Striper Migration Map - May 28, 2015

CHESAPEAKE BAY

Post-spawn striped bass have left the bay and are arriving in waves along the coast from New Jersey to New England.

DELAWARE RIVER/BAY

Post-spawn stripers have left the Delaware River and most of the big bass have left Delaware Bay.

NEW JERSEY

Before the southwest wind kicked up, striper fishing in Northern New Jersey was outstanding. Big schools of bass had found the bunker schools and boat anglers were finding fish from 30 to 50 pounds. The south winds dropped the water temperature early this week and made fishing difficult. As soon as the wind abates, big stripers should be back on the feed in North Jersey.

Back bays throughout the state have good numbers of short to small keeper-sized stripers. Some of these fish will move out of the backwaters as water temperatures increase through the summer, but many resident fish will remain through the fall.

NEW YORK

Wind kept many fishermen off the water this week, but the ones who ventured out discovered that more and larger stripers are arriving in Long Island waters.

Large striped bass are holding under schools of bunker off the Western South Shore of Long Island.

All over the South Shore, the bays and inlets are filling up with bass. Most are shorts, but there are keeper-sized and larger fish moving in.

In Montauk, small bass are being taken on the beaches, while boats are catching fish to 30 pounds. With the full moon on Monday, expect to see some larger bass arrive on the East End of Long Island, both the North and South forks.

CONNECTICUT

Striped bass fishing is excellent in the rivers, at the river mouths, and on the beaches of Long Island Sound. Large bass over 20 pounds have been reported in many locations including the lower Connecticut River.

RHODE ISLAND

Big bass over 30 pounds were reported this week in Narragansett Bay, where they are chasing schools of bunker (menhaden). Large numbers of schoolies and small keepers in the 30-inch range are being reported in the breachways and salt ponds.

MASSACHUSETTS

Keeper stripers have been reported on all sides of Cape Cod. Several stripers to 30-plus pounds have been landed in Buzzards Bay and the Cape Cod Canal. Keeper-size fish are becoming more numerous in the Cape Cod Bay and at Race Point. North of the Cape, keeper stripers to 40 inches have been reported in Plymouth Bay, Boston Harbor, and Cape Ann. Ipswich to the mouth of the Merrimack has schoolies and small keepers to 36 inches.

NEW HAMPSHIRE AND MAINE

Fish over 30 inches have arrived on the New Hampshire Seacoast and in from Southern Maine!