Your favorite method of Striper fishing and why? I love to plug fish from the beach. I know I pissed a lot of people off lately with my views on certain methods of yanking bass from the suds but if you think that was bad you didn't know me while I spent the better part of a decade just flyfishing for them. I was obnoxious ( hard to beleive I could be more obnoxious than I am now I know). Rod and reelers were Neanderthals too me. Now I have gone back to the same but I think with a bit of more finesse. Certainly my flyfishing (which I have taken up again but in moderation) taught me things that can be applied to my rod and reel fishing, adding to my being able to reach back and find a certain something that enables me to be succesful on nights when most aren't as lucky ( and luck does play a role, to what degree is left up for debate).

I am currently in the mode of thought that being able to get a bass to eat a piece of wood of hunk of plastic takes more ability than heaving a chunk of bait, dead or alive, into the brine. Who knows, next year I could be the chosen disciple of live bait again. But for right now it's plugs, this year being the year of the needle. I am enjoying success far beyond my wildest dreams this season ( DZ would be proud) they aren't all monsters but there have been a fair share. Mostly it's the catching most every time I go out no matter where or when this year. Is it just being confident in what I am using. Certainly I have stopped carrying 30 pounds of plugs that 99% of will never taste salt each night. Also, I have been fishing with a couple of guys who have renewed my faith that there are people just as whacky as I am about it. Numbskull being one and Alan Cordts being the other. These two guys are some of the best there are and I think a little is being rubbed off on me, luckily for me.

So, whatever blows yer skirt up let's hear it and I promise to be more open minded, no comments just curiosity.

How do you feel about heaving a hunk of lead jig out into the salt water along side of that wood and plastic in your bag?
You know my favorite is tossing 4 ounce jigs into the middle of the Cape Cod Canal to try to trick a monster bass. And there is nothing more satisfying to me than catching bass from shore on a wood plug especially if it's one that I made myself. Tossing sluggos from my little skiff ain't so bad either. Of all the different ways I have caught bass, by far my most productive has been the jig in the canal. Hopefully one day I can match those accomplishments from shore with a plug.

How do you feel about heaving a hunk of lead jig out into the salt water along side of that wood and plastic in your bag?
You know my favorite is tossing 4 ounce jigs into the middle of the Cape Cod Canal to try to trick a monster bass. And there is nothing more satisfying to me than catching bass from shore on a wood plug especially if it's one that I made myself. Tossing sluggos from my little skiff ain't so bad either. Of all the different ways I have caught bass, by far my most productive has been the jig in the canal. Hopefully one day I can match those accomplishments from shore with a plug.

Love jigging the canal Bruce!:drool:

Throwing Swimers into an outflow has always been a favorite of mine. Did it last night in a raging surf and got a few fish, none huge, but very satisfying to pull them out on a night like that. Anytime the conditions are right I go for this method first.

Lately though, my most confident method is rigged eels around the rocks, with a needlefish a close second. I havent gotten into the sluggo craze as much as I should/thought I would...

Big storm shads in deep moving water is very cathardic to me, and takes alot of thought and touch to keep it right on the bottom w/o hanging up. While this often gets pushed back as a fall back plan I enjoy that as well.

My favorite is with a flyrod during a worm swarm in current. An extremely close second is in wash with plugs. And although there is something to be said for 3 beers and 3 eels in shorts and a tee shirt, it is something that I almost never do. Getting good fish is like owning a Mint 427 Cobra GT – Bait; you had somebody rebuild it for you. Plug; You rebuilt it yourself. Very nice either way but MUCH more satisfying doing it yourself.

I like bouncing metal off of the bottom of a sandy beach. However with me being a newbie in the canal I think bouncing a jig off of the bottom of the canal is becoming my favorite....I just wish I lived closer :(

Good subject Flap, and seeing you have come to the realization that your sometimes purist views and chest pounding are annoying to some, I am hereby removing you from my ignore list. :laugha: just kidding.

