The spawn continues in the Chesapeake, a good sign given the cold spring, while stripers continue to pack into the Raritan Bay. The slow trickle of migratory fish into southern New England waters continues. Will this weekend’s new moon tides open the floodgates?
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More spawning happened this week in the Choptank River and other Chesapeake Tributaries, which is a good thing, according to biologists, who said the early April spawning efforts may have been affected by the cold temperatures. Striper fishing remains closed in the Maryland waters of the Chesapeake Bay until mid-May.
Schoolie bass continue to be caught along the inlet jetties and back bays near Ocean City, Maryland.
Big numbers of stripers are still in the Delaware Bay, with most of the fish larger than 31 inches. In backwaters throughout New Jersey, stripers up to 30 inches are feeding well, and, for the second year in a row around Barnegat Bay, they’re accompanied by a strong run of black drum. More stripers are being reported in the oceanside surf as well.
Stripers are reported to be “all over” Raritan Bay, as schools of fish move in to feed before running up the Hudson River to spawn.
Striped bass have started to move all over Long Island. They’ve been spotted from Manhattan to Montauk. Back bays, docks, and the open beaches have fish now. The western South Shore and bays has over-slot fish, while schoolies dominate toward the East End of the Island.
There’s excellent action on migratory stripers in the far western Sound, but the rest of Connecticut is waiting on its migratory fish. Some will come from the east, usually the Chesapeake stripers, while stripers departing the Hudson River will populate the sound from the west.
The number of migratory stripers in Rhode Island and Narragansett Bay is slowly increasing, but the flood gates haven’t opened just yet.
Sea-lice-carrying stripers are few and far between on Cape Cod, but a few have been reported. With big new moon tides and a warming trend, anglers heading out this weekend have a good shot at checking off their first stripers of the season. Still no word of migratory fish north of Cape Cod.
