While no two striper seasons play out exactly the same way, with variables such as weather and baitfish abundance affecting the local fishing, the connection between striped bass movement and the moon phase allows anglers to mark the “fishiest” dates on their calendars months in advance.
The moon phase influences the striper fishing because of the moon’s effect on the tides. Tidal swings are larger during the full and new moon periods because these are the periods when the gravitational forces of the sun and moon align, generating a greater difference between low and high tides. The stronger currents resulting from these larger tides spurs migration and increased feeding in striped bass.
Stripers feed heavier around these moon tides because they have a greater predatory advantage over their forage, thanks to the broad tails that easily conquer strong currents.
Looking at the 2026 Moon Phases, these are our staff’s picks for can’t-miss windows Northeast striper fishermen in the coming season.
Prepare for your best striper season yet with the On The Water 2026 Fishing Calendar. Full of stunning photography, moon phases, sunrise and sunset times, this calendar will help you make the most of your vacation time.
July 10-15
The midsummer New Moon (July 14) reliably produces some of the largest stripers of the year as the big fish settle into summer haunts following the spring migration. Block Island, Montauk, and Boston Harbor will have resident schools prowling reefs, rips, and open waters pursuing sand eels, bunker, mackerel, or sea herring. Plan on fishing early mornings or late nights for the best shot at the fish of a lifetime.
May 7-12
Big stripers leaving the Chesapeake will be turning up in the Northeast. Some of the first of New England’s large fish hitting Narragansett Bay and schools of 40- to 50-plus-pounders turning up around Monmouth County, New Jersey, as the fish hit the first major structure since leaving the Chesapeake – the Shrewsbury Rocks.
Watch: Giant Jersey Stripers in May
May 28 – June 3
Don’t miss out on this “once in a blue moon” striper fishing. While this full moon is technically in May, it should fish like the legendary “Full Moon in June,” especially given the trend of larger fish arriving earlier throughout the Northeast. This should be the moon when the widest swath of the Striper Coast has schools of large stripers nearby. For fisherman from New Jersey to Cape Cod, this is when to use those “staycation days” to take advantage of great fishing close to home.
Read: The Moons in June: Myth or Magic?
October 7-12
The dark moon of October brings the last large wave of big fish through New England while setting off the first, early wave of cows through New Jersey. Historically, these dates brought Montauk’s famous bass-on-anchovy blitzes that you could set your watch to, but in recent seasons, the more reliable action in this stretch has been mullet and peanut-bunker blitzes in Rhode Island and adult-bunker blitzes on Long Island’s South Shore and in Monmouth County, New Jersey.
Read: Dispatches from Montauk
Prepare for your best striper season yet with the On The Water 2026 Fishing Calendar. Full of stunning photography, moon phases, sunrise and sunset times, this calendar will help you make the most of your vacation time.