Neap tides this week, which means the weakest tides of the month, and that usually puts a bit of a damper on the striper migration. Fishing quieted a bit in some locations, but in others, where schools of bass are staging as they wait for the big full moon tides to aid their migration north, this fishing continues to be excellent.

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Maryland’s trophy striper season closed on May 16, and summer regulations allowing one striped bass between 19 and 31 inches per day are in place. The bulk of the stripers remaining in Maryland are schoolie-sized, even along the beachfronts.

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.

The bass fishing in the southern half of the state slowed this week. The bulk of the action was in the backwaters and inlets, with some slot-sized fish in the surf.

Striper fishing is improving off Montauk this week, but the bunker schools in Jamaica Bay and on the South Shore are still holding most of the big fish. The Western Sound is seeing more large bass move through as well.

While the Central and Eastern Sound are still waiting for a push of large migratory stripers, the Western Long Island Sound continues to load up with big migratory bass.

Narragansett continues to produce big stripers as the fish feast on bunker.

The fishing around Cape Cod tapered off throughout this week with the weaker tides, but the fishing remains strong from the South Shore of Massachusetts through Boston Harbor with bass from 30 to 40-plus inches.

Migratory bass in the 30-inch and larger range are feeding in the rivers in Northern New England, where they’re finding warmer temperatures and plentiful baitfish. Rumors of fish as large as 50 inches from Maine.