Here is one of many fish landed last evening on a Zoom Fluke fished off a small jighead, a great choice when the stripers are on small bait. |
We are back to hot fishing. Maybe it's the new moon tides coming or maybe it's an influx of small bait that has gotten things going. Whatever the reason the striper fishing right now is very good from both shore and boat and very good in the Bay and along the oceanfront.
The oceanfront has had some big bass for those will to put in serious hours after dark. But, there are even fish up to 40 inches being taken in broad daylight. Hot lures along the oceanfront are Slug-gos, needlefish plugs and the Yo-Zuri Hydro Pencil. I was down the ocean a couple of days ago and dropped a massive fish that hit my Yo-Zuri Hydro Pencil. After a long battle, I lost the fish. When I reeled in my plug, one of the hooks on one treble was broken off and the other hook was straightened out. These were VMC 4X hooks!
The Bay has also perked up. I was out from shore yesterday and landed 19 fish on three inch Zoom flukes fished off a half ounce jighead. While most were schoolies, I did also have a slot. Find a school of fish, and they are likely a mix with schoolies, slots and over slots all in the same school. My son Jon was out in the kayak this morning and he landed decent numbers of slots and over slots fishing 7 1/2 inch Slug gos.
Note that the fish are also showing in many spots, chasing small bait. Many fishermen are complaining they are fussy and hard to catch, but if you keep working at it, you are likely to find a something they will hit. Keep it small and take a finesse approach.