The following discussion is centered on a particular part of New Jersey. However, similar places and conditions exist all along the striper migration route during the spring with similar results for the fishing; but maybe with timing shifted somewhat.

Graveling Point, NJ

Graveling Point is a point on the northern shore of Great Bay in NJ. Great Bay is fed by the Mullica River. There are shallow flats here, and there is a mud bottom. In the spring this is where the water warms up first. Every year the first striped bass of the season is caught here.

A few sunny days in March will warm the dark mud bottom in these shallows. The worms and other organisms will wake up and become active. As the tide moves in over these warm bottoms, the water will warm. As it recedes with the falling tide, it will be a few degrees warmer than when it came in. This warmer outgoing water, along with the new activity of its bottom dwellers, will attract the stripers. Under these conditions, the first striped bass of the season will be caught.

The bait will be bloodworms, Real or artificial Berkley Gulp, or clams, as there aren't many baitfish around this early in the spring. The first stripers won't be large. They will be schoolies and holdovers that remained in these or nearby locations through the winter.

A little later, a herring run will occur in the Mullica River as "River Herring" go up the river and its feeder streams to spawn. Larger migrating striped bass now come into the river chasing after the herring, and doing their own spawning. Fishermen will be catching the herring in some of the feeder streams and storing them in aerated containers. These fishermen then liveline the herring in the river, and catch some of the stripers. Note that there is presently a moratorium on catching river herring in some New England States.

When the stripers come down out of the river some will stay in the back bays for awhile, as the water will be warmer there. Others will go directly into the ocean. There they will be joined by other migrating stripers coming out of the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays.

Stripers will begin feeding actively along the ocean beaches when the water temperature reaches 50 degrees. Their are not many baitfish along the beaches at this time of year, but there are plenty of clams. So the bait of choice for the surf fishermen is clams. Off the beach however adult bunker can often be found. If their are stripers on them, the birds will tell you. Boat fishermen can snag the bunker and live line them.

Some of these stripers will hang around the New Jersey beaches until early in June when the waters warm further. Then the stripers will continue their migration north. In 2006, and again in 2007, the stripers on their way north encountered schools of adult bunker near Asbury Park. There they coralled the bunker between some jetties. A few days of very good fishing resulted with some large stripers being caught from the jetties.

Graveling point is located at the end of Radio Road in Mystic Island. Scott's Bait and Tackle shop is located on this same road. Each year this shop provides a $100 prize to the fisherman who catches the first keeper size striped bass of the season.

In 2006 the first keeper striped bass was caught on March 4th, although some shorts had been caught the day before. However in 2005, the first keeper striped bass was not caught until March 29th. In 2007 the first keeper was caught on March 14th.

Lenny Sankarik caught the first keeper size striped bass of the 2008 season on Wednesday, March 26th at Peeble Beach which is next to Graveling Point. Lenny's bass was 29¼ inches long and weighed 9.0 pounds. It was caught on a bloodworm.