The fishing took a bit of a step back this week with torrential rains dirtying the water and wind and cold making it downright unpleasant to fish. But, there are several positive signs that the fishing is getting ready to blow wide open in April with bait returning to New York and New Jersey in good numbers, schools of big stripers along the ocean front, and larger fish trickling into backwaters from South Jersey to Long Island.
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After this weekend, striped bass fishing will be closed in the Chesapeake Bay until May 15. Even catch-and-release fishing will be off-limits.
Leading up to the closure, there have been some large fish hunkered down in deep water in the middle bay. In the Upper Bay, fish are holding in both deep and shallow water, and throughout the bay, bass are staging outside and in the tributaries (which have been closed to fishing since March 1) preparing to spawn. For more information about the timings and areas where striped bass fishing is allowed in the Chesapeake Bay, check out the Maryland DNR’s Striped Bass Regulation Maps.
Despite tough weather conditions, there’s been steady improvement in the striper fishing in Southern New Jersey. The size of the fish is growing, but with the cold water, soaking clams and worms is still the most productive tactic, with lures taking fish deep in the bays where the water is a bit warmer.
Last Saturday’s deluge knocked the striper fishing down a notch with colder, dirtier water in the Raritan Bay throwing the bass off their feed. The action was improving steadily before the blow with bass in the rivers and bays. It’s taken a few days but the action is picking up again. Bloodworms have been leading the charge, but more fish are being taken on artificials. One captain, moving his boat from Point Pleasant to the Raritan Bay found a school of large stripers on the ocean-side, with fish to 30 pounds taking shads.
Schools of bunker hit the western South Shore bays on Long Island this week, bringing with them some 30- to 36-inch stripers, joining the schoolies and holdovers. The western North Shore has plenty of schoolie fish, many of which spent the winter there, but fresh arrivals are trickling in.
Read the Long Island/NYC Fishing Report
Holdover striper fishing took a hit in the rivers and salt ponds with the cold snap and heavy rains. As the weather improves, so will the fishing.
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.
