couple of back bay striper tips

[BUCKTAIL WILLIE]

Bass are still in back bays but you have to be selective as to how you go after them
Early morning 1 hour before and 1 hour after sunrise surface poppers working,if cloudy day surface poppers will work longer.
after 1 hour go to shallow running plug ,I prefer a Mirror lure work the sod banks for an hour
2 hours after sunrise go deep using bucktails with twister worms,depending on the tide bucktails will work all day
Water temps have been up and down,I've found best bite to be where there is a 2-3 degree break in water temp usually on incoming tide
Also look for surface activity on edges of sand bars,I've seen small bass 20-26" chasing bait right up on the bar
So far it has been a good summer for striped bass catching in southern NJ back bays

[sparse grey]

Willie I agree with all you said except the tide. I had found beginning of out going best for me. While I'm using the flyrod, poppers before sunrise & going deeper, with weighted or un-weighted flies & line changes very similar to you. Nice post by the way.

[NJ Joe]

Willie,
I appreciate your tips. Very nice post. Do you fish from a boat or from the shore? What bays do you fish in most often? I dock in Cape May, so the D Bay and Wildwood area are the most accessible to me. I am interested in learning more about tagging stripers, I noticed your "master tagger" reference in your signature.

[BUCKTAIL WILLIE]

NJ JOE--I fish behind the barrier islands of Cape May county from a boat
You can get information on tagging by going to American Littoral Society website
www.littoralsociety.org (http://www.littoralsociety.org)
click on fish tagging
I've tagged over 11,000 fish (striped bass,fluke,weakfish,sea bsass,bluefish) and have returns from every state from Maine to North Carolina
It is truly amazing how far some of these fish travel

[West Ave Mike]

Thanks for the info Bill. Been getting a few schoolies too when i try for them, in the usual spots. Been doing any eeling? Tried it a couple of times but just got schoolies.

[sjb saxatilis]

thanks willie, my son and I got a few last week at dusk and just after dark along the banks...and a few nasty bigger blue fish, trolling bucktails and storm shads....man do those bass hit those trollin lures HARD! all fish (including blues) were in the 20 to 26 inch range

belated happy birthday!

[JerseyBrian]

Happy belated Bday Willie!!

And great informative post man :) I will definitely trying switching to a sub-surface plug after sunrise like you said.... will report back tomorrow afternoon ;) I love mirrolures as well!!!

[striper twin]

Willie,
ran into you last monday, I was in 16' carolina skiff. Pleased to meet you. We caught 6 stripers 20" to 26". All caught between 9 & 10:30 am. 3 on clam and 3 on frozen herring. High tide was 10:30 am. Paul

[smellinfishy]

Thanks for the tips and I placed a big order of those clips:)

[Reel Nice]

Good tip ..I love the stipers in the AM...

[akozols]

Thanks for the tips, Willie. I only make it out once a week and try to be on a sod bank for either sunset or sunrise. I've been trying poppers during thoses times, but haven't had much luck yet. Hopefully, I have one of those days where they are jumping out of the water after the poppers.

[whatevermakesyouhappy]

Thanks for the tips Willie. I'm in Grassy Sound and would love to hook up with you some day. Still learning about my favorite fish and how to catch 'em. Guys like you and Fred ( Chunking ) help alot.:cool:

[BUCKTAIL WILLIE]

WEST AVE MIKE---- I try eels each morning but bluefish are tearing them up and I quickly get rid of eels
I had a decent morning this morning with 6 bass BUT only one on a popper,fish were breaking the surface but wouldn't hit the popper,switched to Mirror lure and BANG ,3 on Mirror lures.Went to bucktails and got 3 more before quiting around 7am
Intersting note this morning is the bass were NOT on the sodbanks but up on a sand bar as tide was pushing over it
you just never know where they will show up so you need to be flexible and keep an eye out of little wakes on the water

[NJ Joe]

Willie,
Thanks for the link to the American Littoral Society. I sent my membership in today and requested some tags. Now I have to find some resident stripers. I would like to fish with you sometime if you have the opportunty. You are welcome to join me on my boat, or let me know when you will be fishing anywhere near Cape May and I can meet you on the water. Just send an email through the Barn. Thanks again.

[StealthMode]

Bass are still in back bays but you have to be selective as to how you go after them
Early morning 1 hour before and 1 hour after sunrise surface poppers working,if cloudy day surface poppers will work longer.
after 1 hour go to shallow running plug ,I prefer a Mirror lure work the sod banks for an hour
2 hours after sunrise go deep using bucktails with twister worms,depending on the tide bucktails will work all day
Water temps have been up and down,I've found best bite to be where there is a 2-3 degree break in water temp usually on incoming tide
Also look for surface activity on edges of sand bars,I've seen small bass 20-26" chasing bait right up on the bar
So far it has been a good summer for striped bass catching in southern NJ back bays


Totally agree. This has been a great spring/summer season for our pal 'Mr. Pajamas'. I also use a runner near the banks at dusk, and as far as poppin'...it just couldn't get better, but Im still waitin for my biggie on the pop.

Ill have to look out for the sandbar stripers...

Barners,

Enjoy this week...there should be good bass for the rest of the week

SM:cool:

[StealthMode]

Happy belated Bday Willie!!

And great informative post man :) I will definitely trying switching to a sub-surface plug after sunrise like you said.... will report back tomorrow afternoon ;) I love mirrolures as well!!!


You can also try them around like 5 to 7pm all week into the weekend with this tide....before sunset...I wish I could get up that early to hit the sunrise...good luck to ya

SM:cool:

[halfast]

I'm up here in OC on the bay, near Shooting Island. There's a lot of boat traffic around the sod banks here during the day, especially on weekends. Does consititute the kiss of death for hoping to find bass there in the evening or early AM? tx.

[BUCKTAIL WILLIE]

hakast--- I struggle with high traffic also but early morning bite doesn't seem to be affected UNTIL boat traffic gets heavy.
Evenings I find bite starts about 1 hour after the boat traffic dies down,weekends that is after dark
early morning works best for me 1 hr before and 1 hr after daybreak including weekends

[halfast]

hakast--- I struggle with high traffic also but early morning bite doesn't seem to be affected UNTIL boat traffic gets heavy.
Evenings I find bite starts about 1 hour after the boat traffic dies down,weekends that is after dark
early morning works best for me 1 hr before and 1 hr after daybreak including weekends
Thanks for the quick response BW. I haven't done much striper seeking up here. Have been a flounder, weakie, bluefish person in the bay and inlet and on the wrecks for years (following my late father's lead). I've tried to catch stripers a couple times in the evening on topwaters without luck. I need to be a better fisherman to get these big beauties. Time to get serious and put in the hours. tight lines.:D

[MustangFreak1989]

Thanx for the tips i might have to go down saturday