Schools of large bass surprised fishermen in New England by showing up a little early last weekend, capped off Chesapeake Bay The spring trophy season the Chesapeake has ended, with the size limit dropping from 35 inches to 20 inches this week.
Right now, there are plenty of 20- to 28-inch stripers in the Chesapeake, but it seems the vast majority of large females have left the Bay.
Some of these fish are moving along the South Jersey beaches.
Northern New Jersey and Raritan Bay A school of monster stripers moved into the nearshore waters off Ocean County last week, with fish in excess of 50 pounds falling to Mojos and Bunker spoons.
Hudson River Big stripers are being reported in the Hudson River as they move up to their spawning grounds.
More large bass have been dropping out of the Hudson and into Long Island Sound this week, where fishermen are finding them off the Western North Shore.
Connecticut and Rhode Island The bulk of the large stripers moving though Long Island Sound are coming from the Hudson River right now.
As it stands, numbers of 40-inch-plus bass are increasing around the Connecticut Rivers.
Big bass are holding in upper Narragansett Bay where they are finding warmer water and big schools of bunker.
The backside of Cape Cod is holding keeper-sized fish, but if this year’s migration follows the pattern of last year, those large Cape Cod Bay fish will settle in off the ocean beaches in the next couple weeks.
Spawning activity is over in the Chesapeake Bay Tributaries and the Delaware River and appears to be winding down in the Hudson. Schools of large bass surprised fishermen in New England by showing up a little early last weekend, capped off
Chesapeake Bay
The spring trophy season the Chesapeake has ended, with the size limit dropping from 35 inches to 20 inches this week. Overall, the Maryland DNR Report says it was a disappointing trophy season on the bay with fishermen struggling to catch fish that met the minimum size. There’s speculation that poor river conditions during the spawning season caused many bass to leave the bay early without spawning, a claimed supported by the anecdotal evidence that many of the early-arriving large stripers in New England still have eggs in them.
Right now, there are plenty of 20- to 28-inch stripers in the Chesapeake, but it seems the vast majority of large females have left the Bay.
Delaware Bay and Southern New Jersey
Stripers to 35 pounds are still working their way out of the Delaware Bay according to our Southern New Jersey Fishing Forecast. Some of these fish are moving along the South Jersey beaches.
