetty 2.4 mi
- Jetty 2.9 mi
- Municipal Boat Launch 1.9 mi
- Rumson Boat Launch 1.9 mi
- Boat ramp 2.3 mi
- Marina 0.2 mi
- Gateway Marina 0.6 mi
- Sandy Hook Bay Marina 0.7 mi
- West Marine 0.8 mi
- Fisherman's Den North 2.5 mi
Within 9.3 mi. A spot may be missing or closed. Open the map on OpenStreetMap · Missing one? Add it to OpenStreetMap
Spots: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) and Overture Maps.
Artificial reefs and wrecks to fish from a boat
Artificial reefs and wrecks draw fish, so they make good spots to fish from a boat. The nearest ones, within 16 mi.
Check the rules before you go: some have closed seasons, protected zones or banned gear. Wreck and reef positions are approximate and not for navigation; a wreck’s depth runs from the top of the hull to the seabed.
US wrecks: NOAA electronic navigational charts (ENC), a U.S. Government work; not for navigation.
How we work out the best time
We score every moment of the day, every 10 minutes, with simple rules anglers have used for decades:
- Tide: 2 to 3.5 points in the hour before and the hour after each high and low tide. Spring tides (high coefficient) score more, because the water moves faster.
- Solunar: 2.5 points in the major periods (moon overhead or underfoot) and 1.5 in the minor ones (moonrise and moonset).
- Light: 2 points at dawn and dusk, from first light to the end of the morning golden hour and from the evening golden hour to the end of twilight.
- Weather: falling pressure adds 1 point and rising pressure takes 1 away; wind takes points away from force 4 (about 12 mph), up to 5 points in a gale; waves of 1.6 ft to 4.9 ft add half a point (they stir up the water) and from 8.2 ft they take points away (up to 4).
- Best windows: the stretches of 40 minutes to 3 hours with the most points, at least an hour apart.
- Day's rating out of 10: the best window (up to 5), the moon (up to 2, near new or full moon), the tide coefficient (up to 2) and whether a solunar period lines up with sunrise or sunset (1). Without a tide, we score out of 8 and scale it to 10. Good weather adds up to 1 point and bad weather pulls it down.
Today: best window 2.8 of 5, moon 1 of 2, coefficient 1.5 of 2 and lineup 0 of 1; the weather adds 0.5.
It's a guide, not a guarantee: fish don't read tide tables. Always check the sea conditions and local fishing rules before you go.
Learn more
Fishing rules in Highlands
Licenses, size limits, bag limits and closed seasons are set by the authorities and change often. We don't copy them here: check the official website before you go.
Questions about fishing in Highlands
What's the best time to fish in Highlands today?
3:40 pm to 5:40 pm, with the 4:40 pm low tide, a major period, sunset and a light onshore breeze. Also 2:50 am to 3:30 am and 10:00 am to 11:00 am. Today's rating: 6/10 (average day).
What about tomorrow? When's the best time to fish in Highlands?
Tomorrow, Thursday, October 29: 4:30 pm to 6:20 pm, with a rating of 7/10.
Which day this week is best for fishing in Highlands?
Friday, October 30, at 8/10. Its best window is 5:30 pm to 6:10 pm.
What can you catch in Highlands?
Sport fishing species with the most records within about 19 mi of Highlands: winter flounder, summer flounder, scup, longfin inshore squid and bluefish. October is one of the months when these are seen most: summer flounder, scup and longfin inshore squid. These are sightings and catches recorded in GBIF and OBIS, not a promise that you will catch them.
When are the solunar periods in Highlands today?
Major: 1:31–3:31 am and 2:02–4:02 pm. Minor: 10:00–11:00 am and 7:01–8:01 pm. Solunar activity today: medium.
Does the tide affect fishing in Highlands?
Yes. Today high tide is at 10:01 am and 10:29 pm and low tide at 3:52 am and 4:40 pm, with a tide coefficient of 88 (average tides). The hours around each tide change tend to fish best, because moving water carries food.
How is the rating worked out?
From the tide, the solunar periods, the light at dawn and dusk, the moon phase and, when we have the forecast, the pressure, the wind and the waves. Each factor gives a fixed number of points and the rating sums them up out of 10.
Does it take the weather into account?
Yes. During today's best window: steady pressure (30.39 inHg), light onshore wind (7 mph) and calm sea (1.4 ft waves). Strong wind and big waves lower the rating; falling pressure raises it a little.
What are the fishing rules in Highlands?
Recreational fishing rules in Highlands (licenses, size limits, bag limits and closed seasons) are set by the authorities: New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection - Division of Fish and Wildlife; offshore, NOAA Fisheries. They change often: check the official website before you go.
More about Highlands today
Our own calculation: tide from Highlands (NOAA), sun and moon with astronomy-engine and, when available, weather and sea from Open-Meteo (ECMWF, NOAA GFS and Copernicus Marine, CC BY 4.0). Slackwater database (https://github.com/openwatersio/slackwater-database)