Fishing in Stone Harbor: A Barrier Island Meets Back-Bay Salt Marsh
Stone Harbor is a borough in Cape May County, New Jersey, occupying the southern half of Seven Mile Island, a barrier island it shares with Avalon to the north. That geography -- open Atlantic Ocean on one side, tidal back bays and salt marsh on the other, including the marsh grounds near neighboring Nummy Island -- is a genuinely different fishing-adjacent setup than a plain stretch of ocean-facing beach. This page will not invent specific charter names, pier names, or catch numbers for Stone Harbor to sound more complete than the research supports. What follows lays out the confirmed geography, the back-bay setting, and what you should verify directly with the State of New Jersey before you fish here.
Seven Mile Island: A Barrier Island in Cape May County
Stone Harbor occupies the southern half of Seven Mile Island (also called Seven Mile Beach), a barrier island in Cape May County, New Jersey, with Avalon on the northern half. The borough's total area is 2.19 square miles -- 1.42 square miles of land and 0.78 square miles of water -- at an elevation of 7 feet above sea level. A barrier island with that much of its footprint in water typically puts surf, bay, and marsh-edge fishing all within a short distance of one another, even though we cannot confirm which of those are actually accessible or productive right now.
The Seven Mile Beach Company purchased the island in 1887 and founded both Avalon and Stone Harbor from that single corporate entity, with Stone Harbor's own development beginning in 1891 near 80th Street. That founding history is about the island's origins, not a confirmed description of current fishing conditions in Stone Harbor itself.
Back Bays and Salt Marsh Near Nummy Island
What sets Stone Harbor apart from a simple ocean-facing barrier island is the back-bay water and salt marsh on its inland side, extending toward Nummy Island just to the north. Salt marsh and tidal back-bay water are structurally different from open surf: shallower water, marsh-grass edges, and tidal creeks draining across mud flats are a different fishing environment than a straight stretch of beach, which is why anglers often treat marsh and bay water as a distinct feature worth knowing about rather than folding it into "the beach" generally.
That same marsh and back-bay habitat is what supports the Stone Harbor Bird Sanctuary, a 21.5-acre protected area established by local ordinance in 1947 and designated New Jersey's first National Natural Landmark in October 1965. The sanctuary sits near Nummy Island's salt-marsh feeding grounds and includes a freshwater pond, meadow, and maritime forest alongside the marsh itself. That a real, federally recognized wetland habitat borders this stretch of back bay is a confirmed sign that the marsh here is ecologically significant, not just a place name -- but we have not confirmed any specific detail about fishing access, structure, or conditions within or near the sanctuary or the surrounding marsh.
Surf Fishing on a Barrier Island: What the Geography Means
A barrier island like Seven Mile Island typically supports surf fishing directly from the ocean-facing beach, since the island itself is the shoreline -- there is no separate mainland beach to drive to. That structural fact follows from Stone Harbor's confirmed geography above. Stone Harbor is also a genuinely upscale resort community -- The New York Times has described it as a place of "gleaming McMansions and elegant shops," and it ranked as the third-most-expensive New Jersey ZIP code by median home sale price in 2017 -- a distinct civic character that is worth knowing going in, though it is a fact about the town's identity, not about fishing rules, permitted hours, or restricted zones for anglers specifically.
We have not confirmed water depth, tidal patterns, seasonal bite windows, or which sections of beach, back bay, or marsh-edge shoreline are open to fishing during the summer tourist season. Treat the barrier-island-plus-salt-marsh geography as a real, confirmed structural feature, and treat anything about current fishability -- what's biting, where, and when -- as something to verify locally, not something to take from this page.
What We Are Not Claiming About Fishing Here
We have not confirmed the names of any charter boats, party boats, fishing piers, bait-and-tackle shops, or marinas specific to Stone Harbor, Nummy Island, or the surrounding back bay, and we are not inventing any to sound more authoritative than the research supports. Stone Harbor's own current (2026) population figures beyond the 2020 census count of 796, current business names, and current-season conditions were not confirmed in this research pass either, and none of that is invented here.
We also have not confirmed the exact cause behind the bird sanctuary's well-documented 1995-2000 shorebird disappearance, described in the historical record only as a mystery -- and we are not speculating about what that ecological event might mean for fishing in the surrounding marsh today. If a claim about a specific Stone Harbor fishing spot, charter company, or catch statistic shows up elsewhere without a clear, current source behind it, treat it with the same skepticism.
Licenses, Regulations, and Current Conditions: Go to the State
We have not confirmed specific current New Jersey recreational fishing license requirements, size and bag limits, or open seasons for the Stone Harbor, Seven Mile Island, or Nummy Island area in this research pass. Go directly to the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife for current recreational fishing license requirements and regulations before you fish the surf, the back bays, or the marsh here.
Stone Harbor is this site's fifth New Jersey market, following Cape May, Wildwood, Wildwood Crest, and North Wildwood -- and New Jersey's licensing and regulatory framework is simply different from the Delaware and Massachusetts markets built elsewhere on this site. Do not assume rules confirmed for another state apply here. For current conditions -- what is actually biting that week, and where -- a local bait-and-tackle shop is a far better source than any static page.
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Get a Free Agent Referral →Independent research. No ads. No sponsored listings. Stone Harbor's location on Seven Mile Island in Cape May County, its 2.19-square-mile total area (1.42 square miles land, 0.78 square miles water), its 7-foot elevation, its 1887 founding by the Seven Mile Beach Company, and its 2020 census population of 796 are drawn from Wikipedia's own Stone Harbor, New Jersey entry. The Stone Harbor Bird Sanctuary's 21.5-acre size, its 1947 establishment by local ordinance, its October 1965 designation as New Jersey's first National Natural Landmark, and its location near Nummy Island's salt-marsh feeding grounds are drawn from Wikipedia's own Stone Harbor Bird Sanctuary entry. The New York Times's "gleaming McMansions and elegant shops" description and Stone Harbor's 2017 ranking as the third-most-expensive New Jersey ZIP code by median home sale price are likewise drawn from Wikipedia. We have not confirmed and are not inventing specific current recreational fishing regulations, license fees, seasons, bag limits, species, water depths, tidal patterns, or conditions for Stone Harbor's beach, back bays, or marsh, or the names of any charter operators, party boats, piers, marinas, or bait-and-tackle shops. Get current New Jersey recreational fishing rules directly from the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife, and get current conditions from a local bait-and-tackle shop. Nothing on this page is legal, tax, or financial advice.