Follow the 2016 Striper Migration

Follow along as we track the 2016 striper migration, and contribute to our migration map by sharing your striper fishing reports and photos.

by OTW Staff March 24, 2016

You don’t need to tell a striper fisherman that absence makes the heart grow fonder. From the time an angler catches the last striped bass of the year in the fall, it’s a countdown of days until the migratory striped bass reappear in spring.

When will the bass return? It’s a question that striper fishermen ask every winter, and the answer depends on the angler’s location. Every year is a little different, and exact timing seems to be strongly influenced by water temperatures along the Atlantic coast.

In 2015, we suffered through a historically snowy and cold winter. Water temperatures along the coast hit record lows and remained cool well into the spring. As a result, a delay in the striped bass migration along the coast led to later arrivals than most fishermen could recall in recent history. Still, the waters eventually warmed and by the new moon in mid-June, big striped bass had been reported all along our coast, from the Jersey Shore to southern Maine.

By tracking fishing reports from charter captains and readers at OnTheWater.com, we mapped the striped bass spring migration from the Mid-Atlantic to Maine last spring. By the end of June, we were able to look back on a fairly complete picture of how striped bass move along the coast and when bass of various size classes arrive in different locations.

In 2016, the East Coast was blessed with a much milder winter, and reports have indicated that the migration is off to an early start. Follow along as we track the 2016 striper migration, and contribute to our migration map by sharing your striper fishing reports and photos.