When the season winds down, a source of warmer water can be all that’s needed to reenergize the bite.
It is true, this is our last surf column of 2024, and while our readers span a wide swath of the Striper Coast – some with great fishing still to come – all of our striper seasons will eventually shift into the final phase. Geographically speaking, this timing could vary by months between Maine and Delaware, but the tactics that work in those twilight hours of each season, are universal, we only have to time them properly for our location.
There are many roadblocks to being one of the few surfcasters that stick with it until the end. They range from Realtree clothes and treestands, to rich men throwing footballs on TV to it just being too darn cold! When I have allowed myself to accept one of these excuses, which, for me is the “cold” reason and I’ll raise you “tired”, I always regret it. To the point that I verbally chastise myself as soon as the next morning. Why do I scold myself for a self-made decision, that I had 100% control of? Because that first moment of consciousness when we wake up, is typically a moment of clarity and reality. And the reality is, when we arrive at this point, the season is slipping through our fingers and it will soon be gone, if we don’t stand up to make it stall for a few more tides.
The way I see it, there are two ways to take advantage of the “last ones.” On one hand, you can take the easier route, pack a rod, some bucktails, a few paddles and some topwaters and do the sunrise and sunset routine, checking beaches for birds and blitzes. On the downside, this typically results in smaller fish, but on the plus side, you often run into interesting people or even old friends that are all there for the same reason. And there’s something to be said for the camaraderie that comes from late-run surfcasting. Or you can take to the night, and grind it out. Interestingly enough, my approach to either of these modes of taking advantage of the last run of bass, starts in the same place.
The variable that most striper fishermen watch in the late season is water temp. We could debate about the lower end of the striper’s comfort zone, it used to be accepted that it was 50 degrees, but I’ve had good bites in water as chilly as 37. But there’s no question that warmer water attracts these fish and seems to energize them. Inlets, especially those that fill and drain shallow salt ponds, will inject warmer water into the cold ocean. Inlet currents, of course, may also carry baitfish. These two factors make them a no-brainer for the late-season surfcaster.
This stream of warmer water also carries the scent of the fertile estuary, and, I believe that the reach of this plume of water surging seaward, has the power to stop migrating stripers and lure them in to the beach. Almost like the way an Italian restaurant can lure us in with the smell of simmering garlic. It has been my experience, that when other spots go cold, the inlets will often provide.
The strategy though, isn’t as easy it might have been a few months ago. The inlet can stop and concentrate schools of fish into a fishable area, but it might take several casting sessions for the next school of fish to find it. You have to go into this with the belief that you’re putting yourself in the best position to find more fish. Running empty beaches is like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Be prepared to cover the water column. Using plastic swimmers, darters, heavy needles, bucktails and weighted soft plastics. Another trick I use, is to drift larger floating lures a long way out and fish them back to shore. Darters and big metal lips are great for this, so is the floating Sebile Stick Shadd. But as alluring (and sometimes effective) as it is to drift a bait way the heck out there, so often the fish will be in close patrolling the first lip or sitting just outside the main the flow. So covering all distances is just as important as covering all depths. A late-migrating striper will be psyched to find something to feed on, cover the column and you’re last fish of the season will come a lot later than most.
