Chapter 13 - Catching Big Striped Bass

When a salt-water angler first sets out to catch striped bass he's satisfied with fish of any size. Small or large—it doesn't matter, so long as it's a striper. Then after he's caught some small ones he sets his sights on a bigger striped bass. Even if he is lucky enough to catch a big striper at the start he is somewhat dismayed to find that it isn't always easy to repeat. Big striped bass don't come easy, at least not until you acquire considerable skill and know-how. You also have to concentrate all your efforts and make it your particular business to go after big striped bass.

To catch lunker-sized striped bass you must know the small but important differences and refinements in tackle, lures, bait, techniques and methods which help catch the big ones. These details are not obvious to the novice, but you can be sure the veteran striped-bass fishermen know and use them. This knowledge, together with the skill they have acquired through the years, enables them to reduce the odds when seeking that big "cow" striper.

One of the hardest places to catch a big striper is in the surf. Many surf anglers have fished for many years and have yet to get a big striper in the 30-, 40- or 50-lb. class. Many of these anglers fail to catch big stripers because they are using the wrong lures or baits or are fishing the wrong spots at the wrong time.

Take lures, for example. When it comes to taking big stripers from the surf you can't beat a large plug, especially one of the swimming- or popping-type surface plugs. The emphasis should be on large plugs, instead of the midgets, yet you'll find many anglers using tiny plugs, jigs or metal squids. These are great lures for the smaller stripers but they interest the big fish only occasionally.

The wise surf angler always carries an assortment of lures when surf fishing. Big surface and underwater plugs, rigged eels and metal squids or heavy spoons will enable him to meet the changing conditions in the surf.

When big striped bass refuse to take artificial they'll often go for natural baits. A good all-around bait in this respect is sea worms such as bloodworms or sandworms. They'll usually catch their share of smaller stripers and other fish, but there are certain seasons, such as the fall months at Cape Cod, when big stripers go for worms. When seeking big bass use several worms on a hook rather than one worm or a section of it.

Another top bait for big stripers is squid. A whole squid or a large portion fished on the bottom often produces a lunker striper. In the Cape Cod Canal, where big stripers feed on squid during the summer months, a whole squid impaled on a gang of three large 7/0 or 8/0 hooks can be cast and allowed to drift with the current. In the same canal live herring fished late in May or early in June will also take big fish, while at other times live mackerel will do the trick if they can be obtained quickly or kept alive in a tank.

New Jersey and New York surf anglers sometimes take big stripers on skimmer or sea clams, especially after a storm when these clams are washed out of the sand. But in these states the killing bait during the summer months is calico shedder crab. They're hard to obtain and must be raked out of the sand along beaches, but big stripers will take a whole shedder calico crab when they can't be caught on anything else.

Surf anglers like this Cape Cod, Massachusetts, angler often catch big stripers on rigged eels, plugs and natural bait.

When fished on the bottom big striped bass can also be caught with such bait fish as butterfish, bunkers or menhaden, mullet, mackerel and eels. If these fish are not too big they can be used whole; the larger ones can be cut into chunks or fillets and used that way.

An important point to remember when fishing for big fish is that they prefer deeper water. A small striper will often come very close to shore or swim over a sand bar covered by only inches of water, but the big babies need more water, so look for them along the drop-offs bordering sand or rock bars, deeper holes, channels, rips and coves. Also, try the ends of jetties and breakwaters. Along sandy beaches they'll come close to shore if the beach slopes sharply and there is plenty of deep water. .

The need of big fish for deep water is also the reason why tides are important when you are surf fishing for larger stripers. If there are shallow spots and sand bars or rocky reefs which are exposed or barely covered, you can be sure the big stripers will avoid such areas at low tide. But when the tide comes in and covers these spots with more water, the big fish will often swim in to feed. Such areas are usually rich in marine life and other foods. Bait fish often take refuge there. So when the tide gets near high and there's enough water for the big stripers, they will want to move in. However, for best results, there should still be some white water breaking on these shallow spots.

On the other hand, don't rule out the low tides if you can cast into spots with fairly deep water. Plenty of big stripers have been taken at the ends of rock jetties and breakwaters at low tide. In these places you usually have plenty of water and a strong rip. The same goes for some of the coves found along rocky shores. If they are fairly deep at low tide the big fish will often remain to feed. Other good spots are rocky points, ledges and reefs with deep water bordering them.

One of the most productive spots for big striped bass is an inlet or river entering the ocean. Bait fish enter and leave such inlets and the strong currents and rips create favorable feeding locations for large stripers. Inlets are usually best during the end of the outgoing tide and the start of the incoming tide.

