As we near the end of the month, larger bass of 20 pounds or more have been reported in the Delaware River and sporadically along the northern half of New Jersey and in Raritan and Jamaica bays. Keeper-sized fish are being found with regularity inside the bays of Long Island’s South Shore, and migrating schoolies have made it as far as Montauk.

In New England, Connecticut and Rhode Island both have schools of migrating schoolie bass along the coast, and there have been keeper-sized fish reported from several Connecticut Rivers. There has been no word of “fresh” stripers reaching Cape Cod or Buzzards Bay as of Wednesday, but holdover stripers have been active up through Boston Harbor. It won’t be long until migrating stripers join them.

State waters refers to recreational anglers fishing in state waters (0 to 3 miles from shore), provided they are not fishing from a federally-permitted vessel. Federal Rules apply to recreational anglers fishing in federal waters (3 to 200 miles from shore), as well as recreational anglers fishing from federally-permitted vessels in state or federal waters.

Note that closed areas apply. For a more detailed report of the striper fishing in your area, check out the On The Water Fishing Forecast, updated every Thursday evening. And if you’re planning on fishing for stripers in the Northeast this summer, be sure to sign up for On The Water’s Striper Cup, which starts on May 1st.