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What is the best bait for striper fishing?
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Bunker and Herring as Striped Bass Baits
Bunker (also known pogies or alewives or, properly as menhaden) are probably the number-one most common bait used for stripers, and herring aren’t far behind. We’re lumping these two types of fish together because they’re extremely similar and usually are equally effective.
What is the best time of day to fish for stripers?
I prefer dusk. I like to arrive at my spot one or two hours before sunset. Stripers get very active around this time of day and this is your best chance to hook a bigger bass.
What month is best to catch striper?
Striped Bass will start to move into the Red and Washita Rivers to spawn. April can be the best live-bait fishing month, but swimbaits and underspins will catch Striper too. Striper will school up around these river channels to feed, then run upstream to spawn.
What is the best bait for striper fishing? – Related Questions
What time of day do stripers bite?
The best time of day to catch striped bass is early morning from dawn until about 2 hours after sunrise and late afternoon from 2 hours before sunset until dusk. Fishing for striped bass can be even better in the hours before a major cold front or rain event arrives.
What depth do striped bass eat?
Stripers prefer to feed in shallow water or in the upper one-third of the water column. They move to the most shallow water under the cover of darkness to feed on unsuspecting forage fish. Feeding continues as they move back toward deeper water when daylight replaces night.
What is the best weather for striper fishing?
Striper fishing begins to take off when water temperatures hit the 48- to 50-degree mark. Ideal water temperatures for striper fishing are between 50 and 70 degrees. Bass can be caught during the winter in places where they ‘holdover’, until their biological instincts take over, telling them to migrate north.
Is striper fishing better at high or low tide?
During the early and late season when the water temperatures are on the cool side (50 degrees and less), the outgoing tide will be the preferred tide. This is because the lower water temperature will cause the striper’s metabolism to be sluggish and the bass will not feed as often or travel as far for a meal.
Do stripers bite in cold weather?
Though feeding may slow down when the water drops below 50 degrees, stripers can still be caught on the coldest days of the coldest winter – just don’t forget to bundle up before you start pounding the coastline for these wonderful sport fish.
So, every two weeks we either have a new or full moon. In my opinion, as a boating angler, the full moon and new moon both produce better striper fishing, and it’s the increased current flow during these times that is the key to this success.
What color attracts striped bass?
No matter how surfcasters discovered that yellow is a killer color for striped bass lures, the fact remains, if you don’t have a wide selection of yellow plugs, you aren’t catching as many striped bass as you could be.
What scent attracts striped bass?
In recent years, casters dunking bloodworms at the Jersey Shore for early season stripers have been dosing their baits with FIN-essence natural scents, often the bunker, clam or shedder crab extracts; and for those soaking sands for flatties, it might be worth a little soak time as well.
What attracts striped bass?
Stripers are attracted to currents because they have thick, muscular bodies that allow them to overwhelm prey in even the strongest waters. Examples range from a small culvert (channel) to a large tidal river. If it empties into the ocean, it’s probably attracting stripers.
What are stripers favorite food?
Striped bass eat a variety of foods, including fish such as alewives, flounder, sea herring, menhaden, mummichogs, sand lance, silver hake, tomcod, smelt, silversides, and eels, as well as lobsters, crabs, soft clams, small mussels, sea worms, and squid.
Do striped bass feed on the bottom?
Striped bass are no exception to bass bottom-feeding behaviors, favoring insects, worms, and crustaceans. Like white bass, mostly juvenile striped bass are typically found closer to the bottom, but all will opportunistically and seasonally (in the winter) feed the bottom.
Grass shrimp flies (lower right) or soft plastic imitations work nicely as imitation grass shrimp when targeting weakies or stripers on an ebb tide. Grass shrimp are readily available forage for striped bass the year-round.
What size hooks for striped bass?
The size of the circle hook you use for a striped bass rig depends on the size of the bait. For larger baits, like live menhaden (bunker or pogies), an 8/0 circle hook is ideal. For chunk baits and live eels or spot, a smaller 6/0 circle hook will work. Smaller baits, like seaworms, can be rigged on 2/0 circle hooks.
Do you need a sinker for striped bass?
Using a proper size and type sinker is one of the most important striper fishing tips because big finicky spring stripers will often drop a bait when they feel resistance off a sinker dragging along the bottom (which is even more resistance than from the reel clicker).
What size rod is best for striper fishing?
Look for a striper rod that is, ideally, between seven and nine feet in length. You’ll find rods in all lengths, but it’s important to consider your environment before choosing. Length will control how well you can cast as well as how far.
What pound line should I use for striper?
The Solution. Line matters and Captain Mike recommends sticking with 10-pound or 12-pound test. Plus, it makes catching striped bass a lot more fun.