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| I landed this slot fish yesterday on a float and fly. |
This has been a banner August of striper fishing here in RI. From the beginning of the month to the end, I have been into blitzes of fish just about every day. The fish range from all sizes from hefty schoolies to slots to even over slots at times. There have been exceptional numbers of slot fish from 28 to 32 inches.
One theme that I have seen throughout the month has been fussy fish on small bait. The small bait for the most part has been small peanut bunker along with small bay anchovies. My most effective lure to use on these fussy stripers has been a wooden egg float with some kind of jig or fly trailing off the two or three feet of mono at the end of the rig. This set up allows for a booming cast if you need it and it can be fished in rocky areas without fear of hanging up. Here are the three ways I have fished it in the last month to catch hundreds of stripers of all sizes:
1. Float and bucktail jig- In this case I am using a homemade half ounce bucktail jig trailing off the float. I like the "H" style Do-It jig which is really a fish head jig. I add a 3 inch, Pro Bass Triple Ripple, white grub tail to the jig which gives it super movement and effectiveness when stripers are on small bait.
2. Float and fly- I used this yesterday to catch big numbers of fussy fish that would not hit the jig. For the most part, I use homemade, pink Deceiver flies. By the way, this same set up is a killer for albies
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| This hefty schoolie was landed on a float and bucktail jig. |
and bonito.
3. Float and Cocahoe- I like to mount a three inch small, white or glow Cocahoe onto a half ounce jighead. It works at times and the Cocahoe is super durable.
You can make your own egg floats from wooden eggs purchased online or in a craft store. They will need to be through wired or set up with screw eyes. You can also purchase the wooden eggs already to go in most tackle shops along the oceanfront. I know the Saltwater Edge, Quaker Lane, Snug Harbor and Maridee all have them.
