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Sea Kill Van Kull (New Jersey) — a popular fishing spot. About 2.8 km² in area. Close by — Elizabeth, Jersey City and Newark. This is a sea water — its bite forecast is a marine one, computed apart from rivers and lakes. Here you'll find a bite prediction — when fish are active and which hours give the best chances, adjusted for weather and pressure.
Nearest towns and cities
New Jersey: the months when each species peaks and when it goes quiet. The current month is outlined.
| Fish | January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black drum | active | peak | peak | active | active | fair | fair | fair | active | active | active | active |
| Flounder | slow | fair | active | active | active | active | peak | peak | peak | active | fair | slow |
| Striped bass | slow | fair | peak | peak | active | active | active | peak | peak | active | slow | slow |
| Bluefish | slow | slow | fair | active | active | active | peak | peak | peak | active | fair | slow |
| Spanish mackerel | slow | slow | slow | fair | peak | peak | peak | active | fair | slow | slow | slow |
The shoreline is heavily indented — bays, points and spits. Look for pike at the mouths of the bays and on the drop-offs behind the points. Larger than 10 of the 17 waters nearby.
The wind builds its wave along the west — east axis — 3 mi of open water; along north — south there is only 1 mi. When it runs down the main axis, the calm water sits against the bank it blows from, while the wave and the silt go to the far one — and the fish follow them there to feed.
Other nearby places to fish
Other nearby waters
Wednesday, October 21
Look for structure — reefs, flats, channel edges; work them slowly near the bottom.
Kill Van Kull — Wednesday, October 21
The bite is strong — fish are active. Pressure is dropping — this usually boosts the bite. Peak 00:00–03:00.
The computed water temperature is around 58 °F — colder than the 61–79 °F comfort range for Black drum: the fish conserves energy and takes more cautiously.
Black drum feeds at night: the peak falls in the dark hours, between sunset and sunrise.
Pressure is dropping 0.09 inHg over the day — fish are usually more active ahead of a weather change.
One more input — the moon's feeding windows: within their hours the score sits higher than across the rest of the day. The window times are in the “Solunar feeding periods” card below.
October is an active season for Black drum here.
These are the same values the bite curve above was computed from. How the forecast works
| 00:00 | 01:00 | 02:00 | 03:00 | 04:00 | 05:00 | 06:00 | 07:00 | 08:00 | 09:00 | 10:00 | 11:00 | 12:00 | 13:00 | 14:00 | 15:00 | 16:00 | 17:00 | 18:00 | 19:00 | 20:00 | 21:00 | 22:00 | 23:00 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -1.2 ft | -0.4 ft | 0.4 ft | 0.9 ft | 0.8 ft | 0.4 ft | -0.1 ft | -0.7 ft | -1.2 ft | -1.8 ft | -1.9 ft | -1.4 ft | -0.7 ft | 0.2 ft | 1.0 ft | 1.6 ft | 1.8 ft | 1.4 ft | 0.8 ft | 0.0 ft | -0.8 ft | -1.6 ft | -2.0 ft | -1.8 ft |
Open-Meteo tide model, grid point 4.3 mi away
Open-Meteo Marine model, grid cell 4.3 mi from the waterbody. Values are daily means.
Cloudy · feels like +47°
The day is 3 min shorter than yesterday.
Sunshine hours count direct sun only — cloud cover cuts it, so it is shorter than daylight.
Geomagnetic fieldquiet, Kp 3.7
Kp index — NOAA forecast. Not part of the bite score: catches show no link between geomagnetic storms and the bite.
The windows are set by the moon's transit and rise, and the forecast above already accounts for them: within these hours the bite score sits higher than across the rest of the day, while the day's overall level still comes from the catch-calibrated model.
What are solunar periods?Look for structure — reefs, flats, channel edges; work them slowly near the bottom.
Kill Van Kull — Wednesday, October 21
The bite is strong — fish are active. Pressure is dropping — this usually boosts the bite. Peak 00:00–03:00.
Partly cloudy: 48–66 °F