The surf angler who wants big stripers must also watch the weather and winds carefully for keys to good fishing. Big striped bass may not feed for days when the water is calm or conditions are not right. But just before, during and right after a storm which creates plenty of white water they often become active. They are also easier to fool at such times since they cannot examine a lure too closely in the roily, foamy water.

Finally, if you want to catch big bass in the surf you must be prepared to spend a lot of time fishing at night. Year in and year out the angler who fishes at night catches more big stripers than the guy who fishes mostly during the daytime. Big stripers feed more actively at night and come closer to shore, so you'll find the top-notch surf anglers fishing all night and sleeping during the day. The novice or the lad who likes his sleep knocks himself out in the hot sun. Then when the big stripers move in at dusk or during the night, he's too tired to fish. However, if you must fish during the daytime, the best hours are from daybreak until about 10:00 A.M., when the sun gets too high. Another good period is the two or three hours before sundown.

If you are impatient about catching a big striped bass your best bet is to go after them with a boat, especially one of the chartered boats along the Atlantic Coast which specializes in this fishing. The guides on these boats know their striped-bass fishing and they'll get you a big one much sooner than if you go on your own.

One of the guides who has really astounded striped-bass fishermen with his amazing catches of big fish is Captain Dick Lema, who fishes out of Galilee, Rhode Island, and covers the south shore of the state, especially the area around Charlestown Beach. In one year anglers who chartered his boat caught a total of 731 stripers during the season from May to November. The average weight of the fish caught was 38 lbs. and there were 23 stripers going 50 lbs. or better. The largest fish that year weighed 58 lbs.

Captain Dick Lema's favorite bait is a live eel and most of the big stripers caught from his boat are taken on this "natural." He always takes along a pail of squirming, lively eels. About 6:00 P.M. the boat shoves off and heads down the coast toward Charlestown. When he gets there, Captain Lema fishes the sunken boulders, reefs and other locations which attract big stripers. By using the depth finder on his boat and landmarks on shore he lines up his craft so that it will drift right over the best spots.

The anglers, usually two or three men, then bait up with live eels by hooking them through the lips or the side of the jaw with an 8/0 or 9/0 hook. Captain Lema prefers the Eagle Claw pattern for this fishing. The anglers cast the eels out about 30 or 40 ft. from the side of the boat. As the boat drifts they let out some line so that the eel can swim naturally and head for the bottom. When the eel reaches the bottom it is raised gently so that it doesn't foul the line in the weeds or rocks. Usually the eel swims around quietly and tries to hide somewhere along the bottom. But sometimes there's a sudden flurry or the eel takes off at high speed, and then the angler gets set for a bite. The striper usually engulfs the eel and since it's a live bait he is reluctant to let it go. When the angler feels the line tighten or the fish swimming away he sets the hook sharply.
 
Another type of boat fishing is practiced by Al Urban of Montauk, New York. Urban has earned a reputation for coming back with big stripers when other boats go fishless. I knew Al Urban when he used to fish mostly in the surf around Atlantic Beach, New York. In those days he would go out at night and usually come back with a big striper or two. Then he moved to Montauk, bought a motel and got himself a 22-ft. open skiff and called it the Duke. It wasn't long before he was coming back with eye-opening catches of big striped bass.

Want to catch a big striped bass? Try drifting with a live eel at night in Rhode Island waters. This 49-pounder was caught by Dick Lema, shown here. He perfected the method and has caught thousands of big stripers for his customers.
 
Al prefers to fish the south shore of Montauk during the spring and summer months. He drifts off the rocky points and reefs during the late afternoon and casts large surface popping and swimming plugs behind the breakers into the white water. He keeps working these until he raises some fish. If the fish swirl at the plugs but don't hit, Al leaves them and then comes back half an hour or so later when they may decide to take the lures.

If the fish still refuse to hit or the water is too clear, as is often the case in the summer, he waits until nighttime and then returns to the spots where the fish showed. Although plugs will often take them at night he gets better results with rigged eels or eel skin s.

When the fish cannot be located Al Urban often resorts to trolling with wire lines in the deeper waters off the reefs. Then he finds that the best lures are usually jigs, big spoons, nylon eels and eel skin s. The nylon eel is a popular and effective lure at Montauk, where it is trolled deep for big bass. The light blue or yellow-colored nylon eel is preferred and it is often dressed on the hooks with strips of pork rind or natural squid.

During the fall months Al fishes mostly on the north side of Montauk. Such spots as Shag Wong, North Bar and Jones Reef are hot around this time. Trolling is usually done here, but at times casting with plugs or other lures is also practiced.

