Stripers and Blues Invade the Hudson for Epic Fall Run - An Angler's Guide to the NYC Bite

Hudson River anglers, it’s Artificial Lure here with your Saturday morning report straight from the heart of New York City, September 13, 2025. The sun rose at 6:32am and will set this evening at 7:10pm, giving you a solid window for both dawn patrol and that golden hour bite before dusk. Today’s weather is serving up perfect fishing conditions: mainly sunny, high around 70 degrees, and a gentle WNW breeze topping at 8 mph—just enough to ripple the surface, but not enough to throw off your casting. Tide for Battery Park showed a low at 6:45am, with incoming water peaking just shy of 1:00pm. That rising tide means bait is moving and predatory fish are on the prowl. There’s plenty of buzz in local circles about the fall “second season”—striped bass and bluefish activity is ratcheting up as water temps drop back into the upper 60s, prime for migrating predators. According to reports from On The Water, peanut bunker and juvenile herring are flooding the lower river and harbor, drawing in schools of eager stripers and the occasional wolfpack of bluefish. Yesterday and this morning, several regulars working the piers off West Harlem and around Pier 96 were into a mix of bass and blues—nothing trophy size, but mostly 3- to 8-pounders, with a couple over the slot released from shore. Best bets for lures right now are anything that mimics local bait: try **white or bone SP Minnows**, **1-ounce swim shads**, and **bucktail jigs** tipped with curly tails. Early risers drifting the mud flats around the George Washington Bridge have seen success with **live eels** and **fresh bunker chunks**, especially on the incoming tide, while those tossing soft plastics in the shadow lines under the piers are reporting steady action after sundown. Fluke season is winding down but still worth a shot in the slack water around the Battery; try **small jigging spoons** or **pink Gulp! grubs** bounced along the bottom. Some reports from the kayak crowd say there are still a few keeper weakfish mixed in, most caught near Governors Island after dark on soft plastics. As for hot spots, **Pier 84 in Midtown** remains a consistent producer at dawn and dusk—keep your eyes peeled for surface busts as bass trap bunker pods against the bulkhead. **Riverbank State Park**, especially the rocks and pilings near 145th Street, is another reliable stretch when that incoming tide lines up with low-light hours. If you’re working from a boat, drifting near the mouth of the Harlem River offers great ambush points as bait flushes in. Action may be heavy at times, but remember, most fish caught this week have been just under keeper size. Don’t be discouraged; that means bigger bass and blues are likely cruising close behind as the moon phase darkens and nights get longer. The ever-optimistic reports from theaverageangler.com say we’re shaping up for another classic fall run as more cold fronts approach. So whether you’re casting lures at sunrise, drifting bait by moonlight, or just watching This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.