Hudson River Fishing Report: Late August Blitzes and Fall Runs

Alright, folks, it's Artificial Lure coming to you with today's Hudson River fishing report for Thursday, August 28, 2025, right here in New York City. Let’s set the scene: today we had a classic late August pattern rolling in. Sunrise hit us at 6:19 AM and sunset is right around 7:36 PM. Air temps climbed to the mid-80s by afternoon, humidity hanging in the air, but a light WNW breeze took the edge off by late day. The sky’s been mostly clear after that stretch of wild weather from Erin, so the river itself has settled—tides are running on a typical mixed semidiurnal cycle, with low slack at mid-morning and a solid incoming all afternoon. That evening tide from 5:30 PM onward is always prime for the big bites. Let’s talk fish. According to On The Water’s latest, the start of the striper fall run is heating up and anglers are reporting blitzes—striped bass have been smashing peanut bunker from the harbor edges right up into the North River piers and off the Battery. Blues and the occasional Spanish mackerel are chasing bait right alongside the bass on these tidal swings. Sea bass activity is also trending up, though you’ll need to work deeper structure for keepers; party boats out of Jersey report a few ocean fluke filtering into Raritan stretches, and a handful have come up from local piers and jetties as well. Closer to home, cast the west side—Pier 40, Battery Park, and the embankment near Riverside Park are holding bait and getting real attention at dusk. The East River confluence, especially around the Williamsburg Bridge pilings, has seen solid schoolie striper action on the tide flip, and South Street piers had short but fierce bluefish flurries right before sunset the last two evenings. Reports from Julian’s Bait and Tackle say croaker, spot, and snapper blues are thick in the bay and upper harbor—prime targets for families and anyone jigging with light tackle. Crabbers are filling buckets along the slips too; can’t blame them with this water temp ticking up and plenty of bait in the system. So what’s working? Local sharpies are throwing topwater walkers and spooks right as the light falls off—bone and shad patterns work great with all these peanut bunker around. Soft swimbaits on half-ounce heads and white bucktail jigs tipped with Gulp in nuclear chicken or chartreuse are pulling fluke and sea bass both off the bottom. For bait anglers, chunked bunker and fresh clam strips fished on fish-finder rigs have accounted for keeper blues and the odd summer bass. Live killies or fathead minnows are effective if you’re targeting fluke on sandy pockets. If you want hot spots, hit: - Pier 25 to Pier 40 on the west side after 6 PM—perfect for the evening striper and blue blitz as schools push bait up against the old pilings. - The Battery Park seawall at high tide—often overlooked, but recent mornings have seen a pod of keeper stripers herding peanuts right up against the rocks. - Wards Island fishing pier and the Harlem River mouth—fantastic This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.