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Catch-and-release fishing for pre-spawn striped bass is open in the middle Bay until March 31. In the open water of the middle Chesapeake the charter fleet continues to angle for trophy stripers ahead of the fishery’s April 1st closure. Big stripers continue to push up the bay and into the spawning rivers (which are currently off-limits to striper fishing). Preferred lure has been 1.5- to 2-ounce jigheads with large 7- to 10-inch plastics. Fish have been holding to bait balls in deep water along channel edges and transition points. You’d be lucky to find five fish on a ball of bait—more likely to find just one or two. But those fish have been large and healthy, up to 50-inchers—thus, worth the time and effort to locate them in open water. Popular locations include open water ahead of the mouths of major rivers such as the Potomac, Patuxent, Patapsco, and Choptank. All fishing for striped bass in the main part of the Bay will be closed from April 1 until May 1. The DNR website can offer information on various closed and open areas for striped bass fishing.
In southern New Jersey, anglers have been catching on clams and worms. Fisherman throwing artificials are finding limited success during the day and better fishing during the night tides. In northern areas of the state, striped bass are being caught in all the usual spring spots, including the back of Raritan Bay, in tidal rivers and throughout Barnegat Bay. Some larger bass over 36 inches have been reported in Raritan Bay.
Resident or “holdover” schoolie stripers are active in backwater areas on Long Island, with good numbers of 30-inch-plus stripers in the mix. Fresh migrating fish will begin trickling in soon.
Holdover striper fishing in the Housatonic River and in Connecticut River tributaries should improve as the fish will only get more active with warming water and the arrival of river herring. Holdover stripers are also active in certain Rhode Island salt ponds and rivers.
Holdover striped bass have been reported in some fresh and brackish waters on Cape Cod and around Boston, with river herring trickling into the runs and ospreys returning to their posts. While the weekend weather is a return to winter, the overall trend is feeling like spring.