Seriously, I like to fish with techniques that employ the use of a single hook such as eels, jigs, and storms. I am results oriented, not caring much as to what the fish are caught on as long as the results are positive. I do not like things with treble hooks, never did, although I've had some memorable nights with plugs, they create tension for me. I hate digging multiple treble hooks out of fish, don't like the risk of hooking myself :bc:, don't want the likelihood of a treble coming out, bending, or foul hooking. With single hook offerings, your odds of landing a large fish are much greater IMO. For me it’s mostly big storms and jigs in the canal on conventional gear, and eels from the shore at night on spinning gear. I am beginning to warm up to sluggos now that the eel situation is taking shape. Kinda like em. :uhuh:

I enjoy most methods, but if I had to choose my absolute favorite it would be top water plugging with a wood spook. Standing on a rock and tossing it into the white water wash, making it dance, seeing it raise a fish and the chase is on. Teasing a bass into biting is a rush, and when it is finally hooked up it makes my heart race...

My favorite is tossing top water plugs in the spring when I have just put my boat in the water and you know you have a whole summer ahead of you.

Next would be drifting rips with sand eels in mid July when you'll get a nice sized striper on just about every drift.

Canal jigging. In the fastest current, in the deepest water with as much line off the reel as possible. Not because that's where the fish neccessarily are, but because that's where/how it's the most challenging to catch them.

Canal jigging can wreck your gear and wreck you, but DAMN it's fun.

And BTW, the jig guys are some funny dudes to hang with.

I'll show you yanking, Mr. Flaptail.

I'd say the most fun style is surface action lures.

[Quote/] hard to beleive I could be more obnoxious than I am now I know...Flaptail



not at all :jester:


but you also add some great information and perspective.

ok that aside..... plug-lure fishing day or night in waders :cheers: forgot the why.... love to discover where they are, what they`ll hit, and then wonder why in trying to match all the factors to the local environment. Weather, moon phase, tide, time, etc. etc.

But I go when I can and then peruse what happened after the fact.

I'll show you yanking, Mr. Flaptail.


Bassturbation - you are cordially invited to show a little bit of class when posting on this site. Yes, our standards are low at times but we do have them - please keep that in mind... (Especially during selection of an avatar)

Flap - yes, you were a little "uptight" when flyfishing :hihi: ...

I think all methods are good - each leaves a lesson that impacts and can improve another method. Though I don't chunk, the base thought of a chunk of bait, smell, should be high on the list when fishing artificials, like with bunker oil. Fishing an eel inspiring many jointed needles and swimming plugs.

Everything can blend into everything and make us better anglers...

I love the bump on an eel, the explosion on a spook at first light, and the pickup and peel of a live bait...

I enjoy throwing my homemade plugs the most, especially topwater stuff at sunset..

At night I like swimmers in swift currents, I also like to throw tins or jigs w/ oily porktails. . . I cant leave out scented sluggos/plastic either :btu:

what are the saltwater equivalents of jerk baits?

Canal jigging. In the fastest current, in the deepest water with as much line off the reel as possible. Not because that's where the fish neccessarily are, but because that's where/how it's the most challenging to catch them.

Canal jigging can wreck your gear and wreck you, but DAMN it's fun.

And BTW, the jig guys are some funny dudes to hang with.

Talk about strength training. That's big gear and heavy lifting but the proof is in the pudding and knowing Slip as well as I do and seeing the results that is a fishery to be considered. Not for the faint of heart.

I have sat up above a couple times and watched the proceedings. I would have to go to the gym for a month or two or maybe a stint at Parris Island in fat bodies would get me ready. Good stuff though and it is a funny crowd too.

Top water is where it's for me.

I love live bait, seeing the baitfish try to fly does it for me

To me there is nothing like a decent bass smashing a topwater plug in the very early morning.........just like heaven i imagine:hihi:

Im with BackBeach being results oriented, whatever works best.
I like catching better than casting

i love plug fishing. there's something about working a plug and figuring out how the fish want it that is way more appealing to me than throwing an eel. lately i've only been carrying a few plugs and they vary from spot to spot but for the most part my bag consists of a blurple SS bottle with siwash and feathers, 2 needles(2oz habs eel and a black SS), black mambo and bomber(i like each in different situations), 5 9" black slug-gos, and a beat up MAC danny. in the front pocket i keep 4,5,and 6" storms.

any time out is good for me now.. if I had my druthers, it would be needles at night from the sand, everytime.

I love the take of an eel, especially when its a nice fish, that saunters off slowly and then you set the hook and the drag screams....
topwater is great too, especially at dawn when its FAC.

Plugs all the way, more specifically fishing big wood swimmers in a boulder field, disect each and every rock and you will find fish.

