One angler’s approach to kicking off the surf season in style.
It was early April as I made my way down the path leading to the bridge. The sound of a red-winged blackbird in the reeds greeted me on this unseasonably warm spring morning. Armed with a 7-foot medium-light outfit, I began working the deep eddy created by the bridge abutments with a pearl jerk shad threaded onto a 3/8-ounce jighead. As it swung in the current and into the hole, I let it sink a bit, and then began working the rod tip with a slow retrieve. It didn’t take long for a chunky bass to pounce on the offering before it made a quick run with the current. Several fish later, I just stood and watched a beautiful sunrise light up the bay… yes, spring is here, and so are the striped bass!
The annual spring migration of stripers up the eastern seaboard is something anglers wait for with great anticipation every year. It marks the beginning of another season that will be spent chasing one of the most cherished species our coast has to offer. Countless hours are logged, day and night, in pursuit of these great gamefish, and the many surfcasters that partake in this quest, start out every year with high hopes. Gearing up with lighter tackle will add to the fun when chasing these early season fish
It is true that holdover stripers can be caught throughout the winter in certain areas up and down the coast, and these fish can be counted on to become more active as the water warms. Then, as new, fresh fish begin migrating in from their winter homes in spawning rivers and deeper ocean waters that action will steadily increase. These fish will typically be found in back bay areas and rivers, but can also be found along the open beach. Depending on where you are located these first migrating fish may arrive between early-March and mid-April. Typically, we see the smaller fish and then the larger, post spawn, fish come after.
The surfcaster has many options when deciding how to approach the spring run. Many anglers fish the ocean beaches hoping to intercept the schools of fish moving up the coast. Others concentrate in back bay areas and river systems, especially those that support herring runs, that influx of large, abundant baitfish will, in turn, attract bass. Also the arrival of bunker will have the bass hot on their heels just about anywhere.
So what to throw is basically a matter of finding out what the fish are feeding on. In the back bays, soft plastics will mimic the smaller forage as will smaller swimming plugs like SP’s, Hydro Minnows, Mag Darters and the new Tidal Pro Minnow from Tsunami will work well. Poppers, and other topwaters, become very effective as the water warms and can be a blast in daylight, as the fish assault them in calm back waters. In rivers, I try to imitate the herring that could be present; Magic Swimmers, larger Mag Darters and the larger SP Minnows do a great job, as well as swim shads. If you find fish feeding on bunker, a metal lipped swimmer, rubber shads and larger poppers will all get it done.
Early in the year, it helps tremendously to find the warmest water to fish. Mud flats that heat up during the day can dramatically increase the water temperature as it floods over them, Also river outflows of warm water can draw migrating stripers in. This will turn the bite on when water is colder in very early spring.
As the weeks progress and water temps start to heat up, we will see the larger fish move up the coast, good fishing will be more widespread and more baitfish will enter into the equation. The lighter tackle rod used in the early spring might have to be upgraded to something more substantial, especially if fishing rocky areas, jetties and any place with strong currents, such as inlets. If you want to stick to the lighter stuff, try snap jigging the sand beaches in the spring; 6-foot rods and 10-pound braid can make for some exciting times. Light bucktails and soft plastics work great for this type of fishing. After a long winter of waiting, it doesn’t matter what size that first fish on the year is, because it marks the beginning of a new season in the surf.