Another boat fisherman who has taken many big stripers is Captain Otto Reut, who has a charter boat at Highlands, New Jersey. He fishes mostly along Sandy Hook and the rest of the coast of New Jersey. His specialty is trolling and he lets out four lines about 150 feet behind the stern. He believes in keeping two lines high and two down deep. He marks his lines so that they are all about the same distance from the boat. He claims four lures working in a small area are more attractive to the fish than single lures spaced far apart.

Captain Reut believes that most trailers fail to catch the big stripers because they don't troll at the right speed. He always regulates his boat speed according to the current. If he is trolling against the current he slows down, and if he is with the current he speeds up a bit. He says that the main thing to watch is the action of the lure. Before letting out the line make sure it is working properly.

Captain Reut's favorite lure, day or night, is a rigged eel, only instead of using a plain eel he feels that an eel rigged with a small metal squid provides better action and takes more big stripers in the daytime. He likes eels from 12 to 15 in. in length.

His second choice is a large swimming plug with a red-and-white finish. Incidentally, although New Jersey trailers use strictly underwater plugs with metal lips on many occasions, they also use surface swimming plugs for trolling underwater. To get these down they must use wire lines or trolling weights.

Captain Reut also uses large spoons which resemble herring or menhaden. So-called bunker spoons are widely used in May, June, October and November along the New Jersey and Long Island coasts. At this time the menhaden or bunkers are migrating in large schools and big stripers feed on them in the rips and over the reefs. Some of these spoons are monstrous affairs, almost a foot long and several inches wide.

Another lure, which was very popular for big stripers along the New Jersey and New York coasts for a time, is the so-called junk lure. This consists of three colored fringed-rubber or plastic skirts mounted one behind another on a beaded chain. The head of the chain is attached to a Jap feather lure. Two other hooks are usually attached to the chain—one in the middle and another at the tail. Then strips of pork rind or fresh squid are impaled on the two hooks. The most effective rubber or plastic skirts for this lure are yellow, orange or light red.

Just what the junk lure is supposed to resemble I'm not sure. Some claim that the stripers take the lure for a small school of sand eels swimming along. At any rate it sometimes takes big stripers when trolled 150 feet behind the boat. The lure must be given action by means of raising and then quickly dropping the rod tip at regular intervals.

The best time to catch big stripers along the New Jersey coast, according to Captain Reut, is during outgoing tide and the time when the tide changes, especially at dusk, during the night and at daybreak.

Another deadly method of taking big stripers from a boat is practiced at Cape Cod, Massachusetts, by the beach-buggy and surf-boat group. They launch 12- or 14-ft. aluminum boats in the surf and head for the offshore bars and holes. Here they troll or cast rigged eels and big plugs by day and night from June to October. When they can get live mackerel they put one of these fish on a hook and let it swim around among the big bass. At the right times, usually during the summer months, some amazing catches of big stripers in the 35- to 65-lb. class are taken by this method. Mackerel weighing about 11/2 to 2 lbs. are the best bait for these big stripers. But the first problem is catching the mackerel alive on light spinning rigs with diamond jigs and keeping them in big pails or tubs of water.

Although big striped bass have been caught almost everywhere from Maine to New Jersey, some spots are more productive than others. The first real run of big striped bass usually starts in late May along the New Jersey coast. During this period fish are taken at Sandy Hook and along the beaches farther south. June is a good month for both trailers and surf anglers. September, October and November are also fine months for big bass in New Jersey.

In New York the best spots for trolling are Romer Shoals late in May and early in June and again in October and early November. Other good spots for trolling and surf fishing are the Rockaways, Atlantic Beach and Long Beach from June to October. Montauk Point, at the end of Long Island, is a productive spot in June, September, October and November.

In Rhode Island, big stripers are taken from June to November, but the best time is usually from late August through October. In Rhode Island you can fish the whole south shore from Pt. Judith to Watch Hill, with Charles-town Beach the number-one hot spot. The rocky shores along Narragansett, Jamestown and Newport produce big stripers year after year. Block Island is another great spot for big bass from June to November.

In Massachusetts big striped bass can be taken in the Cape Cod Canal, off Cape Cod itself and around the islands of Cuttyhunk and Martha's Vineyard. The big fish are present in Massachusetts from June to November. Although fishing for big striped bass slows down in many spots along the Atlantic Coast during July and August, these months are often good in Massachusetts, especially on Cape Cod.

But no matter where or when you fish you must remember that fishing for big stripers requires plenty of patience and perseverance. The angler who puts in the time stands a better chance the one who fishes only occasionally or sporadically.

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