Wading or taking the kayak and fishing the breachways & channels running through the salt ponds has to be my favorite. Working a 7.5” Fin-S or shad body on a lead head down into the holes has been producing nice fish all year. Also fishing the rocks and white water with slug-o’s and swimmers, probably be doing a lot more of that this fall.

1. Jigging the canal, although I think is more about my attachment to the place than the method of fishin.

2. unloaded redfins. Something special about them to me

It is awfully tempting to drift a bunker where I am. Especially since they are often to thick to swim aplug through without snaggin or to get a jig underneath. But I resist. NIce conundrum to have :love:

Fishing plugs from a boat along a rocky shoreline with a nice drop off and a good current flow ... especially when the bait is packed into the rocks ...

live baiting pogies and seeing them do the circle of deat swim as a big bass is about to explode on it like someone dropping a bath tub in the water

Right now for me, its all about jigging the canal.

It's that first part of the fight when you have a good fish on and she's out in the middle & down in the rocks, and she makes that first run. And you can feel the weight of the fish, and she's taking line even though the drags almost locked down. And she finally stops, and you get her turned sideways in the current, and you settle into that brief stalemate, where neither of you can do what you want. And the currents just ripping 4+, and just holding that fish is work. It's that moment where you either get her headed in, or she gets her head turned and keeps going. God I love that..

I am proud of you Flap! See you soon.


Boulders, Bubble Weed, and Bass

Bubbleweed has a somewhat appropriate scientific name of Fucus Vesiculosus. (Authors note: I did a double take when I first read its proper name as it is exactly how surf fishermen feel when losing plugs in it.)


There are many different environments when surf casting for striped bass; sand beaches, gravel bars, inlets, jetties, shelf rock, etc. Perhaps the most challenging to a surf caster is fishing boulder fields. Boulder fields with their accompanying bubbleweed (also called pop weed) provide striped bass with forage such as crabs, lobsters, eels, and various bait fish.
Besides providing cover for bait fish, boulders also make hooking and landing bass a challenge. This same structure will eat your plugs and provide cutoff opportunities for a hooked striper. Factor into this equation fields of bubbleweed and you’ll find most novice casters frustrated when fishing boulder fields. Losing plugs, some costing over $20 apiece hurts, especially when attached to a cow bass.

Excerpt of an article waiting for an interested website.

DZ

DZ

what line and leader specs do you use for such areas?

Thank you,
Mike

Favorite would be topwater, like seeing the smash. But I like catching better, so jigs and eels are what I'm throwing 95% of the time

I enjoy wading in moderate surf and fishing rocky bars and holes. I really like to be in the water when I fish. Like most, I enjoy the "hit" when using plugs, but there is always a voice in me that says I should be using eels if I want to get bigger fish. I get bored using eels when there is no action.

Dennis looking forward to the next week.

All good stuff, diversity not only is good for the family of man but the family of Striper nutz too.

Everyone has thier fav methodology but all connected to the same goal. There are more ways than one to screw in a lightbulb.

As for the canal, I always loved jigging there but even more so since going to 50lb. braid several years back. Wow, the hit nearly tears the rod out of your hand and you can detect the slightest take no matter how hard the tide is running.

Topwater plugging is great too. When the bass comes up and hits the thing and then proceeds to slap it's tail several times before sounding and the fight is on, way coool.

Needles at night on a lonely sand beach looking to the eastern horizon and Spain ( or is it Portugal?) I hear you Karl.

And I must admit, even though it's not on the top of my list, seeing a pogie with it's head out of the water doing the shimmy of death and you can see the terrified look of hopelessness. And then the "pop" sound and the water hissing as the bubbles come to the surface is pretty neat.

Keep them coming!:btu:

I never met a fishing method I didn't like. If ALL ways were equally as productive I'd take throwing my own wood hands down.

DZ

what line and leader specs do you use for such areas?

Thank you,
Mike

Mike - another excerpt.

When fishing in this environment it is wise to use heavy duty tackle. A nine to ten foot rod with lots of back bone is ideal. A matched reel loaded with at least 20 pound line will allow you to put the screws to large bass that want to run into the various rock and weed snags prevalent in these areas. This is not finesse fishing – there is no room for light tackle unless you want to lose plugs. Bass are in these areas to feed and will readily hit your offering if presented properly. You have to be ready to yank them out of the structure.

I personally use Big Game 20 lb mono. Heavy mono leader 50-60 lb.

DZ

top water on pencil poppers:jump:

Early spring.. High noon... glass calm water and metal liped swimmers..... the explosions are like god dropped a cinderblock from the heavens.

