A short list of back bay striper baits that you might not have in your bag!
When I think of spring, I think of one thing: back bay stripers. Let’s be honest, we all love seeing topwaters getting blasted from below, but the spring is special, because we can do it on a light surf stick, but to maximize your catch, you need to cover the column. Here are some of my favorite lures for backwater stripers.
Heddon Super Spook
If I could just have one type of lure for back bay stripers in the spring, you can bet that it would be the Heddon Super Spook. I mean, this lure has been catching fish since… practically the beginning of time! And this timeless lure has proven that it works anywhere in the world, on fish of all sizes, fresh and salt. It’s a perfect wounded or panicked baitfish imitator. The cadence is the key to its magic; start with a slow, zig-zagging, walk-the-dog-style retrieve and then keep switching up the speed until you figure out what they want. This little spook is like the micro-Doc and the hits are almost as exciting and vicious!
NLBN K-Tail
This little swimbait is a super-diverse choice that can be fished many ways and replicated a long list of bait species, at this time of year, it is the perfect bait to be thrown around herring runs. I like to rig these with a BKK Titanrider swimbait hook, I fish both the 5- and the 7-inch version, but the 7 is my go-to around the runs. My default retrieve is super-slow, just letting that tail kick, with a few twitches to add some variation to the retrieve. But, don’t be afraid to fish the K-Tail fast either, sometimes in the skinny water around the herring runs, these swimbaits sped along the surface will draw savage strikes from stripers on the hunt. Do yourself a favor and get a few packs, you can thank me later.
Gravity Tackle Eel
The GT Eel by Gravity Tackle is another bait I’ll throw a lot, because it just works! There are a lot of stories and myths regarding why bass eat eels, some even believe to be a millennia-long vendetta in protection of the stripers’ eggs. I don’t know about all that, but I do know that stripers like to eat them and they like the rubber ones too! I keep it simple, I rig that 13-inch piece of plastic on a ¾-ounce jighead, add a drop of Super Glue, and you’re in business. I fish these slowly along the bottom with the occasional hard twitch, really snap that rod tip, to get that tail moving and then follow it back to the bottom with your rod tip as it sinks. Stripers that are ‘grubbing’ on the bottom will suck these things down like linguine.
Rapala Shad Rap Slow Rise
I have found that the Rapala Shad Rap Slow Rise really gets them to eat when they’re on small to medium-sized baits that are fast and abundant such as mummies and small herring. You’ll want to upgrade your hooks and splits to something from Owner to BKK of similar size (to preserve that slow rise) but this thing crushes stripers. I fish this bait with a variety of different cadences, from the classic twitch-twitch-pause to an active and frenetic rhythmic pulsing retrieve—but always with pauses in the mix. That pause is the key, once you nail down that slow rise, you’ll be mind-blown by how many fish you can get to eat this thing. One item of note, I have seen much better results using light fluoro leader instead of mono, keep it in the 12- to 15-pound class for best results.
Keep It Light
I like to fish these backwater areas with a light rod, I’m often using my 7-foot medium-heavy Fenwick HMX paired with a Shimano Ultegra 2500. I spool the reel with 20-pound PowerPro and uni a leader of 15-pound Daiwa J-Fluoro to the braid. I’ll stick with this light setup for as long as I can, but if ‘old yellow eyes’ makes an appearance, I’ll beef up my leaders and hope for the best. These backwater striper explorations are a ton of fun and hooking up on light gear makes it even more exciting, give these baits a try, you’ll be glad you did.
