![]() The fall run has been starting later and lasting longer in recent decades. Having that said, there is at least some predictability that comes with the nature of the run. Then a cold front hits, and the following week you’ll have gulls, terns, and cormorants dropping on massive schools of bait being pushed up from beneath by schools of stripers and bluefish. One week you’ll seemingly be casting into a void that stretches to Portugal. There’s no telling, really, when it will begin in earnest and when it will just be … over. Because here’s the thing: While the run is almost guaranteed to happen between late September and early December every year, that’s a relatively wide window. Perhaps the most exciting part of the fall run for stripers is the anticipation leading up to, but immediately before, it begins. Warmer years will slow the fall migration, whereas early storms and colder nights will speed things up. Stripers most reliably push south down the coastline between mid-October and late November, with timing dependent upon the weather in a specific year. Striped bass, bluefish, false albacore, bonito.… They’re all leaving the Northeast as frosty nights drop ocean temperatures and colder air masses shift south. This is not the script in the autumn: The circus is leaving town, and fast. Having that said, even if it is a shadow of its former glory, the fall run for striped bass in the Northeast is still the most exciting time of the year to be a saltwater angler. This time of year, you must take advantage of whatever chances you get to intercept the frantic migration. Drastic shifts in temperature, which drop near-shore water temperatures, make the fall migration more hurried for stripers and fishermen. In the Northeast, bitter cold weather often arrives suddenly and hangs on. Wait until the calendar turns to spring and start fishing your favorite beaches in low-light conditions, searching for feeding stripers. Others will push north to Massachusetts and beyond as spring nears summer. ![]() ![]() They arrive in New Jersey by mid-April and early May, and striped bass have surrounded New York’s Long Island by May and June. Stripers typically leave the Mid-Atlantic and push northward beginning in late March and early April. In the spring, fish are setting up shop in areas where they’ll stay for the remainder of the summer, albeit with some movement farther offshore as water temperatures warm. On the contrary, we typically have long thaws, with the winter hanging on and the spring arriving slowly. No one would say that winter suddenly turns into summer, especially in more northern states. The difference is most evident if you think about the spring vs. That’s a big reason the spring run can be so much more productive than the fall run of fish: It just lasts longer. As a result, these fish are fleeing conditions that aren’t suitable for their survival. Water temperatures are dropping, and the push is on as night temperatures dip into the 40s and 30s in October and November. The water temperature and food supply might not always be ideal off the coast of New York in April for those first arriving stripers, but if they wait, it’ll get better, so they’re not pushed, per se.īy contrast, in the fall, conditions are worsening by the day. juvenile Atlantic menhaden), sand eels, mackerel, anchovies, and mullet. Striped bass along the East Coast shoreline are feasting on peanut bunker (a.k.a. So they’re liable to hold along certain sections of the coast if conditions are ideal and baitfish are abundant. They’re following migrating schools of bait, so there’s plenty to eat. These fish are pushing up the coast in the spring but in no hurry. ![]() Over the past decade, to an increasing degree, more and larger fish are routinely taken in the spring season, which starts roughly in mid-April in the Mid-Atlantic and New Jersey and runs through late June up in Maine. In the spring, those stripers filter back northward, and once again, anglers come to the best beaches and points for a shot at one of these incredible game fish, though at a more leisurely pace.įor me, it’s impossible to beat the beauty of the autumn striper migration if you’re a Northeast saltwater fisherman, and especially if you’ve become as enamored of the magic of the striped bass fall run as I have.īut don’t ignore spring fishing. With timing, luck, and some crucial knowledge you will learn in this article, you can get in on this moveable feast. Every autumn, striped bass pour down the East Coast, from Maine through Maryland, fleeing the approaching winter. ![]()
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