striper/Costal basics

[sayn3ver]

Hi.

I've been FW bass fishing for a few years, got more serious over the past summer. I even bought a kayak and tried my hand once at backwater/inlet jigging but mostly I've been fishing soft plastics, cranks, spinners and some top water on lakes.

In FW, i kinda know what I'm doing when fishing for bass. In the salt, i have no clue what works and what doesn't. Is there a book or webpage that has pictures of different lures and rigs and instruction on how to fish them like on other FW bass pages?

I've found it difficult to get any clear basic fundementals of inlet/bay or even surf fishing on the web. There is so much lingo and slang used its hard to pick up for someone unfamilar.

Links or book recommendations are fine, or any personal experience.

Thanks.

Lance

[snichols]

Lance,

I was strictly a FW bass fisherman for many years, but now I fish exclusively in the salt.

I have found that stripers have many of the same tendencies as large mouth bass. Throw lures similar to what you would on a lake or pond, the main thing is to make sure the hook is made for saltwater. I have changed the hooks on many of my freshwater lures to adapt to the tougher SW conditions.

When fishing the backwater, try jigheads in 1/4-1/2 oz sizes, 1/4 oz spinnerbaits, Zara Spooks, swimming plugs, crankbaits and poppers.

Look for ambush points such as creek mouths, along sodbanks and especially sandbars. Any change in contour/structure will generally hold fish if bait is around.

Keep reading and you will pick up some great tips from the members on here. Good luck this season.

[channel runner]

Lance, I dont know how big your kayak is or if you will be taking it in the surf but I seem to remember a few years back reading about a young man who snagged a bunker in his kayak and had a huge bass take him for a sleigh ride for a few blocks along the beach. I remember him having quite a time getting that bass to the beach after he jumped out of his kayak but he got it to the beach. It was in the newspapers. I think it was a fifty pounder. When the bunker school in the spring right of the beach you might want to give this a try.

[sayn3ver]

the kayak is about 14ft long. I hope for a sleigh ride someday, as that is some of the fun of yak fishing, especially out front where you have a chance of hooking up into something big and fighting it for 20 minutes or more.

I will have to remember that about back water, i already have jigs, spinners, the zara spooks, jitter bugs, poppers, for fresh water (what size cranks/topwater should i carry, i mostly have ones gears towards 2lb-3lb LM bass haha as thats about the size of them in local lakes or less.

Can i fish senko type stick baits under docks and such like in FW?

Also i see a lot of speak about those blue and white topwater things(i forget the name) and bucktails (jighead with like white or yellow fur on the hook, correct?). How do i fish those?

On a non striper topic, when i did go inshore fishing last, i brought 1/4 and 1/2 size jigs and various gulp baits that were on sale (shrimp, those shads and some smaller minnows) and had fun catching some smaller seabass? and those little bait stealing jobs(silver and i think blue on top?). We ran into a blitz of blues but I only had 1 rod that day and when i switch over to a silver spoon i missed my chance. Its hard for me to guage when i go to stock up on gear what size i need to bring in the salt as I have like zero experience on sizes and weights.

[fishypete]

Use your knowledge of FW and apply it to SW. Tops on your list should be a-salt bombers, x-raps, smack-it jrs, mirrolures. Yellow or chartruse seems to always work. Do not underestimate the simple 1/4-3/4oz leadhead and gulp, fin-s, or bassassasin combo. A simple 1/2 oz white bucktail w/ a pork trailer will work wonders too. These lures need to be work much slower when fishing for stripers. Sometimes to a crawl. Remember to alway cast upcurrent and work it back toward you. The dept and current will dictate the wieght of the jig but 1/2oz is always a good starting point in the back.

[sayn3ver]

another gear question.

I've been using green powerpro line in 20lb test to fish plastics in heavy cover.


I was thinking of picking up some red powerpro in 10lb weight for fishing back inlets, too light?

Also, is line visibilty usually an issue with flounder/bluefish and other local fishes in NJ. Our water isn't exactly gin clear like the tropics so I dunno if line visibilty plays a big role here. I prefer powerpro over anything else I have fished so far(different mono's and different braids) but I have not fished a straight flurocarbon line yet, although i dislike it's brittleness properties when used as a leader material (in reguards to the seaguard product but maybe I am tying the wrong knot, although I wet all my knots).

[Kevinj]

Hi.

I've been FW bass fishing for a few years, got more serious over the past summer. I even bought a kayak and tried my hand once at backwater/inlet jigging but mostly I've been fishing soft plastics, cranks, spinners and some top water on lakes.

In FW, i kinda know what I'm doing when fishing for bass. In the salt, i have no clue what works and what doesn't. Is there a book or webpage that has pictures of different lures and rigs and instruction on how to fish them like on other FW bass pages?

I've found it difficult to get any clear basic fundementals of inlet/bay or even surf fishing on the web. There is so much lingo and slang used its hard to pick up for someone unfamilar.

Links or book recommendations are fine, or any personal experience.

Thanks.

Lance


Lance,

With a kayak in the ocean, probably the best time is June to mid July
when the bunker are in close between Holgate to Asbury Park.
You can get 30 lbers 30 feet from shore. I like Holgate in the beginning
of June, Asbury Park in the beginning of July. You can find place which
are easy to put it.
With bunker, you can snag, then rehook around the school, but an easier
method is to use weighted snag hooks, cast over, snag bunker, let it sit,
weight will pull the bunker down below the school, usually where the
bass are looking for injured fish.
early morning or late evening are usually best.
If the bass are rolling on the bunker on top, switch to poppers.

A good pair of binocs are essential, along BLI, check every few blocks
for bunker jumping from being attacked by bass

Kevin