Hudson River Fishing Report: Late August Blitzes and Fall Runs

Alright, folks, it's Artificial Lure coming to you with today's Hudson River fishing report for Thursday, August 28, 2025, right here in New York City.

Let’s set the scene: today we had a classic late August pattern rolling in. Sunrise hit us at 6:19 AM and sunset is right around 7:36 PM. Air temps climbed to the mid-80s by afternoon, humidity hanging in the air, but a light WNW breeze took the edge off by late day. The sky’s been mostly clear after that stretch of wild weather from Erin, so the river itself has settled—tides are running on a typical mixed semidiurnal cycle, with low slack at mid-morning and a solid incoming all afternoon. That evening tide from 5:30 PM onward is always prime for the big bites.

Let’s talk fish. According to On The Water’s latest, the start of the striper fall run is heating up and anglers are reporting blitzes—striped bass have been smashing peanut bunker from the harbor edges right up into the North River piers and off the Battery. Blues and the occasional Spanish mackerel are chasing bait right alongside the bass on these tidal swings. Sea bass activity is also trending up, though you’ll need to work deeper structure for keepers; party boats out of Jersey report a few ocean fluke filtering into Raritan stretches, and a handful have come up from local piers and jetties as well.

Closer to home, cast the west side—Pier 40, Battery Park, and the embankment near Riverside Park are holding bait and getting real attention at dusk. The East River confluence, especially around the Williamsburg Bridge pilings, has seen solid schoolie striper action on the tide flip, and South Street piers had short but fierce bluefish flurries right before sunset the last two evenings.

Reports from Julian’s Bait and Tackle say croaker, spot, and snapper blues are thick in the bay and upper harbor—prime targets for families and anyone jigging with light tackle. Crabbers are filling buckets along the slips too; can’t blame them with this water temp ticking up and plenty of bait in the system.

So what’s working? Local sharpies are throwing topwater walkers and spooks right as the light falls off—bone and shad patterns work great with all these peanut bunker around. Soft swimbaits on half-ounce heads and white bucktail jigs tipped with Gulp in nuclear chicken or chartreuse are pulling fluke and sea bass both off the bottom. For bait anglers, chunked bunker and fresh clam strips fished on fish-finder rigs have accounted for keeper blues and the odd summer bass. Live killies or fathead minnows are effective if you’re targeting fluke on sandy pockets.

If you want hot spots, hit:
- Pier 25 to Pier 40 on the west side after 6 PM—perfect for the evening striper and blue blitz as schools push bait up against the old pilings.
- The Battery Park seawall at high tide—often overlooked, but recent mornings have seen a pod of keeper stripers herding peanuts right up against the rocks.
- Wards Island fishing pier and the Harlem River mouth—fantastic for mixed bag action, especially on a moving tide, and easy pickings for snappers and schoolies.

Wherever you fish, remember the dog days are winding down and fall migration is just gearing up—the next few weeks will only get hotter as more fish move in.

Thanks for tuning in to the report. Whether you’re tossing lures from a city pier or soaking bait with the skyline behind you, keep those lines tight, be safe, and share your catches. Don’t forget to subscribe for updates all season long.

This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
All right, folks, it's artificial lore coming to you with
today's Hudson River Fishing report for Thursday, August twenty eighth,
twenty twenty five, right here in New York City. Let's
set the scene. Today, we had a classic late August
pattern rolling in. Sunrise hit us at six nineteen am
and sunset is right around seven thirty six pm. Air
temps climb to the mid eighties by afternoon, humidity hanging

(00:22):
in the air, but a light www breeze took the
edge off by late day. The sky's been mostly clear
after that stretch of wild weather from airin so the
river itself is settled. Tides are running on a typical
mixed semidurnal cycle, with low slack at mid morning and
a solid incoming all afternoon. That evening tide from five
thirty PM onward is always primed for the big bites.

(00:44):
Let's talk fish. According to on the Water's latest, the
start of the striper fall run is heating up and
anglers are reporting blitzes. Striped bass have been smashing peanut
Bunker from the Harbor edges right up into the North
River piers and off the battery Blues and the occasional
Spanish mackerel are chasing bait right alongside the bass on

(01:06):
these tidal swings. Sea bass activity is also trending up,
though you'll need to work deeper structure for keepers. Party
boats out of Jersey report a few ocean fluke filtering
into Weirton stretches and a handful of come up from
local piers and jetties as well. Closer to home, cast
the west side Pure forty Battery Park and the embankment

(01:28):
near Riverside Park are holding bait and getting real attention
at dusk. The East River confluence, especially around the Williams
Bird Bridge pilings, has seen solid schooly striper action on
the tide flip and South Street piers had shirt but
fierce bluefish flurries right before sunset the last two evenings.
Reports from Julian's Bait and Tackle say croaker spot and

(01:51):
snapper blues are thick in the Bay and Upper Harbor,
prime targets for families and anyone jigging with white tackle.
Crabbers are filling buckets along the slips too. Can't blame
them with this water temp ticking up in plenty of
bait in the system, so what's working. Local sharpies are
throwing topwater walkers and spooks right as the light falls off.

(02:12):
Bone and shad patterns work great with all these. Peanut
bunker around soft swin baits on half outs heads and
white buck tailed jags tipped with gulp and nuclear chicken
or chartrews, or pulling fluke and sea bass both off
the bottom for bait anglers. Chunk bunker and fresh clam
strips fished on fishfinder wigs have accounted for keeper blues

(02:32):
and the odd summer bass. Live achilles or fat head
mentals are effective if you're targeting fluke on sandy pockets.
If you want hotspots, hit Peer twenty five to Peer
forty on the west side after six pm. Perfect for
the evening striper and blue blitz as schools push bait
up against the old pilings. The Battery Park sea wall
at high tide often overlooked, but recent mornings have seen

(02:55):
a pot of keeper stripers hurting peanuts right up against
the rocks Ward's Eyeland unfishing pier in the Harlem River
Mouth Fantastic for mixed bag action, especially on a moving tide,
and easy pickings for snappers and schoolies. Wherever you fish,
remember the dog days are winding down and fall migration
is just gearing up. The next few weeks will only

(03:16):
get hotter as more fish move in. Thanks for tuning
into the report. Whether you're tossing lures from a city
pier or soaking bait with the skyline behind you, keep
those lines tight, be safe, and share your catches. Don't
forget to subscribe for updates all season long. This has
been a quiet please production. For more check out quiet

(03:37):
please dot ai