I was out last night wading in one of my favorite spots. What was happening in front of me was phenomenal. All around me the water was black with bay anchovies. It was equally darkened by a boiling mix of stripers and bluefish that were going crazy. In knee deep water I could have netted all the blues I wanted as they were bumping into my legs!The story of fishing these days is a mix of stripers and bluefish everywhere you go. Even after dark the blues are on the prowl. So, how do you target stripers with so many toothy blues on the rampage?
First off, put the plastics away. You know I am a big fan of using Hogys but one cast into the scene described above reduced my nine inch Hogy into a one inch cigar within seconds. Forget Storm lures and Cocahoes. Forget live eels.
I really wanted to target the stripers last night which were running up to keeper size so I went to hard plugs. A needelfish was my top choice. I also used a jointed plastic swimmer. Another choice could have been a bucktail jig which will take a pounding and still hold up fairly well. Using these choices, you still will catch some bluefish, but you will also get some stripers. My score last evening was 6 bass and 5 blues, typical of the mix I am seeing on just about every outing these days.
