striper novice

[double bogey]

I'm new to the Barn, new to the area and relatively new to striper fishing. I'll be fishing out of Ocean City N.J. so anything from Barnegat to Cape May is within my range. Anyone have any tips for trolling stripers in the spring? Any preference for umbrella rigs, deep diving plugs or any other method that seems to work in these waters? Also I've heard a lot about drift fihing in the Cape May rips. Is this productive in the spring or is strictly a fall technique. Any help or advice would be geatly appreaciated.

[striper2278]

The rips are very productive in the spring! Bucktailing is the key! Use a 1oz white buktail with a strip of fresh mackeral.(April)

Later in the spring...switch to live herring!(May)

[roadrider352]

hey double bogey, welcome, I am new here also. you asked the same thing I was going to you just did it a few hours before me...now for the rest of the questions about stripers...I know flounder and fluke are bottom feeders and like to ambush while lying in the mud...how do stripers act? do they stay closer to the top, bottom, or anywhere in between? I know this must sound dumb, this will be my first striper season...thanks, looking forward to any replies Frank

[FISH TALE]

Roadrider, Striped Bass feed close to the bottom also. They love to be around structure. The Cape May Rips for example. The Bass will hang behind a rise in the ocean bottom which creates the Rip. As your bait comes over the structure and drops down to where the bass are, they will hit it. Bucktailing in the spring around the Cape May Rips is very productive. Its the way to go. In the fall we will use live eels and also bucktails. For bucktailing in the fall we use 1oz. bucktail with a chartruse twister tail. When using live eels in the fall. I use a 5/0 circle hook with a 3ft leader attached to a 1 or 1 1/4oz. trolling weight attached to the line. As far as trolling. I have only trolled for Bass in the fall and have used umberella rigs and stretch 25's and have caught fish on both. Keep your eyes open to the sky. Once in a while in the fall the Bass will push the bait to the surface and you can cast just about any kind of plug and catch them on the top water.

[roadrider352]

Fish Tale, thanks for the Info, should fresh bait be added? like a strip of squid or bunker?. I bought my first boat last June, it's a 22 foot trophy W/A with a 150 merc O/B, I only had it out 4 times last year. I was told not to go to the rips with a small boat, how much truth is in that?
Frank

[RodFather]

double bogey & Roadrider welcome to the Bassbarn. No dumb questions here, ask anything and you will be sure to get your share of great advice and tips. Fish Tales and Skip gave you some great tips and I am sure there will be more on the way so check back often and good luck!

[Partnership]

Double Bogey- spent quite a few years searching the water on and around OC and Strathmere searching for the stripers.

Didn't really do too good until I moved to Cape May. The rips are awesome in the Spring- but there are plenty of spots in the back bays of OC that will hold bass.

I'd look for a nice drop-off or hole and anchor up and use clam bellies or fresh surf clams to call them in. Use a 5/0 or 6/0 Gammy hook with a fishfinder rig and you are set. Let some clam out every now and again or better yet a ladle full of clam bellies. Also- guys will fish the bridges and sod banks in that area with jigheads and pink finesse. Cast out to the shadow line of a bridge- like the 9th street bride, the Rush Chattam Bridge, or the toll bridge, and slow retrive the jig. It's a lot of fun.

As far as trolling in the Spring- I don't hear much about it in the ocean- but I know I've trolled in the back bays with that bucktail and worm combo and have trolled up some stripers as well as weakies. Bucktail Willie can add a lot to this and I'm sure others will as well. Feel free to email me if I can be of any further help to you.

Good luck!

[ 03-05-2005, 08:50 PM: Message edited by: Partnership ]

[Ron Redington]

Double Bogey,

I can see already that you're gonna luv this place smile.gif

Welcome to our community!

[FISH TALE]

Roarider, When I'm bucktailing in the spring for Bass I use Mackeral. If you haven't caught it fresh yourself the second choice is to get it from the tackle shop. The fresher it is the better. Fillet the Maceral,then cut strips lenght wise so each strip is about as wide as your finger and about 6" or 7" long. Put that strip right on your bucktail. In the fall for bucktailing I just use the plastic twister tail in chartruse. Nothing else with it. Personally I've never used squid for bass bait. Frank, the new boat sounds great!! As far as taking it into the rips. You would probably be ok on a nice day. Not too much wind. When the rips are a bit quiet. But if there is some wind and the swell on the rips is pretty big, don't do it. It can be a very nasty place. Check out the conditions before you get committed. It seems like every year some guys will get in trouble on the rips because they put the boat some place it shouldn't have been. Boats have been dumped over.

[nospot2fsh]

Welcome aboard Double Bogey and roadrider. This is a great place for questions and answers.

[Sterling Harbor]

Welcome, guys!

[roadrider352]

Fish Tale, again thanks for the info, being a novice boater and angler, I think I will take you advise and for the time being stay clear of the rips for a while. At least until I am a little more sure about my boat handling skills. I think there is plenty of fun to be had in the bay for a while...Frank

[roadrider352]

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome...
Frank

[TheAdamBomb]

Welcome aboard, guys! We'll see ya' down in the rips! :D

[WizWit]

If you want to learn about the rips...Adam(Adam Bomb) and Skip(Stalker) are the 2 top anglers down there to ask in working that area. Good luck.