Hudson River Fishing Report: Perch Bonanza, Bluefish Blitz, and More - Quiet Please Podcast

Good morning anglers, this is Artificial Lure coming to you with your Hudson River and NYC fishing report for Saturday, August 16, 2025.

The sun rose over the city at 6:01 a.m. this morning, with that signature late summer orange. We’re in for a classic August day, with highs around 81 degrees, light east winds at 5 to 10 knots, and a touch of humidity hanging over the water. Conditions are ideal for both shore and boat fishing. Tidal data from nearby stations show the morning outgoing tide should provide moving water till about noon, offering a prime bite window for those out early.

Let’s talk fish. White perch are absolutely flooding the tidal Hudson from northern Manhattan all the way northward—sloopclearwater’s recent posts call perch “abundant,” and that’s no exaggeration. Lots of short stripers and blues are popping up along the piers and around the mouths of tributaries, but the keepers have been a bit spotty this week, with most action on the overnight and twilight tides. Reports from On The Water and recent catches indicate plenty of mixed-size bluefish and schoolie striped bass, especially on sections where sand eels and silversides are schooling. If you’re targeting something bigger, the South Street Seaport stretch up through the George Washington Bridge has seen better action on chunked bunker at night, but bluefish have been snipping live baits as well.

In terms of variety, the lower river and connected estuaries still have some solid fluke action right in the wash. Bottom bouncers and jigged bucktails tipped with Gulp! mullet or spearing are raking in shorts with the odd 19-inch keeper in the mix—nothing crazy, but good bend-in-the-rod stuff. The downtown piers have also seen improved blackfish and sea bass activity around pilings on green crabs and Asian shore crabs, so a fiddler crab worked tight to structure is a smart play.

For baits today, bloodworms and sandworms are best for perch and panfish. Live eels work at night for stripers—especially if you’re patient near the bridge shadows. For blues, nothing beats chunked bunker. On the hardware side, white paddletails, small gold spoons, and shallow-running plugs have all been producing. Inline spinners and small crankbaits fished on the edge of current seams and eddies, as YouTube’s river fishing crowd demonstrates, are killer this time of year.

Hot spots worth checking:
- The 125th Street Pier up to Riverbank State Park, especially for morning perch and bass.
- Battery Park bulkheads and the Brooklyn waterfront for bluefish on the moving tide.
- Inlets at Spuyten Duyvil and the Harlem River confluence; excellent ambush points for both perch and schoolie bass.

Fluke and black sea bass are active for boaters working the channel ledges from Jersey City upriver—just be mindful to stay out of heavy traffic lanes. For those on foot, anywhere you find structure—think piers, rocky points, and riprap—has potential right now, especially if you fish the two hours around the tide changes.

Summing up: Local veterans say this is “the best perch run in a couple years,” with decent mixed bag action on blues and bass to keep lines tight. Be sure to get out before the sun gets too high, and don’t overlook small lures or natural baits. If you catch a cooler full, share your photos and stories with us and your fellow river rats.

Thanks for tuning in—don’t forget to subscribe for the latest NYC and Hudson River fishing insight! This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.

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This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning, anglers. This is artificial lore coming to you
with your Hudson River and NYC fishing report for Saturday,
August sixteenth, twenty twenty five. The sun rose over the
city at six oh one am this morning. With that
signature late summer orange, we're in for a classic August
day with highs around eighty one degrees, light east winds
at five to ten knots, and a touch of humidity

(00:21):
hanging over the water. Conditions are ideal for both shore
and boat fishing. Tidal data from nearby stations show the
morning outgoing tide should provide moving water till about noon,
offering a prime bite window for those out early. Let's
talk fish. White perch are absolutely flooding the tidal hunts
in from northern Manhattan all the way northward Sloop clear

(00:42):
Water's recent posts call perch abundant, and that's no exaggeration.
Lots of short stripers and blues are popping up along
the piers and around the mouths of tributaries, but the
keepers have been a bit spotty this week, with most
action on the overnight and twilight tides. Reports from on
the water and recent catches indicate plenty of mixed sized

(01:02):
bluefish and schoolly striped bass, especially on sections where sand
eels and silver sides are schooling if you're targeting something bigger.
The South Street Seaport stretch up through the George Washington
Bridge has seen better action on chumped bunker at night,
but bluefish have been snipping live baits as well. In
terms of variety, the Lower River and connected estuaries still

(01:25):
have some solid fluke action right in the wash. Bottom
bouncers and jig bucktails tipped with gold mullet or spearing
or raking in shorts with the odd nineteen inge keeper
in the mix. Nothing crazy but good bend in the
rod stuff. The downtown piers have also seen improved blackfish
and sea bass activity around pilings on green crabs and

(01:45):
Asian shore crabs, so a fiddler crab work tight to
structure is a smart play for baits today. Bloodworms and
sandworms are best for perch and panfish. Live eels work
at night for stripers, especially if you're patient near the
bridge shadows. For blues, nothing beats chunked bunker. On the
hardware side. White paddle tails, small gold spoons, and shallow

(02:08):
running plugs have all been producing inline spinners and small
crank baits fished on the edge of current seams and eddies.
As YouTube's River Fishing crowd demonstrates our killer this time
of year. Hot spot's worth checking the one hundred and
twenty fifth Street pier up to Riverbank State Park, especially
for morning perch and bass. Battery Park bulkheads in the

(02:31):
Brooklyn waterfront for bluefish on the moving tide. Inlets at
spiitan' duval and the Harlem River Confluence excellent ambush points
for both perch and schooly bass. Fluke and black sea
bass are active for boaters working the channel ledges from
Jersey City up river. Just be mindful to stay out
of heavy traffic lanes for those on foot. Anywhere you

(02:53):
find structure, think piers, rocky points and rip wrap has
potential right now, especially if you fish the two hours
around the tide changes. Summing up, local veterans say this
is the best perch run in a couple years, with
decent mixed bag action on blues and bass. To keep
lines tight, be sure to get out before the sun

(03:14):
gets too high, and don't overlook small wars or natural baits.
If you catch a cooler full. Share your photos and
stories with us and your fellow river rats. Thanks for
tuning in. Don't forget to subscribe for the latest NYC
and Hudson River fishing insight. This has been a quiet
Please production. For more check out Quiet Please dot ai