By the first week of June, the 2026 striped bass migration, slow to start after a cold winter, has caught up in a hurry. On The Water's latest report puts big fish along the whole coast, from New Jersey to Maine, while quietly underlining a concern that has shadowed the run all spring: not enough small bass.
Working south to north, the report found schoolies still in the Chesapeake shallows and the main body of migratory fish pushed up through New Jersey, where 50-pounders fell to live eels and metal-lip swimmers. Fresh spawning in the middle and upper Hudson is now sending post-spawn fish into New York Harbor and out along Long Island.
Southern New England leads the way. "Pick a river or a reef in the sound and there are most likely bass on it," said Anthony from Game On Lures. Captain Ben of Apex Angling called the western Long Island Sound "red hot" and said anglers are "currently in the peak of that spring migration."
But the report kept circling back to what is missing. With the average fish up to 40 inches, the hosts flagged that "the lack of small fish is apparent and frankly very concerning," a worry repeated by guest after guest who reported strong numbers of mid-to-large bass and almost no younger year-classes.
Boston, meanwhile, is on a tear at the big end. "We've definitely seen a big uptick in larger fish this past week," said Captain Brian Kums of Get Tight Sport Fishing, citing mid-40-pound fish over a solid 30-to-40-inch class. "We're having an abnormally good spring," he added. "It's the best May I've seen up in the Boston area." The fish are so locked onto big forage, he said, that "it's kind of become a go-big-or-go-home thing."
Rhode Island stayed "lights out all week," according to Captain Rob Taylor, with bass feeding hard on river herring, while Cape Cod's south-side rips filled with squid and surface-feeding bass. Canyon Runner's Captain Dean reported water warming into the low 50s off the Cape and 60 degrees near New Jersey, driving the northward march.
With the larger June moons still to come, more trophy fish are expected to flood New Hampshire and Maine, where 40-pounders have already arrived. The bite is as good as it gets right now. The open question is whether the small fish that secure the next decade of fishing will finally show.