A bad surprise for the Fishermen

Capt. Ron Santee lefy Atlantic Highlands with his anglers all set to snag bunkers as bait for abundant stripers only tp find the bass were gone. A lot of running located stripers that wouldn’t hit. Tomorrow is another day!

Dave Lilly reports a FIFTY

Though lots of big stripers are being caught in NY/NJ Bight, there had been no claim of a 50-pounder in quite a while. Striper pro Dave Lilly changed that Sunday when he trolled his combo rig on wire line in the back of Raritan Bay. Blake Daniel had a long fight with a fat bass measuring at least 50 inches fork-length. The giant bass was having trouble swimming and they had to revive it rather than boating it for the girth measurement before she was able to swim off.

Capt. Ron Santee reported good live bait fishing in the ocean bunker schools for anglers on his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands as bass up to 40 pounds were released.

Big bass — but very fussy

The NY/NJ Bight fleet is finding good numbers of stripers feeding on bunkers, but getting them to pick up even live baits with a hook in them has been a challenge. Most boats report a few 25-30-pound stripers released, with many more follows.

The weather is looking good this week.

Big stripers building up in NY/NJ Bight

Capt. Ron Santee found many more stripers off the beaches today with his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands, but they were way too big to keep. Several 25-35-pounders were released on bunker baits.

N.Y.C. Capt. John McMurray is into those bass, but feels they are overdue..

Big bass off the NY/NJ Bight beaches

After a poor start to his striper season yesterday, Capt. Ron Santee found good quantities today with his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands. Only a few large bass were caught including a 40-pound release, but it’s a start. Anglers should bring snag hooks and beefy spinning tackle as live bunkers are needed for those fish.

Raritan Bay stripers starting

Fisher Price IV reported some good jigging for stripers to get the fall season started. Capt. Ron Santee wasn’t successful during his first trip with the Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands, but will be sailing daily at 7.

he headline reads, quote, “Maryland Striped Bass Reproduction Index Higher for 2026 But Below Average For Eighth Straight Year.” Those are the words of Maryland Department of Natural Resources, but also attached to this press release is news out of the Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences about their portion of the Chesapeake, with their headline saying, quote, “Juvenile Striped Bass Maintain Average Abundance in Virginia Waters in 2026.” In our video fishing forecast this Thursday, we’ll look at these charts as well as the August numbers on the Delaware River coming from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. So what’s your preliminary take?A striper warning from Jim Hutchinson Jr.