The dark nights and big tides of the upcoming new moon could bring the final big movement of this year’s early-running striper migration. Large fish are swimming north from New Jersey, leaving behind the 18- to 30-inch summer residents, while perennial summer hotspots like Montauk, Block Island, and Boston are beginning to fill up with big stripers.
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Maryland/Chesapeake Bay Striper Fishing Report
Summer regulations inside Chesapeake Bay allowing anglers one striped bass between 19 and 31 inches per day are in place. Summer resident stripers are being caught on soft plastics and live spot throughout the bay and Susquehanna Flats.
Before fishing, be sure to check the Department of Natural Resources website for a map to locate areas open or closed to striped bass fishing.
New Jersey Striper Fishing Report
The bulk of the migratory bass seem to have left Cape May and Atlantic counties, with resident fish feeding along the beaches and in the backwaters.
Ocean and Monmouth counties continue to hold large striped bass, but the fishing is slowing down. Smaller fish are still hanging around the beaches and inlets, but the massive migratory fish that have been feeding off Monmouth County for the past month appear to be pushing north. Still, some large bass should remain into July, but fishermen will need to focus on low-light periods for the best chance at catching them.
New York Striper Fishing Report
The western South Shore continues to hold big stripers feeding on bunker, but more good reports are coming from the eastern end of the island, where large bass are being reported from surf and boat in Montauk.
Western Long Island Sound is producing 40-inch stripers,
Off the North Shore, more big striped bass are moving through, with some staging in the rips off the North Fork and more feeding on bunker and sand eels in the Central/Western Sound.
Connecticut/Rhode Island Striper Report
A fresh push of stripers has hit Connecticut and eastern Long Island Sound, and anglers a seeing good numbers of large fish on bunker while the fishing in the Western Sound continues to improve.
Sand eels have had bass feeding heavily in Rhode Island, but have forced anglers to adjust their presentations to match these smaller slender baitfish instead of the large bunker that were the primary bait for most of the spring. There are still good bass in Narragansett Bay, but more large fish (some really large fish) are being reported ocean side and at Block Island.
Cape Cod/Massachusetts Striper Report
It’s been all about the rips for Cape Cod stripers, with fresh schools of 24- to 40-inch stripers eating squid from Monomoy to Vineyard Sound. Small packs of big stripers are harrassing bunker in parts of Buzzards Bay, while Canal fishermen wait for a push of fish to move through the big ditch on the new moon.
The best striper fishing in the state has been north of Cape Cod, where fishermen around Boston have been finding good numbers of 40-inch fish.
New Hampshire/Maine Striper Report
Lots of “over slot” fish are moving through New Hampshire and Southern Maine, with more on the way. Most fish are beelining for rivers, but as water temperatures creep up, the ocean-side will be holding more bait and fish.
This article was originally published by Onthewater.com. Read the original article here.
