Delaware Spring Fish Runs: Striped Bass

On the Nanticoke and Delaware rivers, usually in April and May. That timing comes from the Delaware Division of Fish and Wildlife. The day each year follows the water: the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission puts the striped bass spawn at 55 to 67°F.

The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission gives 55 to 67°F for striped bass, the figure each Delaware verdict reads the water against. Water inside that range means the spawn can be on; within 5°F below it, the run is getting close.

2 USGS gauges on the Delaware River report the water temperature through the day. Each run card sets the latest reading against the spawning temperature: more than 5°F below the spawning temperature is Not yet, within 5°F is Getting close, inside the range is On, and above it late in the run is Winding down. The other runs follow their usual months.

No. The months are the usual window, and the water sets the day: a cold spring holds a run back, and a warm one brings it forward. In Delaware, the gauge readings on the run cards show where the water stands now.

Sea run stripers spawn in tidal rivers, and reservoir stripers run up the rivers that feed their lake.

Water temperature is the main signal: each species waits for its own range. Longer days bring fish toward the rivers, and a warm rain that raises and warms the water often starts a push upstream. Walleye go first in cold water; white bass, herring and shad follow as rivers warm.