Striper Fishing
by Darren Manicone
Fall Chesapeake Bay Season 2008
This season, I caught many fish and stuffed my freezer and NEVER even set foot in a boat all season. In this post, I thought I would share with you in-depth what I learned this season and how people can catch some fish without owning a boat.
1. THE EARLY PART OF THE SEASON
First off, I thought I would let everyone know that my first cast into the bay this season was not until the week of Thanksgiving, simply because I am a freshman at Liberty. I don't personally know how the bite was in October to early November. What I heard was that the fish were biting at school size near FortMonroe. I heard right before you go to the actual base, there were a couple places where the current runs through and people were catching them at night when the tide was running.
2. THE BIGGEST SHOCKER I LEARNED THIS SEASON
The first place I put a line in this season was on a private pier at this guy’s house my dad knew. The guy was nice enough to come down on his dock and he actually wanted me to fish on it to give him a report of how they were hitting. (I didn't complain to do this task for him). I was fishing the incoming tide and noticed something I would never expect out of the feast-enjoying rockfish. They can get spooked! I have heard many trips where boats can sit in one place and catch fish all day, but I don't believe that happens as often when the tide is incoming and when the water is shallow. This guy’s dock was in about five feet of water with a light set up on his dock facing the water to attract in the fish. When a buddy of mine and I got there, there were fishing slapping the water, just purely biting anything in the water. Those fish were about 16 to 19 inches. We caught five within twenty minutes. Then the fish were gone! The tide was running and the bait was stacking in balls in the light, but the fish just left. So we left and went to go thank the guy that lived there and see how he was doing. When we came back about thirty minutes later, the fish were back slapping the water again. So we fished again and caught four more and then they disappeared again. We left with a limit of 18 inch fish... and learned that rockfish can actually get spooked. During the rest of the season I noticed that I would fish a spot on a pier, catch two or three within ten minutes and they would be gone. Then I would leave to another spot and come back later and they would be there again. Something to think about when you think the bite just turned off: the fish might have been spooked and just try a different spot a hundred or so feet down the pier. Then, consider going back to that spot and you might pick up a couple more.
3. The two “T’s” when it comes to Rock fishing; TIME and TIDE
First off, I did not fish AT ALL this whole season during daylight. I regret this decision, because I wish I would at least have tried to fish during the day time, but for anglers without a boat, night is the better time to catch fish. Fish are more predicable at night and if you catch fish on something one day, the next day at around the same time, maybe a little later since the tide will be a little different, you will most likely catch fish. When you know that you are about 90% positive you are going to go catch fish is when you invite people to go with you. I got three friends that like to fish but only go fishing a few times a year. Once I put one of my friends on some fish he said he never wanted to leave, so we stayed out there 2 hours after we had our limit and had a blast.
This season I fished the both incoming and outgoing tide, and towards the end of the season I didn't even waste my time fishing when the tide was incoming. Now I caught fish, but I remember one night I fished the incoming tide and got two fish both under 18 and then went out like two nights later and tore up the fish when the tide was outgoing and pulled up many good 25” to 29” fish. I personally say when it comes to fishing from land, FISH THE OUTGOING TIDE.
4. WEATHER CONDITIONS
The week during Thanksgiving, VA had a week of COLD WEATHER. I am talking below freezing which may have triggered the bigger fish to start really flowing up in the rivers. I went out like 4 times and had good nights and got my limit just about every night except for the first night and that was only because I didn't expect to take any fish home until I pulled up a FAT 26In fish. I didn’t make a cast after that and just took it home and filleted it up.
What I did notice is that when the weather started to warm up the fish got smaller. I fished one night in like sixty degree weather and maybe caught twenty fish but only four were keepers. The biggest fish I caught was during the last of the season, which went 31 inches. He went back in the river so don't worry, she's still out there somewhere. It was cold with the waves being about 1 to 2 feet. I can catch fish on windier nights, but I did better on calmer nights. It’s easier to find the fish on calmer nights because the fish will pop the surface and you will be able to see peanut bunker jump out of the water. Once you see fish jumping out of the water, it is very easy to get these fish to bite.
5. BAIT SELECTION AND PRESENTATION
I choose not to use anything but artificials (that means lures for those that are so used to live bait fishing). Now I am sure that live baiting or chunking is productive but the BASS fisherman in me forces me to use lures and keeps me interested because I am still moving. When I take friends that I know don't care what they use and just want to catch fish, I will put a four inch Storm shad with the bunker color. It is my bread and butter bait. Cast it into the light and retrieve it slowly. And let me tell you, the slower the better. I caught the big ones this season when I was just about barely reeling in my bait. I did not only use Storms, of course. I also used rattle trap baits. Strike King makes a great bait called the Red Eye Shad, and Kevin VanDam has done very well in the major B.A.S.S. tournaments with it. They make a bunker type color, and it proved to be productive when it was windy. I do not recommend using rattle traps at ALL when the fish are FEEDING heavily or working in the light and biting anything because stripers have been known to INHALE baits. Treble hooks and stripers swallowing baits DON'T MIX and I am pretty sure we all know why. Flukes and grubs on jig heads are also a reliable set up. I saw someone catch a 36 inch fish on a fluke right in front of me which reminds me….. this season I just used bass spinning rods and bait casting rods, seven feet long all rigged with 50 pound Suffix braid with a ten foot, 65 lb fluorocarbon leader. The leader makes it much easier to haul up big fish quick so the fish doesn’t flop off. On the bait casting rod, I used 15 lb mono with the leader at the end simply because I did not have enough braid to put on that reel. As long as you have a long enough leader, fish don't become a problem. Another thing, do not let slack tide discourage you I caught the biggest fish this season when the tide was so slack that I could feel my 5 in Storm hit the bottom. I fished it kind of like a worm, as if I were bass fishing, and just let it keep scraping off the bottom and then “THUMP” set the hook into dead weight, thought I was hung until the thing started moving! On light tackle that is some FUN fishing! When the tide is kickin’, I used lighter and smaller baits so the tide gives it a more natural action as if the bait were trying to fight the current. In slack tide I noticed that fish spread out and stay towards the bottom so I tend to use heavier baits. The key to any success is confidence in a bait and learning how to master it. Once you catch a fish on a bait, you learn more and more about how to fish the bait better, because you gain confidence. That’s not just with rockfish but all fish.
6. Locations
I fished in three different locations this season; off a private dock where some guy had lights set up on the York River, a fifty-foot canal that I thought would hold fish since it led from the James River into some smaller tributaries, and the James River Fishing Pier. I had success at all places except the small channel, and I only fished there once on poor weather conditions, so maybe it was just a bad night. The big thing I realized this season was that the fish can be spooked and are constantly moving unless they are just hitting everywhere, but that really only happened once. Once I catch two or three fish and don’t get a bite 5 minutes later I move on down to the pier and try a different light-line. Or I will simply leave my bait in the water and slowly walk/troll my bait along the pier until I get a strike or until I get to the next light-line. What I found out when it comes to striper fishing and light-lines was that fish hold better when it goes from light to dark in a very short distance. Stretched light is not as productive as a smaller, distinct light and then a really dark area touching it. This may sound a little strange and confusing but those are the best words I can describe which light-line to pick out.
I hope you found this article useful and that you can maybe use some of this information next year.
