By the time you read this, the major nor’easter that’s taking aim on the Northeast – as I sit here at my desk watching wind-driven leaves cartwheeling across my yard – will be nothing but a memory. When this storm first popped up on the extended forecast I was excited; when it grew into a monster, my enthusiasm waned and then rebounded. Typically, I’m not a huge fan of a monster storm in the midst of the fall run. I know a few spots that can go off for stripers, but when the bite has been “on” a big storm often has lasting repercussions, that sometimes include losing the fish altogether.
Then we have the storm’s effects of the false albacore bite. I’ve seen years where a multi-day nor’easter like this one has completely ended the bite in certain regions across the Northeast. Then there have been other times when the albies surged deep into places like Narragansett Bay, feeding like crazy as far north as Providence. At least in the case of the albies, we’ll have a pretty good idea what kind of impact the storm has had on the bite within a day or two of the sea calming down and cleaning up.
So let me tell you why I’m actually excited about the aftermath of this storm, put into simple terms, it’s because the fall run has been stagnant throughout September. There have been some stripers north of the Cape – from Plymouth up into Boston Harbor, and a ton of fish in southern Maine, but having three-plus weeks of relatively stable and summerlike weather has left us with water temps that have only dropped by a few degrees since the final days of August and the bass have felt no urgency to move. Sure, we’ve seen isolated areas where striper action has seen a modest bump in intensity, but September 2026 sure doesn’t match up with the Septembers of lore and it doesn’t even come close to matching 2025.
But, this nor’easter just might be the perfect storm, at least as far as the striper migration is concerned. With a few biomasses of fish holding in certain areas for months, the churning of the seas will drop the water temp, the increased intensity of the full moon will only exacerbate these effects and the fish will – almost certainly – move.
What does this mean for the month of October? If my past experiences are any kind of a guide, October stands to bring with it some intense action. Instead of seeing the migration come through in a longer push of increased action, we may see 50 percent of it come through in a week with the other half coming through in shorter pushes that last well into November. Or we could see almost all of it come through before Halloween, it all depends on what we see for weather after the fact. If we see a brutal change to fall-like weather, with cool days, cold nights and lots more wind, the bulk of the migration could be packed into the 31 days of October. If we slide back into another extension of summer, look for the intensity to pick up but the migration to move slowly, making for strong action for weeks on end that can be tracked and reliable.
Some might see the fall run waiting until October as a bad thing, forcing them into panic mode while they try to balance their fall run fishing with “real life”. Others might see it as an opportunity to salvage what – for many – has been a subpar September. Personally, I’m optimistic. Ultimately, I was happy to see an intense storm developing, the fishing needed a little puff of starter fluid. And while I’m never fully enthused to say ‘goodbye’ to summer, October comes with a chance to make some great memories and some extra incentive to take advantage. Because we all know what comes after October and, for the saltwater obsessed, it’s all downhill from there.
