NJ Fall Stripers!!

[Gerry Zagorski]

Are Your Ready For Some Stripers !!!

If you’re after a big Striper then sharpen up your hooks and get ready for the NJ fall Striper run. The reason Stripers are so plentiful in NJ in the fall is due to their annual migration patterns. Every year they move south in massive schools down the coast from their summering grounds in Maine and Mass to return to their home spawning grounds. The 3 main spawning grounds on the East Coast are the Hudson River, Delaware River and the tributaries to the Chesapeake Bay, which produces the most fish. With NJ being right in the center it’s no wonder why we enjoy the best fall Striper fishing in the world !

The fall run is like Striper Subway running from Maine to the Chesapeake.….Stripers get on in Maine then Mass and will get off at stops along the way. Some fish will get off and stay at their home spawning grounds while others stop just long enough to grab a bite to eat and get back on until their final destination. The resident spawners will stop no matter what. The trick to having an exceptional year here in NJ is to have enough bait in the area to coax the non-resident spawners to stop and feed. With many of the recent Bunker conservation measures our chances of a good fall run should continue to improve each year. If there are bunker in our bays then you can count on those non-resident fish to stop and give our drags a work out.

If you’re wondering when prime time is to start fishing here in NJ all you need to do follow the Striper Subway schedule. It varies slightly from year to year but the typical stops start in late September, continue strong through October and November and the last stop is usually in December. If you want to time this years specific stops all you need to do watch for reports from the stops north of us like Rhode Island and Montauk . Once they hit Montauk it won’t be long before they hit our stops here in NJ. Their first stop is usually the Sandy Hook Raritan Bay area. They will hold here for a while if bait is around then move down the coast. This is when surf fishing is red hot. Last stop in NJ is the Cape May/Delaware Bay area.

In addition to the presence of bait there is another important factor to the Stripers migration and feeding habits and that’s water temperature. Water temperature not only effects when the fish will arrive and depart but will also effect the time of day that is best to fish. Stripers like temps between the 50s and 60s. In the beginning of the season (usually late Sept into October) when the temps are warmer the best Striper fishing is usually at night when the water cools. As the season wears on (late October and Nov) and the temps drop into the low 50s the best fishing is usually in the middle of the day with the sun overhead warming the water. This usually signals the end of the run unless you want to head south with the fish.

There are several methods to fish for Stripers in the fall. In the beginning of the season my favorite is to bait fish and towards the end of the season I like to jig. We will discuss each method in a bit more detail as the season wears on so stay tuned…..……

[DEEP POCKETS]

Thanks Gerry, good read👍🏻

[MudCat08]

Thank you for the great info! As a person who is still looking to catch his first striped bass, this should help me finally find one!

[RAMMFISH66]

Gerry, as you said, the stripers are too far from the beach right now. Caught many shorts in the early AM in the wash today..water was warm enough for me to wear my shorts and stand in the surf most of the day..the waders are still packed in the truck waiting for cooler temps...gonna try again next Saturday...see 'ya all later, Robbie