Delaware River Fishing Guides and Conditions, New Jersey
The longest undammed river east of the Mississippi, a two-state smallmouth and striper float from the Water Gap down through Lambertville to the falls at Trenton.
Guides on the Delaware River
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About the Delaware River
The Delaware runs three hundred and thirty miles without a single main-stem dam, and the New Jersey and Pennsylvania stretch below the Delaware Water Gap is one of the great overlooked fisheries of the Northeast. It is big, clean, wadeable in places and floatable everywhere, with ledges, islands and long riffles that hold smallmouth bass in numbers that surprise anglers who assume a river between two of the country’s densest states must be ruined.
Smallmouth are the everyday fish, and the good ones live in the current seams around the ledges. Striped bass run up in spring and again in fall as far as Trenton, where the falls stop them, and the shad run in April and May is a genuine tradition with its own festival in Lambertville. Walleye and musky fill in the deeper water, and the tidal river below Trenton is a different fishery again. Guides run jet boats and drift boats, and the National Recreation Area above the Gap offers the wildest scenery.
The Trenton gauge reads the whole non-tidal river and it is a big number by eastern standards. Typical fishable summer flows run a few thousand cfs; readings in the tens of thousands after a regional rain event mean high, off-color and dangerous water. The river drops fairly quickly, and clarity usually returns within a few days. Wading anywhere on this river requires respect for the current.
Lambertville, Frenchtown, Milford and Stockton line the New Jersey bank, and the towpath along the Delaware and Raritan Canal gives miles of bank access. Philadelphia and New York are both about an hour away.
Access
Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area: upper river access, camping and long floats.
Belvidere and Phillipsburg: upper-middle boat launches.
Milford and Frenchtown: popular float segments with ramps and towns at both ends.
Bulls Island Recreation Area: state park access and campground.
Lambertville and Stockton: mid-river ramps and the shad fishery.
Washington Crossing State Park: lower non-tidal access.
Trenton: the falls near the gauge, the head of tide and the striped bass limit.
Seasons
April and May: shad and spring striped bass, high water and cool temperatures.
June through August: prime smallmouth season, topwater at dawn, heavy recreational traffic.
September and October: the best smallmouth and fall striper weeks of the year.
November through March: walleye and musky for the dedicated; most outfitters stand down.
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Questions
What is the current flow on the Delaware River?
As of Sep 3, 11:15 pm, the USGS gauge Delaware River at Trenton NJ reads 6,910 cfs, the 76th percentile for this date, with water temperature 75.9 F. Conditions update every 15 minutes.
What species can you catch on the Delaware River?
Anglers target American Shad, Channel Catfish, Musky, Smallmouth Bass, Striped Bass, Walleye on the Delaware River in New Jersey.
Where are the fishing regulations for the Delaware River?
Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the New Jersey agency site: https://dep.nj.gov/njfw/fishing/freshwater/regulations/