Fall striper run builds in Raritan Bay as sea bass stay active

What's biting

What's next

With water holding in the low 60s and the new moon bringing bigger tidal swings, look for striper activity to keep building through the week as bait gets pushed out of the back bays on the stronger current. Today's low tide turns near 2:26 PM local, a window worth fishing on both sides for bass working current rips around the Hook. Capt Ron's run of steady sea bass results suggests the bottom bite should hold into the weekend if conditions stay settled, though recent trips have noted a lot of short fish mixed with keepers, so expect to sort through numbers rather than a pure keeper bite. Weekend trip planning should lean on the new-moon tide stage for the strongest current push.

If the striper trend holds, the next few reports should start naming more consistent keeper-class fish as the migration pushes further into the bay.

Context

This is right on schedule for Raritan Bay and Sandy Hook in early-to-mid October. Striped bass typically begin staging in the bay as water cools into the low 60s, with the bulk of the fall migration pushing through over the following weeks. Bottom species like sea bass are a reliable mid-fall mainstay while anglers wait for the bass run to fully turn on, which lines up with what's showing in the reports right now. Check current state regulations before harvesting, since size and possession limits shift seasonally.