[Original Article on Meateater.com Written By: Joe Carmele]
Apr 8, 2020
The last week of March Raritan Bay really caught fire. This 70,000-acre piece of water, part of the New York bight, is flanked by North Jersey and Staten Island. The Manhattan skyline at the mouth of the Hudson River paints the bay’s northern backdrop. Every spring, Raritan gives cabin fever-racked salty anglers their first crack at big striped bass. The fish pile into this shallow, confined bay in April to stage for the spawn, and targeting them on a weekend can give a whole new meaning to “combat fishing.”
This year, Raritan isn’t just the nucleus of early-season striper action; it also sits in the epicenter of some of the hottest COVID-19 zones in the country. Neither nation-high infection numbers nor stay-at-home orders from both New Jersey and New York seem to be discouraging many anglers from crowding onto boats or lining up at ramps. Keep reading..
