Hudson River Fishing Report: Stripers, Blues, and Autumn Bites

Artificial Lure here with your Friday, September 12 Hudson River report right out of New York City—and what a September morning to wet a line. If you’re heading out early, sunrise was at 6:32 AM, and we’ll see a golden sunset at 7:11 PM, making for a full day of late-summer action. Tides are crucial: today’s high tide rolled in just after sunrise and will drop through midday with slack low around lunchtime, so plan your bite windows around those moving waters. Weather’s holding steady: expect sunshine, light breeze, and highs warming up to the mid 70s. Perfect for casting from shorelines or drifting near structure. The autumn run is ramping up, and baitfish—peanut bunker, silversides, and small herring—are flooding into the river, bringing hungry predators with them. According to the latest from On The Water, stripers are starting to stir with the cooler nights, and there have been early catches around New York Harbor and just north into Yonkers and Tarrytown. Bluefish, too, are making their presence known around river mouths and along city piers. Fluke (summer flounder) are still hanging on, but their bite is starting to slow as water temps drop, giving way to more porgy and snapper blue action. Locals at Keyport Bait and Tackle just across the bay report snappers showing in better numbers and porgies stacked on the rock piles—both patterns mirrored in the lower Hudson. As for amounts and types of fish caught this week: schoolie striped bass are showing up all along Manhattan’s West Side piers, especially at first and last light. You’ll find bluefish blitzing bait, especially as the tide starts ripping—snappers one moment, two-pound choppers the next. Porgies are a steady bet near the pilings and rocky mouths around Edgewater, NJ, and City Island; use clam or sandworm on hi-lo rigs for best results. The city’s fluke bite faded some but not out—caught mostly on Gulp! grubs and fluke belly near the Battery and the mouth of the Harlem River. For bait and lures, here’s what’s scoring best now: - For striped bass: bloodworms or chunk bunker on fish-finder rigs during slack tide, transitioning to swimming plugs (think SP Minnows, Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnows) or paddle-tail soft plastics (white or bunker) as the current picks up. - For bluefish: noisy surface poppers in the morning or cut bunker if they’re schooling deep; Kastmasters and metal spoons are never a bad call for quick retrieval. - Fluke and porgies: drift bucktails tipped with Gulp! or squid, or simply use double dropper rigs with clam strips. - Snappers: small Kastmaster spoons, snapper poppers with spearing, or live killifish under a bobber. Hot spots for today: Try Pier 25 and Pier 40 on Manhattan’s West Side early, just as that first light hits. For more elbow room and less crowd, check out the rocky shoreline just north of the George Washington Bridge on the Jersey side, or swing down to Brooklyn Bridge Park where stripers and blues push bait against the pylons as the tide drops. Fis This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.