No two seasons are exactly alike, and so far 2017 has been one of the strangest for striped bass that I can recall in recent memory. From that early 64-pounder landed back on May 16 in Buzzards Bay, to a Long Island Sound spring run that almost failed to materialize, fishing for our friend the striped bass has been difficult to figure out so far. With that said, even in the strangest of years July usually produces rather predictable fishing as fish finally begin to settle into their summer haunts, and resident fish patterns eventually develop.
I like July and August for large striped bass both by surf and boat. Despite the common belief in the summer doldrums, I find striper fishing in this timeframe to be somewhat easy. Baitfish—bunker in recent years across Southern New England—is pretty much in its place and shouldn’t move all that much. Even as the inshore waters feel more like a bath than the ocean, it is quite common to find adult bunker rolling around in your local harbor or marina. While it is likely going to be difficult to find them under the noonday sun in the shallows, return in the off-hours well after the sun has set and you’ll likely be able to find all the bait you need in short order for a tide’s worth of chunking or live lining.
If you set out too late in the morning to find bunker there is still the chance to find a rogue school by day as happened to me several years ago near Orient Point, NY with Capt. Pat Renna. After trolling a tube and worm for a few hours with a bunch of fish to show for it, we were beginning to make our way back to the boat launch in Niantic, CT. We were about a half mile off the Orient lighthouse when one of us noticed an osprey hovering over a large, dark patch of water. Upon further inspection it turned out to be a school of adult bunker with some slammer blues feeding from below. We proceeded to snag and drop bunker after bunker to fish well into the teens until we were too tired to keep at it any longer. While this example resulted only in a catch of large bluefish for me, I am sure that had I been willing to work down below the school of bait I would have found some striped bass.
The Night Game
If you’re not fishing by night then you’re not fishing right. By and large the best shot you’re going to have at oversized striped bass—the ones that you don’t measure to see if they are keepers but instead weigh to see if they are your new personal best—is going to be well after the sun has set.
If you surf fish then the night game should already be tops of your list. Honestly, I am not sure why more people don’t fish at night in the summer. I’d much rather be out in July at midnight than noon if for no other reason than the tranquility and cooler air temperatures to be found. While your local beach is likely over-run with sunbathers and tourists at lunch time, return to that same spot 12 hours later and aside from the fish you are only likely to encounter the occasional raccoon or teenage couple getting romantic. Even though some fine fish are landed in the day, your odds are much higher to go large if you fish by night. In general you’re not likely to be alone on that prime drift on a Friday or Saturday night, but when the tides line up right for a mid-week outing then I strongly urge you to start planting the seeds at work for a sick day following an all-nighter.
Live eels are the simplest and most easy baits for the surf fisherman to acquire, but if you have access to bunker then there is no shame in using them. However, there are times when conditions simply do not make fishing with bait the best option like the night when a thunderstorm rumbles past bringing with it big surf and a wind in your face. Such was the case last July when Rhode Island Field Editor, John Hanecak set out for a night in the surf. Dirty water, pounding waves, intermittent rain and a strong southwest wind forced him to fish plugs on a night when I opted to sleep in place of a night fighting the conditions. I awoke the next morning to a text from John with a photo of the 54-pound striped bass he had fooled on one of his metal-lip swimmers. I was happy for his success but I was also kicking myself for passing on a night when I knew I should have fished. When the weather pattern abruptly changes, hit the salt!
Fishing By Day
Okay, so maybe your life commitments don’t allow for regular midnight hunts, then what? Well, all is not lost although it is not the best-case scenario. Fish when conditions are most favorable or when an opportunity presents itself. This could mean fishing when the weather turns sour or finding an advantageous bait scenario like I stumbled upon a few years ago in the Canal.
I had made plans to meet with Fisherman Field Editor, Dave Anderson. My timing was somewhat random but Dave said things could be productive as herring fry were dropping out of the local runs, and mackerel were feeding on them which in-turn were being fed upon by stripers. We chose a spot down-current of a herring run and began casting right around daybreak. For the next few hours we were into a steady pick of schoolies to 20-pound fish. They came in waves as mackerel schools moved past our location. Sometime around mid-morning I flipped a Sebile Stick Shad into the vicinity of a school of macks and the water erupted as a large striped bass inhaled my lure. It took me well down the rocks, interrupting my fellow anglers as I went, but I eventually landed a 42-pound striped bass. This goes to show you that there is no bad time to fish as you never know what might happen.
(Photo by Paul
Santa Barbara)
Another good option for daytime striper fishing in the summer is to troll a tube and worm. This can be extremely effective from both a boat as well as a kayak, but if you held a gun to my head and made me tell you with the utmost confidence exactly why the tube and worm rig is so productive I’d be in trouble. That aside there is no denying its uncanny ability to pull large striped bass by day. And what’s even stranger is how it can do so in some rather skinny water. I won’t get into the finer points of tube and worm fishing here today, but I will say that it’s well worth adding to your arsenal if daytime fishing in the summer is in your game plan!