Love fishing my eels, but they swim sub surface so i miss the hit- I am topwater junky.

Dynamite.

#1 working a spook ,, I like when they miss it and just keep getting more and more pissed. I know stop and let them hit it ,, too much fun watching the explosions .

#2 a needle .. big fish like them ..

When I fished bait, for a challenge,, I use to like to go with nothing ,, some 1 1/4 ounce jiggs,,sabita fly rigs ,, Forage your own bait from shore then fish for bass . At worst dig some sea clams at the low water line .

I try to remember the old dry fly /wet fly snobbery.. At one time all fishers fished a dry fly on top . When the wet fly came out people who fished it were looked down upon by the purist . To each his own,,, I like what I'm doing now ,, who knows what I'll be doing in a couple of years .. I only look down my nose at" poachers and pigs "

Dynamite.

1/4, 1/2 or full stick?

Wood! Its all I have thrown all year is my handmades! There is nothing like it....swimmers, poppers, needles, jointeds.....its the best!:kewl:

5 gal bucket , 12 pack of beer , 6 bunker to be chunked into small pieces catchem bigum fish sticks

Mike - another excerpt.

When fishing in this environment it is wise to use heavy duty tackle. A nine to ten foot rod with lots of back bone is ideal. A matched reel loaded with at least 20 pound line will allow you to put the screws to large bass that want to run into the various rock and weed snags prevalent in these areas. This is not finesse fishing – there is no room for light tackle unless you want to lose plugs. Bass are in these areas to feed and will readily hit your offering if presented properly. You have to be ready to yank them out of the structure.

I personally use Big Game 20 lb mono. Heavy mono leader 50-60 lb.

DZ


Thank you sir! I have a few setups that will do.

Mike

I am results oriented, not caring much as to what the fish are caught on as long as the results are positive. :


But I like catching better, so jigs and eels are what I'm throwing 95% of the time


I like catching better than casting
:buds: :skulz:

Dynamite.


i hope clammer reads this :smokin:

I'm with the catching crowd so it's whatever they happen to be on. Location and conditions will usually dictate this. I love hooking up and the hookset and nothing beats a screaming drag. I enjoy fishing most anything but it's hard not to get a little extra riled up seeing a nice fish rise up to tail slap or breach the surface like a trident to inhale a topwater.

Bringing back a loaded Redfin or Gold Chrome Bomber so slow that my hand is hardly moving. These plugs do work pretty well in my conditions. When I fish- I try to minimize what can go wrong so as not to spoil the Karma or the inner peace I get. These plugs are pretty fool proof and if I lose one its $6. I get to load them and switch out the hooks so I kind of feel I am plug building a little.

BUT---I am going to Cuttyhunk next weekend and I am will be throwing some beastly wood including some Bassmaster dannys and needles that I have have been saving for a few years because the karma I want is the karma of catching an fu***in moose - Lets go.

flip..... i think i,m going gay for you... my favorite sound is the sound of the cash reg. at the fish market, as i drop my catch on the concrete floor.....the thrill is in the sell not the catch....WOW

I say it everytime I'm asked; a beer, a chair, and a chunk of mackerel at the canal.:gu:

it's all good.....
it is the hit and set for me.......eels, plugs, sluggos, storms.....whatever they want...I like catchin'
nite time is the right time:devil:

90% of the time it is eels the rest is plugs even thou I throw eels I would never use any other bait for stripers dosent make sense but that is the way it is plugs or eels thats it and I love them both equally.

Livelining scup/pogie is a blast. I think a pogie is proably the best bait but not as hardy to keep alive,, and come summer pogies are very hard to find. Theres nothing like feeling of vibration through braid... of a nervous fish being chased. I think the bass nails the bait to disorient it before she takes it down, you can tell evrything thats going on down there before the fish is hooked.
Another big reason I luv this style fishing is because its middle of the day, the sun is high and when that bass comes up you get to see it in its natural state still swimming and all those awsome colors. It just never gets old.

5 oz jig. 300 ft of 60lb wire. no leader.

jig by hand, and get my shoulder ripped by a good fish.

Wire is an art unto itself (and I seem to suck at surf fishing).

1)Paddling my kayak 10' (or less) from the crashing waves on my local rocky ledges and tossing my homemade Akespook into the whitewater.

Worked great this AM!

2) Standing in the surf .