Best striper bait in the bay is..?

[rz6yf]

Here's the question: what is the best bait for striped once? I always thought live eel is, but a lot of guys mentioned clams... Or... having them both won't hurt?
Is the regular top/buttom rig will work good enough?(always used that).
Good luck to everyone this season!

[Luna-tik]

Depends on the tide, time of day, location and what the fish want.
My biggest bass come from eels hands down.
Then comes spot.
You want numbers and a nice size bass every once and a while, then lots of clams + bellys, chum chum chum location location location..
Plugs for me win on just numbers. I've had 37 solo in just a few hours. But thats only 25% keepers, largest went 33" that night.

Moral of the story, Bring everything ;)

Luna-tik.

[Joseph Lamberty]

I agree with LOONEY on that one, if you want a Big Bass, Go with a Big Plug or Live Bunker is good too,..I fish L.B.I. both surf and from my 20 ft Grady White. My Biggest Bass came on a Bunker Spoon trolled at about 1.5 Knts off of Harvey Cedars...RZ6YF... I never use a top and Bottom Rig for stripers I like a single 7.0-9.0 Octopus or Circle hook with atleast an 18 inch leader with a fish finder weight,..

[Luna-tik]

I agree with LOONEY on that one, if you want a Big Bass, Go with a Big Plug or Live Bunker is good too,..I fish L.B.I. both surf and from my 20 ft Grady White. My Biggest Bass came on a Bunker Spoon trolled at about 1.5 Knts off of Harvey Cedars...RZ6YF... I never use a top and Bottom Rig for stripers I like a single 7.0-9.0 Octopus or Circle hook with atleast an 18 inch leader with a fish finder weight,..

If I chunk with bunker its only the head, it does produce larger fish then clams thats for sure. Never tired a bunker spoon on the troll but I like umbrella rigs trolled down deep. I never use a top bottom rig either, fish finder all the way. 6/0-9/0 Octopus/circles. I prefer egg sinkers above the barrell. 18" is good for most setups, I like 4+ feet when drowin' eels.

Luna-tik.

[Joseph Lamberty]

I never used eels on the beach,...seems they are pretty slimey,..no need to add the sand to the mix.....getting the salt off the reels is enough work for me, on the boat its okay and I use the egg sinkers on the boat too,..but thats because of the heavier mono. Egg sinkers on braid wears the protective coating off too quickly.On the Beach I use braid and hardly ever use a shock leader...

[Joseph Lamberty]

LOONEY ever use a duo snap and swivel Tie your leader to the swivel use the duo snap and attach it to The line after you have casted only the surf weight out..the Live Bunker will swim down the line,... when the bass picks him up he feels little resistance If bunker are in the surf I snag and switch them over to the pre casted setup.Live is always better especially one stessed from being snagged it doesn t last long..before something slams it..

[Hersh]

Live bunker is a great bait, but if not available I use bunker chunks or clam. Have never used eels on LBI but I have been wanting to try at night. I'd imagine they'd work well bayside. I don't use top-bottom rigs anymore, never seemed to catch any big ones.

[Marine Tom]

Delaware Bay?

Spring = fresh clam on a fishfinder rig.

Fall = fresh bunker chunks on a fishfinder rig.

[Reel Nice]

Bunker is KING on the Delaware Bay in the fall..Fresh bunker chunks are the only way to go if you want to catch big bass...

[rz6yf]

Thanks to all who replaid! I got the idea.
Thanks a lot!