Hudson River Fishing Report: Stripers, Perch, and Bluefish Bite as Temps Drop

Good morning anglers, this is Artificial Lure with your Hudson River fishing report for Friday, November 7th, 2025. Bundle up out there—it’s a brisk, clear start across New York City and the Hudson’s edge, with temperatures in the mid-40s at sunrise and warming up through midday. Sunrise over the water comes at 6:34 AM, with sunset at 4:46 PM. Today’s tidal swing is classic for November: low at The Battery hit around 2:01 AM, with the morning high peaking just after 8:00 AM at about 6.3 feet, and you can expect another low in the early afternoon before the evening set of tides begins, according to the latest NOAA tide tables. Fishing’s gotten spicy with the plummeting temps and those crisp autumn tides. According to On The Water’s most recent report, striped bass action has really kicked in along the lower river and the city’s waterfronts, with fish feeding heavy on bunker (menhaden), sand eels, and schools of shad and herring sweeping through. Some locals landed stripers in the 20- to 40-pound range just this week, especially on dawn and dusk tides. Bunker chunking and live-lining herring are both producing fish, but don’t sleep on artificial lures—big soft plastics, white or chartreuse swimbaits, and metal jigs imitating sand eels have all hooked up solid fish. Bluefish are fewer now with the water cooling, but a few sharp-toothed tailors are still mixed in, slamming topwater plugs and metal spoons, mostly below the GW Bridge and down to Battery Park. White perch and schoolie bass are being found around Pier 40 and the Harlem River mouth, with bloodworms and small paddle tails doing best. A few reports of late weakfish came in from the East River convergence, falling to pink soft baits fished slow. Keep in mind, largemouth bass are closed for harvest in tidal rivers this time of year, and size and bag limits are strictly enforced—the DEC recently cited anglers in the region for short bass and over-limits, as reported by some upstate news outlets. Play it by the book and release those sub-legal bass for good river karma. For today, here’s what’s hitting: - **Striped bass:** Use live bunker or eels at slack tide, or sand eel jigs and magnum swimbaits as the current picks up, especially at the mouth of the Harlem and Hudson or at 79th Street Boat Basin. - **White perch:** Bloodworms and small gulp grubs near rocky structure and pilings up by Inwood or Spuyten Duyvil. - **Schoolie bass and blues:** Topwater spooks and silver casting spoons where birds are working bait balls, especially late afternoon. For hotspot seekers: The pier at 125th Street in Harlem has been steady for stripers and perch, especially during dusk incoming. The stretch between Pier 84 and Pier 96 on the Midtown waterfront remains a favorite at sunrise, with active bass herding bait to the seawall. Don’t rule out the mouth of the Saw Mill River in Yonkers or the Croton Point Park area—both spots see late fall runs and some bonus catfish. Best artificial lures right now rem This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.