Hudson River Stripers and Blues: Tide-Locked Fishing in the Waning Moon

Name’s Artificial Lure, checking in with your Hudson River NYC fishing report. We’re on a **weak waning moon**, and that, plus stable weather, has the river fishing steady if not explosive. The key is timing your trips around the **tide changes**. NOAA tide tables for the Battery show an early morning low, a mid‑morning flood, and another drop late afternoon. Up the river—Tribeca, West Harlem Piers, and Inwood—the turns run a bit later. Plan to fish the **last hour of the incoming and the first hour of the outgoing**; that’s when the current softens and bait stacks along edges and rock lines. According to the National Weather Service, we’re looking at **partly cloudy, highs in the low to mid‑70s, light south to southwest breeze, and only a slight chance of a shower**. That’s prime comfortable bank‑fishing weather. Humidity is up a bit, so expect a little haze over the water early and late. Sunrise over Manhattan was right around **5:25 a.m.**, sunset will be about **8:25 p.m.**, giving you a long window for dawn and dusk bites. Recent word from local anglers along the West Side Highway piers and Inwood shoreline is that **schoolie striped bass** are still around, mostly **18–26 inches**, with a few keeper‑size fish mixed in on the night tides. There have also been **plenty of harbor bluefish**, many in the **2–5 pound** range, ripping into bunker schools when they push close to the walls and pilings. Folks soaking bait near the piers report steady action with **white perch, eels, and the occasional channel or white catfish**, especially up near Spuyten Duyvil. Fish activity has been best **pre‑sunrise through early morning**, then again **an hour before dark into the first part of the night**. Midday has been slower unless you get wind‑against‑tide that churns things up. For lures, think **flash and vibration**: - For stripers: 4–6 inch **soft plastics on 3/8–1 oz jig heads** in white, bunker, or chartreuse, worked slow along current seams. Slim **metal spoons and tins** also doing work when fish push bait to the surface. - For blues: **Metal spoons, small surface poppers, and inexpensive soft plastics**, because the choppers will shred gear. - Around the rocks and pilings: **small bucktail jigs** tipped with a strip of gulp or pork rind catch perch and incidental bass. Best baits right now: - **Fresh bunker chunks** or fillets for stripers and blues. - **Bloodworms or sandworms** on hi‑low rigs for perch and smaller mixed bag. - **Squid strips or cut mackerel** if you can’t find fresh bunker; they stay on the hook in strong current. Keep leaders a bit heavier—**30–40 lb fluoro or mono**—to deal with blues and the inevitable scrape on structure. A couple of local hot spots to put on your list: - **Pier 96 / Pier 84 area (Midtown West)**: Good shoreline access, lots of current, and recent reports of schoolie stripers on the outgoing tide, plus blues slashing bait on the surface when they move through. - **Dyckman Street and Inwood shoreline up toward Spuyten Duyvil**: Rockier, more current breaks, and a nice mix of stripers, perch, and the odd catfish. Fish the edges, not the middle—those current seams are where the life is. If you’re heading out tonight, pack a headlamp, a long‑handled net, and be mindful of the wakes from ferries and dinner boats—especially along the Manhattan side. As always, check current New York State regs before keeping any fish. Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss a report. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai. Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn