• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

Humminbird Fish Finder Reviews

Humminbird Fish Finder Reviews - Professional Fish Finders For Any Angler

Ad example
  • Home
  • Best Hummingbird Fish Finders
  • Best Humminbird Fish Finders Under $500
  • Reviews
    • Humminbird ION
    • Humminbird ONIX Series
    • Humminbird HELIX 12 Series
    • Humminbird HELIX 10 Series
    • Humminbird HELIX 9 Series
    • Humminbird HELIX 7 Series
    • Humminbird HELIX 5 Series
    • Humminbird 1100 Series
    • Humminbird 900 Series
    • Humminbird 800 Series
    • Humminbird 700 Series
    • Humminbird 600 Series
    • Humminbird 500 Series
    • Humminbird 300 Series
    • Humminbird PiranhaMax Series
    • Fishin’ Buddy Series
    • Humminbird Ice
  • Fish Finder Tips
  • Fishing Tips

How To Catch Striped Bass – Tackle for Stripers

March 10, 2014 by Lucius

Striped Bass by Nils RinaldiStriped bass are anadromous fish, meaning they migrate to fresh water to spawn. They typically have an average size of 2-3 ft. (10-30lb. weight), which places them on quite a high position of U.S. game fish. They’re actually the top game fish for quite a few states, Maryland, South Carolina and Rhode Island for fresh water, and New York, Virginia and New Hampshire for salt water.

Regardless where you catch them though, out at sea or on fresh water streams or lakes, striped bass are solid fish, that put quite a fight, being a lot of fun to catch. So, here are a few suggestions regarding bait, lures, tackle and fishing techniques for stripers.

Striped Bass – Habitat and Habits

Stripers are present in most of the East Coast waters, beginning with St. Lawrence River in Canada, and reaching to the northern coast of Florida, and some parts of the Gulf of Mexico. There are also many fisheries hosting striped bass, and you’ll find a complete list of them, here.

When it comes to the places they prefer, we can safely say that they inhabit the coast surf, inshore bars, tide rips, estuaries, reefs and bays. They are highly active in places with tidal and current flows, and in the wash breaking waves. They roam in small schools, and their feeding activity is more intense at dusk and dawn. In midsummer however, they tend to become more nocturnal, and there’s a good chance to get better results on striped bass when night fishing.

Fishing Techniques for Striped Bass

Stripers can be caught in various ways. One of the most popular fishing methods for striped bass is surf fishing. Every year, the shores of the Northeast coast are crowded with anglers, practicing surf fishing and targeting stripers. The ones caught via this method typically weight between 10 and 30 pounds. Similar to surf fishing, another method is fishing from docks, piers and bridges, which also requires heavy duty gear.

Stripers can also be caught with top water lures, however this technique fits best to white water conditions. On lakes, jigging or actively fishing with lures for various depths can be very productive.

And finally, two other methods used for stripers are trolling, using heavier gear and various baits and lures, and down-dropping from a boat. When out at sea, whether you’re stationary or trolling, a fish finder of higher performance, such as a Humminbird 600 series, can be a lot of help, in fishing for stripers.

Baits and Lures for Stripers

Although about 90% of the striped bass’ diet consists of fish, they are opportunisc predators, and will grab whatever looks tasty. A wide array of baits can be used to catch striped bass, such as shad, herring, bunkers (or menhaden), anchovies, bloodworms, nightcrawlers, sandworms or even chicken livers or beef liver strips.

Live or cut bait will always get you bites, if the fish are feeding, so for this matter, just about any fish strips should do. I usually go with cut herring or bunkers. Shrimp, clams and squid are also not bad. When it comes to live bait, especially in midsummer, one of the most popular and productive is the eel. However, any of the bait fish mentioned above will work pretty nicely, when presented live and kicking.

Lures can also produce excellent results on stripers, but in this case you have to think big. Among poppers, a few great lures to try on striped bass are Gibbs Pencil or Gibbs Polaris, Super Strile Little Neck, Atom Striper Striker or Yo-zuri Surface Cruisers. Other great lures would be Lunker Slug-GOs, Tsunami Swim Shads, Point Jude Tins. An important aspect about using lures for striped bass, is that sometimes they tend to become rather picky, and when they enter this lure-pickiness mode, it’s best to go with lures that strictly imitate fish, or switch to cut or live bait.

Tackle for Striped Bass

Rods. For surf, bridge of pier fishing, evidently you should be looking for some surf rods, in general terms, something between 9′-12′, heavy action. A few recommendations would be the Shakespeare Ugly Stik Bigwater Spinning Rod or an Okuma Longitude – these rods fitting under the “El Cheapo” category. Or, you can aim for a Daiwa Saltiga Surf Spinning Rod or Tsunami Airwave.

For freshwater fishing, especially with lures, medium power, fast action rods within a 6’7″ – 8′ lenght range, are more appropriate. A good example would be an Abu Garcia Vengeance (another “El Cheapo”).

If you’re looking for a good trolling rod, a Shimano TDR Heavy Trolling Rods are never a bad choice.

Reels. A good reel choice for a Shakespeare surf rod stick would be the Okuma Coronado CD-80a. Penn 320GT or a Shimano Torium 30 are excellent pairings for a trolling rod. Whatever you do, don’t go for a reel with less than a 250 yards of 25lb test line capacity, if trolling or surf fishing.

For lighter tackle, a Penn Battle BTL5000 or Shimano Stradic 5000 (or even smaller), should do just fine.

Line. The best fitting line for striped bass fishing falls within the 20-40lb. test range. Most anglers go with monofilament. However, if fishing in deep waters, braided line may be a better choice. It’s stronger and less stretchy. Also, when fishing in very clear water, fluorocarbon may be a better choice, since it’s not visible.

Rigs. Many anglers use the simple freelining rig when fishing with bigger live bait, which simply consists of a hook at the end of the line, with a live shad or bunker on it, allowing it to swim as freely as possible. Carolina or fish finder rigs are also popular. It’s best though, that the leader is a 3-foot, 40lb. test fluorocarbon, if possible.

Hooks. Circle hooks are maybe the best choice for stripers, and Mustad are pretty cheap and effective. Depending on what (other) fish you’re targeting, and what bait you use, you should go with circle hooks between 7/0 and 11/0.

Photo courtesy to Nils Rinaldi / source: flickr.com

Filed Under: Fishing Tips Tagged With: Bait for Striped Bass, How To Catch Striped Bass, Lures for Striped Bass, Striped Bass Tackle

Primary Sidebar

Search

Categories

  • Humminbird HELIX 5 Series
  • Fish Finder Tips
  • Humminbird HELIX 7 Series
  • Humminbird 1100 Series
  • Humminbird HELIX 9 Series
  • Humminbird 900 Series
  • Humminbird HELIX 10 Series
  • Humminbird 800 Series
  • Humminbird HELIX 12 Series
  • Humminbird 700 Series
  • Humminbird 500 Series
  • Humminbird 300 Series
  • Fishing Tips
  • Humminbird PiranhaMax Series
  • Humminbird Fishin' Buddy Series
  • Best Hummingbird Fish Finders
  • Humminbird Ice
  • Humminbird 600 Series
  • Humminbird ONIX Series
  • Humminbird ION
  • Facebook
  • GitHub
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

More to See

Humminbird Fish Finder HELIX 5 CHIRP GPS G3 Review

June 12, 2022 By Lucius

Humminbird Fish Finder HELIX 5 CHIRP DI GPS G3 Review

June 11, 2022 By Lucius

Humminbird Fish Finder HELIX 7 CHIRP SI GPS G2 Review

March 10, 2017 By Lucius

Humminbird Fish Finder HELIX 7 CHIRP MEGA SI GPS G4N Review

June 25, 2022 By Lucius

Humminbird Fish Finder HELIX 7 CHIRP MEGA SI GPS G4 Review

June 22, 2022 By Lucius

Footer

As An Amazon Associate, I Earn From Qualifying Purchases.

HummingbirdFishfinderReviews.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Recent

  • Humminbird Fish Finder ICE HELIX 7 CHIRP GPS G4 All-Season Review
  • Humminbird Fish Finder HELIX 7 CHIRP MEGA SI GPS G4N Review
  • Humminbird Fish Finder HELIX 7 CHIRP MEGA SI GPS G4 Review
  • Humminbird Fish Finder HELIX 7 CHIRP MEGA DI GPS G4N Review
  • Humminbird Fish Finder HELIX 7 CHIRP MEGA DI GPS G4 Review

Search

Copyright © 2023 · Magazine Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in