Early summer patterns are taking shape in Maryland and New Jersey, with stripers taking a mix of clams, plugs, chunks, and sand fleas off the beaches. Big bass are following bunker pods along the south shore of Long Island while post-spawn bass from the Hudson trickle into Long Island Sound, where the reefs are loaded with bait. Rhode Island’s striper bite picked up along the rock structure out front after a couple weeks of bunker-blasting action in Narragansett Bay. Further north, trophy bass are moving through Buzzards Bay to chase bunker and mackerel in Cape Cod Bay, while Vineyard and Nantucket sounds host good fishing for bass on squid in the rips. The rivers from Boston to New Hampshire are seeing solid striper action as herring drop out, with mackerel and bunker available slightly further offshore; and it’s a similar scene around the rivers in Maine.
Our first regional guest, Mike Dean of the Manhattan Cup, reports on the improved striper fishing on Long Island’s south fork as more bunker move in. Then, OTW columnist and kayak fishing guide, Josh Rayner, runs through the bass bite along the Connecticut side of Eastern Long Island Sound.
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