The fall run brings blitzing stripers and speeding pelagics into the surf, it’s best to prepare for both.
My main target in the fall will always be striped bass, yet I also plan to target pelagics. On many wild “blitzy” days, pelagic species like bonito, albies and Spanish mackerel will join migrating stripers on epic feeds. Using the right lures to catch multiple species will be the key to cashing in on these mixed bag blitzes.
Last fall I experienced many days in which stripers were attacking massive schools of bay anchovies that looked like dark clouds in the water. One calm day with clear water, I could see the stripers whirling right in the wash in front of the rocks where I was standing. I also saw other fish slashing through the bait at high speeds like mini torpedoes. I knew right away these were albies, and I saw good numbers of them. I knew that I could catch both species if I had the right lure on. So, I snapped on a wooden egg float and fly.
The fly was one of my homemade Deceiver flies tied with pink hackles, a killer in other years. This had been effective for me in the past when fussy stripers were feeding on small, slender bay anchovies. I would reel the egg float slowing back to shore and just hold it the wash letting the retreating water bring the fly to life. The stripers corralling bait close to shore loved this natural movement and would just slurp up the offering in a barely noticeable hit. Albies were a different story. They hit mostly way out on a slow retrieve with an occasional pull of the rod tip. They would blow up on the fly and take off like I had just hooked into a freight train. Using the float and fly on that memorable day I landed a lot of stripers along with an occasional albie.
It’s not only albies that are running with the stripers in the fall. In recent years I have seen good numbers of bonito, some Spanish mackerel and even other mackerel species like Atlantic mackerel and chub mackerel.
There are only a few lure choices that will deliver stripers as well as some of these pelagics. Most pelagics are looking for something small when feeding on small fall bait like peanut bunker or bay anchovies. I will basically use three offerings to target both fussy stripers and pelagics at the same time. My main lures are skinny metal or epoxy jigs, Albie Snax and the float and fly. The effectiveness of these lures will vary by day, and you often have to try all three to find what is working best.
If you want to learn more about using the float and fly method, check out my recent column on the subject by following this link.
Skinny metal like a Clarkspoon (a hot lure last year) and skinny epoxy jigs like Game On Exo Jigs will catch both stripers and pelagics, though these lures tend to be less effective on stripers. The advantage to the skinny metal is that it casts well and you can let it sink, thus working deeper in the water column with a moderate retrieve. These will often work when few fish are showing. Sometimes these fall fish are down deep, and I try to vary my depths when looking for fish.
The last lure, quite possibly the most effective overall is the Albie Snax. Both species love this offering. I like the all white rigged with a BKK Titan Rider 5/0 hook. This lure has an enticing, back and forth natural swimming movement when retrieved slowly and with an occasional pull of the rod tip. Stopping the lure momentarily can also elicit hits from fussy fish. The main drawback to this lure is that casting is limited especially into the wind. It works best when fish are feeding in close.
So, this fall why not target both stripers and pelagics when fishing the fall run? Using the right lures will put you in the sweet spot for catching both when these fish are feeding on vast schools of small bait.
