Here's some generic info from laterallineco. Anyone who has any different thoughts about how it happens in the region you live in, let's hear it.


Spawning Striped Bass along the Atlantic Coast and Chesapeake Bay/Striped Bass Migration
The migratory behaviors of coastal striped bass are more complex than those of most other anadromous fish, which spend most of their adult lives in the ocean but migrate up rivers and streams to spawn. Striped Bass seasonal movements depend upon the age, sex, degree of maturity and the river in which they were born. At one time the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries were responsible for as much as 90% of the spawning ground for the Atlantic Striped Bass population. While the Chesapeake Bay remains the primary location for spawning activity and nursery area for the east coast Striped Bass population (scientists estimate the Chesapeake Region accounts for between 70-90%), spawning activity also occurs in the Roanoke River/Albemarle Sound watershed in North Carolina and the Hudson River in New York.

Some spawning activity has been witnessed in the Delaware River and several smaller river systems along the east coast. It is widely believed that these river systems, as long as pollution is kept to a minimum, will continue to expand in spawning areas. In late winter mature striped bass begin to move from the Atlantic Ocean into tidal freshwater to spawn. Spawning is triggered by an increase in water temperature as well as salinity levels and generally occurs in April, May and early June in the Chesapeake Bay tributaries, Roanoke River and Hudson River.

Scientists believe that young striped bass do best at a salinity of about 0.6 to 11 parts per thousand, compared to full strength seawater which has a salinity of about 34 parts per thousand. Striped Bass have an innate sense of finding the right water before spawning.

Shortly after spawning, mature fish return to the coast. Most spend summer and early fall months in middle New England near-shore waters. In late fall and early winter they migrate south to the North Carolina and Virginia capes.



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^^ This tells me that some fish spawn in the Newark Bay and Hackensack River areas. I have trapped and netted quite a few baby stripers in these areas when netting baitfish over the years, so that's my experience as it relates to this area.