Striped Bass

Do you fish for striped bass? Join the Hudson River Cooperative Angler Program. 

Striped bass (Morone saxatilis) is an ecologically, recreationally, and economically important migratory fish found in the Hudson River. Adults spend most of their time in coastal Atlantic Ocean waters and return to the freshwater of the Hudson River each spring to spawn. The tidal Hudson River is an important a nursery for the newly hatched young of year bass, which transition from freshwater to brackish water and near shore coastal areas in early fall. 

Current Fishery

• Freshwater Fishing Regulations (Hudson River north of the George Washington Bridge)
• Recreational Saltwater Fishing Regulations (Hudson River south of the George Washington Bridge)
• Freshwater Fishing Regulations (Delaware River and West Branch Delaware River)
• Commercial Fishing CLOSED. At this time, the Hudson River is closed to commercial fishing for striped bass

Fish Consumption Advisory

Please visit the Department of Health's website for fish consumption advisories from the Hudson River and other waters of New York.

Management

Striped bass are cooperatively managed on the Atlantic coast by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC). To assess and manage the striped bass stock, New York and other states require regulatory measures including monitoring programs, recreational and commercial minimum size limits, recreational catch limits, and commercial quotas. In response to a decline in the coastal spawning stock, New York was required to reduce harvest in 2015, so a slot limit (18 to 28 inches total length) was implemented in the Hudson River to protect most female fish (see graph). The 2018 benchmark stock assessment showed that the stock was overfished and overfishing was occurring, so Addendum VI to Amendment 6 of the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Striped Bass was implemented. It requires the use of circle hooks when fishing with bait for striped bass, which reduces release mortality from catch and release fishing. 

The current striped bass stock status is based on the 2022 assessment update. Striped bass are considered overfished, although overfishing is not occurring. In 2024, all states including New York implemented measures to reduce mortality. For the Hudson River this resulted in a reduced slot limit of 23-28 inches in total length. 

The 23-28 inch slot limit in the Hudson River differs from the coastwide 28-31 inch slot because as a spawning area, the Hudson is managed under conservation equivalency (an alternative management program). Length distribution data show that most fish caught over 28 inches in the Hudson are females, so the smaller slot in the Hudson River helps reduce harvest of large spawning females that produce the most eggs. Removal of more males than females has less impact on reproductive potential than if the slot limit mirrored the coastwide slot limit. 

Learn additional tips about catch and release (PDF) fishing in New York waters.

Hudson River Striped bass length distribution and recreational slot limit (green outline).

Hudson River Striped Bass Cooperative Angler Program

Help conserve and manage striped bass by joining the Hudson River Striped Bass Cooperative Angler Program. Volunteer anglers provide essential catch data to meet New York State’s reporting requirements for the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.

How It Works

Record fishing trip details in a provided physical logbook or use DEC’s online logbook via the Survey123 App. Submit data after each trip or at the end of the season. Participants receive a newsletter with fishery insights, regulation updates, and survey results.

To request a physical logbook, contact  [email protected] at 845-256-3009. For anglers fishing south of the George Washington Bridge and in the marine district, a separate program is available.

Research

Acoustic Tagging

DEC and other researchers and managers along the coast have been tagging striped bass to better understand their movement and life history.  Through this technology, DEC and researchers have learned more about the migration ecology along the mid-Atlantic bight,  explored environmental factors influencing migration as it relates offshore wind energy, and identified multiple spawning groups of striped bass in the Hudson River.

Synthesis of long-term data

In collaboration with Stony Brook University, we examined how striped bass spawning behavior has changed over space and time resulting in a narrower range of optimal spawning temperatures.