Week 12 of the 2026 Striper Cup is in the books! Five anglers from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut took home gear this week as the summer bite held strong across southern New England.
REGISTER FOR THE 2026 STRIPER CUP →
Shore — Jake Elia
Milford, MA
Wins the PENN Slammer 5500 / Carnage 10′ Combo
Boat — Bobby Brierly
Cranston, RI
Wins the PENN Slammer IV 5500 Reel
Kayak — Carl Buschmann
East Haddam, CT
Wins the PENN Spinfisher VII 4500 / 9′ Battalion Surf Combo
Youth — Luke Henson
Bourne, MA
Wins the Bubba Smart Fish Scale
Costa Photo Contest — Edward Cunniffe
South Salem, NY
Wins a pair of Costa Sunglasses
See the full 2026 prize lineup →
Striped Bass Fishing Report: Where the Fish Are Right Now
The spring run is over and the summer pattern has taken hold from the Chesapeake to Cape Cod. A stretch of extreme heat has scattered fish and pushed the best action into low-light hours, but anglers who follow the bait are still finding quality stripers up and down the coast. Here’s where the fish are this week.
Cape Cod & Massachusetts
Wild swings in water temperature have scattered striped bass across Massachusetts, and the big schools that stacked off Race Point earlier this summer have spun off and slid deeper into Cape Cod Bay. Anglers willing to chase bait are still finding solid action at Fishing Ledge, Billingsgate Shoals, and outside Sesuit Harbor, with mackerel the go-to and pogies now blown into the beaches and harbors like Scituate. On the Cape and islands the striper bite has gone quieter in the heat, with the most consistent fish coming from pockets of cooler water and a wave of bluefish pushing into Buzzards Bay.
Rhode Island
Rhode Island is the bright spot for big fish right now. The inshore striper bite is lights out from the reefs to Block Island, with an abundance of quality bass and a few pushing the 50-inch mark this week. Captains out of Newport and Point Judith are putting clients on solid stripers alongside improving fluke and sea bass, so there’s plenty to keep a rod bent whether you’re chasing a cow or filling the box.
Connecticut
Connecticut saw another slug of striped bass move into the Western Sound this week, with quality fish gorging on butterfish now that bunker are scarce and most of the mackerel have pushed east. The reefs and The Race are producing on jigs, eels, and spoons through the low-light hours, and diamond jigs remain a steady bet at The Race and The Gut. Anglers running to Block Island are cashing in on big bass, including several in the 40 to 45-pound range. Mornings and evenings are the play as water temperatures climb.
New Jersey
New Jersey has settled into its summer pattern, with bass hitting sand bugs in the Ocean Grove and Bradley Beach surf and schoolies holding in the Shark River at night on small plastics and plugs. There are still resident stripers in the local rivers like the Shrewsbury and Navesink, though the surf bite has cooled off a touch in the recent heat. Fluke and bluefish are filling in the gaps from the surf to the reefs while the bass wait on cooler water.
Chesapeake Bay
In the Chesapeake, striped bass are keyed on abundant silversides and juvenile bunker in the shallow rivers, keeping a strong topwater bite going at first light. Small spooks worked tight to shoreline structure, docks, and shaded banks are the ticket as fish use shadow lines and cooler water to beat the heat. The tidal rivers like the Patapsco, Chester, Choptank, Severn, and Eastern Bay are the places to be early, before the midday heat shuts things down.
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.
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