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Hey Big Joe, welcome aboard.
For starters, I'd like to make a couple quick comments on the above post. Herring, is the standard name all over the english speaking world and is probably called something similar in other languages as well. There is a chance that Fairfield residents only refer to this global family of fish as Alewives, but from the Atlantic and the Pacific, at least Americans tend to call them herring. There are several species of herring but we are pretty much concerned with two, the previously mentioned Alewives (when I was a kid on the Chesapeke, I called them always - couldn't pronounce it...) and bluebacks... Pretty much the same fish. Both kinda hard to keep alive. Both visciously assaulted by striped bass, and that's what we want...
If you want the stripers, get a dip net to get them. Get what you will need (as long as it is less than the limit) and focus on keeping them alive to where you will fish them. If you want to go the slow route or enjoy it, you can fish for them as Patric mentions... They look like the photo below and are often caught at state or town run or approved "runs". Typically streams and rivers that they swim up in to spawn in ponds...
You'll need to check with some locals to find where and when you can get them. Typically, you'll need a freshwater license.
Best method for keeping bait alive is an aerated live well. Usually a 30-50 gallon tank (preffereably round) with a pump to recirculate air into the water. You'll also want to keep the water cool, especially on hot days, with a little ice... I have a "Keep-Alive" now that I picked up on Friday... But have had various tanks for a few years...
What I usually do, wade into the herring run area (not a problem with some runs as they catch them for you - don't know about your area) with a dip net, scoop them up and put them into a small 5 gal bucket or "laundry basket". Then when I have some, put them into the livewell. If collecting the herring is very slow, I'll make a few trips as the fish will die off if left in the 5 gal bucket. They need a constant flow of air or they'll die.
The laundry basket is a nifty device used by most shore bound live-liners. You take a larger basket with many small holes (smaller and skinnier than the fish) and prefferably round. You take those long float tube thingys the kids swim with and wrap it around the outside top of the basket which will help the basket float (some also run a skinny ring on the inside to help bouyancy). Secure the float tubing with wire ties or such and fabricate a securable lid with hatch for the top. Sometimes an errant wave can flip the basket and you dont want to lose the fish. Be sure to tie a sturdy rope to the basket as sometimes you secure it to yourself when wading for bass or you'll need to tie it off to some kind of structure to keep it from drifting away. It does need enough water to float or the fish will die and it's recommended to have some moving water through it to keep the fish inside alive... The main thing to remember is that they will stay alive best in cool, high oxygen content water like the live-well or in the water where you will fish them...
When fished, I like to hook them with a 6/0 Mustad through the nose, no weights (or a little like a rubber core) and let them do their own thing... If you do some searches on the board for the last 3 weeks, you'll find several threads on fishing with live herring... You only have a few weeks left to have them in any kind of numbers though...
Hope this helps and again, welcome aboard...
John
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