New Moon Striper Push Runs Broad Through Long Island Sound

What's Biting

What's Next

**The Next 48–72 Hours**

With today marking the new moon, the heart of this tidal window is right now. On The Water noted on June 12 that "new moon and big tides this weekend should continue to move bass and bait toward summer haunts" — an observation made just three days ago that applies in full force through mid-week. Expect the strongest bite windows to cluster around tide transitions: incoming and outgoing current peaks typically stack bait on rip lines and hard-bottom structure, pulling stripers out of resting lies into active feeding mode.

Dawn and the first two hours of daylight remain the most reliable window for surface and near-surface action. As the sun climbs, fish tend to drop off the top and work the water column — sub-surface swimmers, big soft-plastic eels, and bucktails along rip lines should produce through late morning. On The Water published a focused piece this cycle on fishing oversized soft-plastic eels for trophy stripers, underscoring that presentation scale matters when targeting larger fish in current.

**Squid**

Saltwater Edge, writing from Rhode Island heading into this new moon, reported that squid fishing has been "fantastic and isn't showing signs of slowing down," adding that cooler water is likely to keep the squid bite active for at least another couple of weeks. LIS anglers running squid jigs in current-swept areas near structure should find them in numbers. Squid also pull double duty as live bait for larger stripers.

**Fluke and Bottom Species**

Fluke are seasonally on-schedule for mid-June in LIS, with fish typically spreading across sandy bottom structure as water warms into summer. No specific LIS fluke intel was received this cycle, but the species is a standard June target along the Connecticut coast. Drifting soft plastics or bucktail-tipped rigs over sandy bottom is the traditional approach. OTW Saltwater flagged this week that scup — one of Long Island Sound's most abundant bottom species — are also on the seasonal menu for anglers looking to mix in some bottom fishing.

**Looking Ahead**

As new moon tidal energy subsides through the back half of the week, the intensity of the bite may moderate. Saltwater Edge flagged that gradually warming days and nights could push water temps up and potentially slow the striper bite in coming weeks — worth watching for anyone planning a trip beyond this window. The next few days represent the stronger call.

Context

Mid-June in Long Island Sound marks a transitional moment: the spring migration is largely complete, and the Sound shifts from a corridor into a summer residence zone for striped bass. The new moon in early-to-mid June is historically one of the most productive tidal windows of the season, concentrating fish on the current-swept points, rip lines, and rocky structure that define LIS habitat. Squid — a natural bait that peaks in local waters during late spring and early summer — typically coincide with this window, and their presence this year appears robust.

The detail worth noting this season is the cooler-than-average water temperatures that Saltwater Edge flagged heading into June. In warmer years, LIS can see stripers go lethargic and push deep by the final weeks of June as surface temps spike; the cooler baseline this year is a favorable departure from that pattern and could extend quality topwater and near-surface fishing beyond its typical seasonal cutoff.

On The Water's June 12 migration map showed the striper front distributed broadly from New Jersey all the way to Maine — a range suggesting healthy distribution rather than a compressed or unusually early push. That scope aligns with expectations for a mid-June new moon: bass scattered across a wide geographic range moving in response to tidal and bait cues, not a single concentrated front passing through.

OTW Surfcasting published a piece this cycle titled "The Truth about the Current State of Striped Bass," acknowledging that the fishery can feel dramatically different depending on where an angler is standing — a fair caution. Local current structure, bait presence, and boat traffic all shape day-to-day results more than regional trends alone. For CT LIS specifically, the combination of new moon tides, reportedly cool water, and active squid bait creates a setup that looks favorable relative to a typical mid-June baseline. No NOAA buoy benchmark data was available for a direct year-over-year temperature comparison this report cycle.