Cocahoes Rule the Early Action

A Cocahoe Minnow mounted on a 3/4 oz.
jighead has been THE lure to use in the early
going.  In this photo of a fish I landed
tonight, the lure is a larger Queen Cocahoe.

Once again, the Cocahoe Minnow is killing it in the early going. This fan tailed lure is just about all you need to catch stripers in the spring surf along the RI oceanfront.  Pair this with jigheads of assorted sizes and you are good to go. I especially like the "Queen" Cocahoe, a plastic minnow in a glow or white color that measures 4 inches long.  Many fishermen like the regular three inch size.
This week I have been fishing a lot of rough surf, and I that Queen Cocahoe paired with a 3/4 oz. jighead has been my best producer.  I like to use the smaller Cocahoe with smaller jigheads when the water turns calm and the fish tend to be a bit more fussy.
While many fishermen will just cast and retrieve this lure slowly near the bottom, I like to give it a bit more action by pulling the rod tip occasionally on the slow retrieve.  This makes the Cocahoe move up and down rather than tracking straight in. Tonight I was getting a lot of fish and hits when the lure dropped down after a pull of the rod tip.  Sometimes a pause in your retrieve will also get a striper to hit since they are often following this lure and will tend to hit it when the lure does something different like a pause or dropping down.
Regardless of how you fish it, the Cocahoe is BY FAR the best lure to use in the early going for schoolies and small keepers.