Early Summer Stripers and Blues: Hudson River NYC Fishing Report

This is Artificial Lure with your Hudson River NYC fishing report. We’ve got a classic early-summer pattern on the Hudson today. Light southwest breeze, muggy but not brutal, with air temps pushing through the 70s into the low 80s by afternoon. Skies are partly cloudy, with a chance of a brief shower late-day as that humidity builds. Sunrise is around 5:25 a.m., sunset close to 8:30 p.m., so you’ve got a long window, but the best bite will be early and late when the sun is low and the boat traffic eases off. Tides in the lower Hudson run a bit out of sync with the ocean, but figure low tide around mid‑morning and again late evening, with a good incoming push into the afternoon. The top windows will be that first couple hours of incoming and the last of the outgoing around structure. If you see the current slow and the surface slick up near pilings or rock edges, that’s the time to really work the area. Striped bass are mostly past the peak run, but a decent number of schoolies and the odd keeper are still hanging around the city stretch, especially in the deeper channels and around the bridges. Recent word from local pier regulars is a steady pick of 20–26 inch fish, with occasional bigger ones cruising through at first light. Bluefish have been popping in and out, mostly smaller “cocktail” blues smashing bait right on the surface when they show. Best producers from shore have been fresh bunker chunks and bloodworms on fish-finder rigs. If you’re throwing artificials, small to midsize soft plastics on 3/8 to 1 oz jig heads in pearl, bunker, and olive have been hot. Night anglers are doing well with black or dark-purple swimmers and soft plastics worked slow along the bottom. There’s also good mixed bag action: schoolie bass, blues, the occasional weakfish, and plenty of smaller species like white perch and assorted panfish up in the quieter marinas and creek mouths. If you just want steady bends in the rod, bring some lighter tackle and fish bits of shrimp or sandworms under a float around docks and riprap. A couple of hotspots to consider: - **Pier 25 to Pier 40 area (Hudson River Park)**: Solid access, good current breaks along the pilings, and consistent schoolie and bluefish action at dawn and dusk. Work soft plastics or small metal spoons along the edge of the channel and around the pier shadows. - **Around the George Washington Bridge and the rocky banks nearby**: Strong current, plenty of structure, and a shot at better‑class stripers when the tide is moving. Use heavier jig heads or bucktails, tip them with a soft plastic or strip of bait, and bounce them just off the bottom on the edges of the rips. Boat anglers drifting the channel edges have been picking fish on live or chunked bunker, especially where you mark bait schools. Keep one rod rigged with a metal jig or small topwater in case the blues push bait to the surface. Overall, think early, late, and on the move with the tide. Match your offerings to the local forage—bunker, spearing, and small herring—and keep changing angles until you find where they’re sitting. Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe for more local fishing updates. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai. Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn