Anglers in New Jersey experienced one of the most explosive early-season striped bass blitzes in years over Easter weekend, with bunker schools, aggressive bass, and one crew claiming over 75 fish in a single day.
Know before you go: Click here for New Jersey fishing regulations
While most of the Northeast was hunting eggs, striped bass fishermen were into something far better. What started as scattered Saturday morning reports turned into a full-scale blitz: bunker getting pushed to the surface, striped bass crashing through them, and beaches littered with menhaden carcasses left behind in the aftermath. This wasn’t a rumor-mill fish story. The photos, the videos, and the sheer volume of reports all told the same story. The spring migration just announced itself.
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Even Sea Tow managed to get a few bass in between jobs:
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The action wasn’t limited to boats, with piles of bunker (or menhaden) being pushed right up against the beaches.
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Raritan Bay Wakes Up
Early Saturday, anglers working Raritan Bay started finding bunker schools stacked in the shallows, and the stripers weren’t far behind. The bite turned on fast. Word traveled faster.
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The pattern was straightforward: find the bunker, find the fish. Anglers throwing bunker and swimbaits matching the menhaden profile all connected. The bass weren’t being selective. When bunker are panicking in three feet of water and stripers are slashing through them, presentation takes a backseat to just getting something in the water.
By Saturday afternoon, it was no longer a good bite. It was a blitz. Stripers were herding bunker schools against the shoreline across Raritan Bay, and the reports kept stacking up. At least one crew claimed over 75 bass landed in a single session, a number that raised eyebrows even among seasoned regulars on the bay.
Then came the aftermath shots that really told the story: bunker carcasses washed up on the beach, the leftovers of a feeding frenzy that had played out right against the sand. If you’ve fished a blitz before, you know the scene. The gulls circling, the smell, and the scales stuck to everything. If you haven’t, the photos below speak for themselves.
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Why Raritan Bay, Why Now
Raritan Bay has always been a staging ground early in the spring migration. It’s shallow, protected water that warms faster than the open coast, and when bunker push into the bay in numbers, it becomes a trap. The bass know it. They’ve been running this playbook for centuries.
This weekend, the conditions aligned. The bunker showed up in force, the stripers followed them in, and for about 36 hours Raritan Bay had the best (known) striped bass fishing on the East Coast. Probably the entire planet.
What This Means for the 2026 Spring Migration
A blitz of this size and intensity in early April is a strong signal. Fish are moving through the Mid-Atlantic and they’re feeding aggressively. For the angling community, the takeaway is simple: the spring run is here. But striped bass aren’t just feeding in New Jersey; They’re also starting to bite more in the backwaters of Long Island, Connecticut, and Rhode Island.
Anglers from Sandy Hook north through the Raritan, and anyone watching the New York Bight, should be paying close attention over the coming days and weeks. The striped bass migration follows the bait, and if bunker schools continue pushing north with warming water temps, the action is going to follow them.
Where to Fish This Week
For anglers who missed the Easter blitz, or those looking to get back out and ride the wave, the key this week is simple: find the bunker. If the menhaden schools are on the move, the bass will be right behind them. Keep an eye out for ‘nervous’ water, watch for bird activity, and be ready to move with the fish.
Get In on the Action
The 2026 Striper Cup, On The Water’s 20-week catch-photo-release striped bass tournament, kicks-off soon. If the Easter blitz lit a fire, get registered and start putting fish on the board when the tournament kicks off in May.
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