Merrimack stripers stacking at the mouth as shad run builds

What's Biting

What's Next

The striper migration map from On The Water (May 29) shows the main push still moving north, meaning the Merrimack corridor should stay productive through at least the first week of June. Baitfish concentrations are the key driver: bunker, squid, and river herring are pulling big fish into the river mouth and adjacent beaches. The Fisherman reports fish spread across the mouth and the beaches along Joppa, so the bite is not bottlenecked to a single access point.

The waning gibbous moon over the next several nights creates extended low-light windows that favor the after-dark plug bite. Pluggers working SP minnows, darters, and bucktails should find receptive fish, particularly on incoming tide moves when stripers stack at river mouths and estuary edges to ambush bait. Plan around the tide rather than the clock, and work the last two hours of the incoming hard for the best shot at big fish.

The USGS gauge shows 383 cfs on the Merrimack as of June 2. As spring runoff continues to taper into summer, expect flows to ease gradually through the week. Lower, clearer flows improve wading access along the lower river but can make fish in flat, open sections spookier. Focus on moving current, seams, and structure where stripers can hold without burning energy. The shad run, which The Fisherman describes as showing an uptick this week, typically peaks through the lower Merrimack in late May to early June. Moderating flows should push shad further upriver; light dart jigs drifted through current seams are the standard presentation.

Lake Winnipesaukee produced no charter or shop reports in this week's feeds, so forward projections there rely on seasonal patterns only. Early June is typically the best window for post-spawn smallmouth and largemouth bass, with warming surface temperatures pushing fish onto rocky transition zones, points, and drop-offs as spawning activity concludes and feeding ramps back up. Slower, finesse presentations tend to outperform power fishing in the first week or two post-spawn. Check local tackle shops near the lake for current conditions before making the drive.

Context

Early June is historically prime time for the lower Merrimack striper corridor. The anadromous run on this river typically peaks between mid-May and late June, and the current reports from The Fisherman suggest 2026 is running right on schedule, with fish spread from the mouth through the Joppa beaches and onto the nearshore ledges. There is no indication from this week's feeds that the season is running early or late.

The American shad run is a shorter, more compressed window, generally mid-May to mid-June on the lower Merrimack. The uptick in shad reports noted by The Fisherman this week suggests the run is near its apex rather than tapering off, which is consistent with normal early-June timing for this stretch of river. Anglers who want shad action should treat the next two to three weeks as the reliable window before fish thin out for the season.

No specific comparative data for Lake Winnipesaukee appeared in this week's source feeds, making a direct year-over-year assessment of the lake impossible. Typically, early June is the last reliable window before thermocline stratification pushes lake trout and landlocked salmon into deeper, cooler water for the summer. Smallmouth bass are usually the most surface-accessible target through mid-June, working rocky structure along transition zones before fish move offshore to follow summer baitfish. Whether that seasonal clock is running early or late in 2026 is not determinable from the available data. Assume on-schedule timing unless local lake reports suggest otherwise.