Striped bass are a prized fish for anglers. Where can an angler find a fishing spot for this prime species? An angler needs to understand the behaviors of striped bass in order to establish a fishing spot. In doing so, an angler can work with the natural rhythms of strippers and thereby increase their fishing proficiency.

Striped bass, otherwise known as stripers, inhabit waters that run all along the East coast. An angler will benefit in knowing that stripers spend the majority of their lives in salt water and migrate to freshwater to spawn. Likewise, in the summer months, stripers have a tendency to move north and then, in turn, to migrate south in the fall. Finally, an angler should remember that the best time to catch a striper is to establishing a fishing spot during spawning season, in areas that provide fresh, clear water.

Spawning season for stripers usually occurs when the water is warm enough to permit it in the months between April and June. An angler should be aware that striped bass begin spawning when the water reaches approximately fifty degrees. Also, when not hunting the shorelines of freshwater, they will linger and move in water that is roughly forty to twenty feet deep. Thus, an angler can establish a prime fishing spot along the shores of river openings, bays, near shore waters, reefs, beaches, and estuaries in both deep and shallow waters.

Stripers primarily move in schools, with occasional solitary striper remaining in deeper waters. An angler should be aware that in catching one striper, another is not at all far behind. Also, watching scavenger birds circling in the sky will give a good indication as to where the stripers are feeding. Finally, stripers can be caught from May to December.

Stripers feed on alewives, clams, crab, eels, flounder, lobster, menhaden, mussels, herring, silversides, smelt and squid. Thus, when establishing a fishing spot, an angler may want to find areas that house such creatures naturally or bring along items like herring and squid for bait. Also, an angler will benefit in knowing that stripers feed primarily in the evening and early hours of the morning and that the best time to fish for them is during the hours of dusk through dawn.

An angler might want to consider establishing a fishing site along the shoreline, in a relatively safe area for evening fishing as stripers behavior leans toward nocturnal tendencies, especially in the middle of summer. Conversely, stripers will feed throughout the day and establishing a fishing spot during anytime can prove successful for an angler.

Finally, when establishing a fishing spot, an angler might want to keep in mind that stripers tend to stick close to shorelines where easy feeding is possible. Further, stripers like moving currents and will move in and out with the tide. Thus, the best time for an angler to establish a fishing spot is two hours prior and two hours after high tide.