Striper Cup Week 13 Winners!

Week 13 of the 2026 Striper Cup is in the books! Five anglers from Maine, Massachusetts, and Connecticut took home gear this week as the summer bait bite kept the biggest bass on the feed.

Youth — Roman Nussdorfer

Brewster, MA
Wins the Bubba Smart Fish Scale

Costa Photo Contest — Justin Jones

Danvers, MA
Wins a pair of Costa Sunglasses

See the full 2026 prize lineup →

Striped Bass Migration Report: Follow the Bait

The summer pattern is in full swing from the Chesapeake to the coast of Maine, and it’s all about the bait. Massive schools of pogies and mackerel have the biggest bass feeding hard, often well offshore, while a strong low-light topwater bite keeps producing in the shallows. Here’s where the stripers are this week.

Cape Cod & Massachusetts

The pogy schools off Massachusetts are the whole show right now, with big striped bass, bluefish, and bluefin tuna all pushing through the bait and the occasional whale crashing the party. Along the South Shore it’s been bunker, birds, bass, and blues in a full-on surface blitz, while the Westport River keeps giving up slot and larger stripers for anglers chumming up-current of the ledges. When the bass go quiet in the heat, black sea bass and the occasional jumbo fluke are a reliable Plan B out toward Noman’s.

New Hampshire & Maine

Up in New Hampshire and Maine, an influx of small pogies has stacked around the offshore ledges, and the big bass are shadowing that bait farther from shore than most anglers would like. Finding the fleet that’s found the bait has been the key, with mackerel around spots like Hampton Shoals tempting the takedowns. Don’t sleep on the skinny water though, because there are big fish in close for anyone with the patience to hunt them, and the southern-facing shorelines near Wells Harbor have been especially productive.

Rhode Island

Rhode Island keeps getting better. Block Island is holding a nice slug of big bass in the usual spots, with fish also showing along the southeast side and around the North Rip, and the overall quality of the catch continues to climb. Bottom fishing stays steady for fluke, sea bass, and scup, and giant bluefin tuna are prowling inshore for anyone looking to bend a rod on something bigger.

Connecticut

Connecticut’s striper bite continues on the reefs and in the rips, even with a pile of brown sharks harassing anglers and stealing their eels. During the day the play is deep with GT eels, spoons, and live eels, while after dark the shallower tide-swept boulders produce on live eels, unweighted soft plastics, and big swimmers. There’s been some topwater action at first light, and cocktail bluefish are filling in while everyone waits on the Spanish mackerel and bonito.

New Jersey

New Jersey has settled into a summer grind. In the north, stripers are cruising the beach lip and eating mole crabs right in the wash, while down south the striper action is mostly a night game, with schoolies around the bridges on the incoming tide. Fluke, crabbing, and offshore tuna are carrying the load through the heat, so it pays to fish the low-light windows for bass.

Chesapeake Bay

In the Chesapeake, the topwater striper bite keeps impressing for anglers who find cool, shady, shallow water with bait nearby. Spooks in the 4 to 5-inch range are the most productive, and the rivers are loaded with peanut bunker, so casting around the river mouths and shallow structure is the move. Fish the early mornings and evenings when the tide lines up with low light for the best shot at bass before the midday heat takes over.

For the full picture, check the Striper Migration Map and OTW’s weekly Fishing Reports.

Not Registered Yet?

It’s not too late to get in. Every Striper Cup registration includes the Striper Box (Columbia PFG shirt, Rapala lure, OTW snapback, collectible pin, and YETI discounts), a shot at weekly prizes, and a Golden Ticket entry into the grand prize boat raffle at StriperFest.

Shore — Ryan Baker

Boat — Rick Hunter

Kayak — Donna Piraino