Shad stacking and stripers pushing upriver on the Delaware

What's Biting

What's Next

With shad running strong and the waning crescent offering low-light morning and evening windows, the next two to three days on the Delaware look favorable. Shad push harder on moving water following any rainfall, and with mid-week rains already lifting catches per The Fisherman — NJ/DE Freshwater, anglers working the Lewis Shad Fishery and access points from Lambertville northward should find darts and shad rigs producing into the weekend.

The striper push above Trenton is time-limited — these are spawning fish, and once they drop back toward tidal water the window closes quickly. The 35-inch fish reported near Lambertville confirms the run is still active as of early May. Verify current NJ regulations before keeping; size and slot restrictions typically apply in non-tidal river sections.

Crappie and bass in the region's lakes will likely continue to cycle on and off beds as water temperatures fluctuate through mid-May. The Fisherman — NJ/DE Freshwater notes crappies and perch are holding around bridge structure on small jig combinations, with a few walleyes and hybrids showing for night fishermen — a pattern worth watching as evening temperatures stabilize. Any warm, calm stretch of weather this week should push more fish onto visible spawning flats, improving sight-fishing opportunities for both crappie and largemouth.

Trout in the Delaware & Raritan Canal will remain accessible through mid-May. Stocked fish concentrate near deeper pools and culvert inflows in the weeks following a plant; nymphs, small spinners, and PowerBait are all effective during this window. NJ Fish & Wildlife News's expanded 2026 regulations added 19 extra fishing days and access to more than 20 additional ponds, so anglers looking for variety have more options than in prior seasons.

Pine Barrens streams, represented here by the Metedeconk at 39.4 cfs on USGS gauge 01408000, are carrying enough flow for productive bass and pickerel fishing. Cedar-stained water conditions favor darker lures — black/chartreuse rigs and natural crayfish patterns. If rain continues to build, watch for flows rising above 60–70 cfs; at that point, drifted soft plastics or live bait in deeper cuts will outperform topwater presentations.

Context

For the Delaware River corridor and Pine Barrens watershed, mid-May marks the peak of the American shad run and the trailing edge of the spring striper spawning push — both appear to be running on schedule in 2026. Shad enter Delaware Bay in March and stage progressively upriver through April; by the second week of May, fish are typically well past Lambertville and into Pennsylvania water. The 30 to 65-plus fish hauls reported by The Fisherman — NJ/DE Freshwater are consistent with prime-window action on a productive year.

The striper spawning run in the non-tidal Delaware is a more modest event than the coastal migration, but it reliably delivers fish in the 20-to-45-inch range to Trenton-area access points and the Lambertville corridor each April and May. A 35-inch fish near Lambertville is unremarkable by historical standards — fish into the upper 30s appear most years during this run.

NJ Fish & Wildlife News's expanded 2026 trout regulations represent the most angler-friendly season setup in several years. The April 11 opener was 19 days earlier than prior baselines, with 180,000-plus rainbows and 20,000 PA-sourced brown trout stocked statewide. Canal trout fishing historically holds up through the third week of May before rising water temperatures push fish deeper.

For Pine Barrens streams, a mid-May flow of 39.4 cfs on the Metedeconk is within the normal range for this drainage — not unusually high or low. The region's cedar-stained, low-pH waters don't support stocked trout, but the pickerel, largemouth bass, and sunfish fishery is consistent year after year and typically holds strong through mid-June before summer heat slows things down.