Striped
Bass.

01The Fish

Striped bass are anadromous: born in freshwater rivers like the Hudson and Chesapeake, they spend their adult lives in saltwater and return each spring to spawn. The fish that show up on the East End are part of two main populations — Hudson River fish moving east through Long Island Sound, and Chesapeake fish migrating north along the coast. By July, both groups are stacked along the South Shore beaches and around the Montauk Point rips.

Identification is straightforward — silver flanks with seven or eight horizontal stripes running from gill plate to tail, white belly, two distinct dorsal fins. Schoolie fish hold around two to ten pounds; fish over twenty are "keeper class," over thirty are "trophy class," and the rare cow over fifty pounds is the fish that ends careers in a single night.

02When & Where

Spring (early May – late June). Smaller bass — schoolies and the first cows — push into Peconic Bay first. Look at the back of Three Mile Harbor, around Cedar Point, and the flats off Northwest Creek. Worms and small swim shads do work. By late May the fish are out on the ocean beaches.

Summer (July – early September). Big fish set up shop. The Montauk rips become a daily destination — incoming and outgoing tides pull bunker through the structure, and bass stack along the edges. South side beaches from Amagansett to Ditch Plains hold fish through the summer; night tides are when the bigger fish come in close enough for surfcasters to reach them.

Fall Run (late September – November). This is what the East End is famous for. Bass push west and south, following massive schools of peanut bunker and sand eels migrating out of the Sound. Blitzes — surface explosions of bass driving bait — can happen anywhere from Camp Hero to Mecox. The run peaks somewhere in the back half of October most years, but the exact week shifts with water temp and bait movement.

03How to Catch Them

There are three main approaches on the East End, and serious anglers run all three depending on conditions.

Surfcasting. The classic. Fish from the beach at dawn, dusk, or through the night. Plugs for daylight (pencil poppers, Super Strike darters, SP Minnows). Bait at night (chunked bunker on a fishfinder rig, live or rigged eels for the bigger fish). Reading the beach — finding the cut, the bowl, the bar — matters more than what's tied on.

Boat — light tackle. Run-and-gun on visible bunker schools. Topwater plugs, soft plastics on a jighead, and the occasional bucktail tipped with a worm. The fall blitz is made for this style — find the birds, find the fish.

Boat — trolling/jigging. Standard Montauk approach. Bunker spoons, mojos, or live-line a bunker through the rips. Vertical jigging with diamond jigs or AVA jigs on tide changes when fish are deeper.

04Regulations · NY 2026

Current New York recreational regs as of the May 12, 2026 revision (always verify against DEC marine regs before keeping fish — these change):

• Slot limit (marine): 28" to less than 31" (one fish in this range)
• Slot limit (Hudson River tidal): 23" to less than 28"
• Daily bag limit: 1 fish per angler per day (statewide)
• Open season (marine): April 15 – December 15
• Open season (Hudson River): April 1 – November 30
• Circle hooks required: non-offset (inline) circle hooks when fishing with any natural bait (live, dead, whole, or part). Not required for artificial lures even when tipped with bait.
• License required: NY Marine Registry (free) for recreational anglers 16+

05The East End Calendar

A working anglers' rhythm of the year:

• May: Peconic Bay schoolies. Worms, small plugs. Light tackle setups.
• June: Fish push to ocean. South side at night. First keepers.
• July – Aug: Big fish in the Montauk rips. Boat season peaks. Night tides for surfcasters.
• Sept: Bait builds. Watch for the first peanut bunker pushes.
• Oct – early Nov: The run. Surf, boat, anything. Bring everything you own.
• Late Nov – early Dec: Fish thinning, occasional shots at trailers and unmigrated cows. Cold-hands season.