 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
Striped Bass Fishing Tips
| Striped Bass Fishing Tips |
Tips to help make you a better Striped Bass fisher:
* Striped bass school and tend to feed as a group. They compete with each other for food and use
quick swimming ability to chase down the prey. They are vulnerable to quick moving “reaction-type”
baits like 'rattletraps' (swimmin image), minnow-shaped lures (shad raps, wally divers), silver and shad-
colored jigging spoons, white jigs and especially top water stick baits such as 'zara spook', 'jumpin’
minnow' and soft plastic jerk baits
* When shad are limited, the smelly anchovy or sardine cut bait is much more effective. When shad
are plentiful cut bait is ignored in favor of reaction type offerings.
* If you have level wind reels I would put fluorocarbon on them because you can fish with a strong
invisible line that handles well and fishes grubs and cranks with equal effectiveness. If using a
spinning reel NEVER load it with fluorocarbon heavier than 8 pound because it does not cast well from
a spinning reel.
* Anchovy rigging. Select a firm frozen anchovy. Soft thawed anchovies can be used most effectively
as chum. Cut the anchovy into 3 pieces any of which can be used. The head stays on the hook best
with the tail being fairly resilient. The trick to making the frozen bait stay on is to only run the hook in
one time. Do not attempt to turn or reposition the barb. Push it in once and leave it for best results.
Yes the bait will fall off when it thaws but I want to have a fish by then anyway. It should work long
enough!
* The best anchovy rig is the carolina rig with the bait hook 18 inches below the weight in Spring time
and 6 inches below in Winter.
* Summer temperature forces striped bass adults into deep water and separates them from shad.
Deep trolling with down riggers, jigging at 60-90 feet or bait fishing at 60 feet is the secret to finding
summer time stripers.
* When feeding on the surface, stripers are constantly looking to the surface for food. Lures that stay
on the surface and swim side-to-side making a V-wake, most resemble shad and demand attention
from striped bass even when not actively feeding.
* On waters where trout are stocked regularly, fisherman often catch very large stripers using trout-
like plugs or swim baits. The AC Plug, originally designed for largemouth bass, has proven very
effective on stripers, as have similar baits.
* From late spring to early fall, fishermen chase boils using binoculars and paying particular attention
to diving birds that take advantage of the corralled or stunned baitfish. Topwater dog-walking lures,
like Zara Spooks or Bent Neck Divers draw unbelievably powerful strikes in a striper boil.
* Shad-like jigs and even metal spoons work well, and they are usually snap-jigged beneath the boil to
imitate the rapid direction changes of a confused shad. Metal jigs can also be dropped to the bottom
and reeled back up to the surface as fast as possible (a technique known as "smokin' the iron").
* Stripers respond well to chumming, where it is legal. Fish-flavored canned cat food is an excellent
and inexpensive striper chum.
* Fly fishermen like to use saltwater streamers, like deceivers or clouser minnows, to fish for stripers.
* When fishing bait vertically from a boat, a rig with 3 consecutive circle hooks or wide gap (a.k.a.
Kahle) hooks spaced about 1 foot apart, with a small split shot attached just above the eye of each
hook. Chum liberally (if legal in your area), then drop your line down no more than 5 feet at a time,
counting down the line. Stripers often hit bait on the drop, especially near chum, and a slack line will
prevent you from feeling the bite. When you catch the fish, remember how deep you were and count
down to that depth again, stopping at least every 5 feet.
* Striped bass school and tend to feed as a group. They compete with each other for food and use
quick swimming ability to chase down the prey. They are vulnerable to quick moving “reaction-type”
baits like 'rattletraps' (swimmin image), minnow-shaped lures (shad raps, wally divers), silver and shad-
colored jigging spoons, white jigs and especially top water stick baits such as 'zara spook', 'jumpin’
minnow' and soft plastic jerk baits
* When shad are limited, the smelly anchovy or sardine cut bait is much more effective. When shad
are plentiful cut bait is ignored in favor of reaction type offerings.
* If you have level wind reels I would put fluorocarbon on them because you can fish with a strong
invisible line that handles well and fishes grubs and cranks with equal effectiveness. If using a
spinning reel NEVER load it with fluorocarbon heavier than 8 pound because it does not cast well from
a spinning reel.
* Anchovy rigging. Select a firm frozen anchovy. Soft thawed anchovies can be used most effectively
as chum. Cut the anchovy into 3 pieces any of which can be used. The head stays on the hook best
with the tail being fairly resilient. The trick to making the frozen bait stay on is to only run the hook in
one time. Do not attempt to turn or reposition the barb. Push it in once and leave it for best results.
Yes the bait will fall off when it thaws but I want to have a fish by then anyway. It should work long
enough!
* The best anchovy rig is the carolina rig with the bait hook 18 inches below the weight in Spring time
and 6 inches below in Winter.
* Summer temperature forces striped bass adults into deep water and separates them from shad.
Deep trolling with down riggers, jigging at 60-90 feet or bait fishing at 60 feet is the secret to finding
summer time stripers.
* When feeding on the surface, stripers are constantly looking to the surface for food. Lures that stay
on the surface and swim side-to-side making a V-wake, most resemble shad and demand attention
from striped bass even when not actively feeding.
* On waters where trout are stocked regularly, fisherman often catch very large stripers using trout-
like plugs or swim baits. The AC Plug, originally designed for largemouth bass, has proven very
effective on stripers, as have similar baits.
* From late spring to early fall, fishermen chase boils using binoculars and paying particular attention
to diving birds that take advantage of the corralled or stunned baitfish. Topwater dog-walking lures,
like Zara Spooks or Bent Neck Divers draw unbelievably powerful strikes in a striper boil.
* Shad-like jigs and even metal spoons work well, and they are usually snap-jigged beneath the boil to
imitate the rapid direction changes of a confused shad. Metal jigs can also be dropped to the bottom
and reeled back up to the surface as fast as possible (a technique known as "smokin' the iron").
* Stripers respond well to chumming, where it is legal. Fish-flavored canned cat food is an excellent
and inexpensive striper chum.
* Fly fishermen like to use saltwater streamers, like deceivers or clouser minnows, to fish for stripers.
* When fishing bait vertically from a boat, a rig with 3 consecutive circle hooks or wide gap (a.k.a.
Kahle) hooks spaced about 1 foot apart, with a small split shot attached just above the eye of each
hook. Chum liberally (if legal in your area), then drop your line down no more than 5 feet at a time,
counting down the line. Stripers often hit bait on the drop, especially near chum, and a slack line will
prevent you from feeling the bite. When you catch the fish, remember how deep you were and count
down to that depth again, stopping at least every 5 feet.