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STRIKERZONE STRIPE BASS
Striker zone Stripe BassWe head down to Sandy Hook NJ on a Saturday morning and the sun is beating down at 95 degrees.
Before we head to the beach we need to pick up some bait. From where I come from clams (TuaTuas) make the best bait for anything that cruises along the surf. We were unable to find a store that had any clams left as most of the anglers had purchsed the bait.
We had come all this way so we just decided to go by where the fisherman were and just see what the surf was like. Bass like to stay within a mile or two of the coastline.
The beach was lined up with anglers all trying to land the big one. To keep a stripe bass, the fish would have to measure 25 inches from the middle vee in the tail to the tip of its nose.
Frank and I just wonder along the coastline talking and inquiring with the other fisherman whether they caught anything. Not one fisherman was able to say he hooked a fish all morning.
One young man had had enough and asked us if we wanted his left over bait since he was done for the day. You bet! we thanked him and used his position along the surf to set our gear. I used a 3 foot trace with double hooks and a sand gripper (these look like 4 grapple spikes that grip into the sand and when you pull it in, the grapples release and you rewind it in) with a running rig. This is so the fish can take the bait and run with it and not feel the weight of the sinker because the line is just running through the eye of the sinker until you strike.
We thread the hooks in and out of the clam flesh. With the second hook we attach it through the bait once and it's ready to cast (thats a technique we use to throw the sinker and bait out to the surf).
Frank's an expert when it comes to fresh water fishing but I have done alot more salt water fishing so i made the first cast. I placed the rod with the reel facing the sky and with the bail arm released and secured lightly by my index finger; I place the rod over my right shoulder. It's realy like chopping and splitting wood with an axe. You feel the wait of the bait and sinker and you whip the rod in a forward motion and releasing the line you place on your forefinger at about 55-60 degrees and this should sail through the air til it hits the spot.
If the movement is smooth then the cast would be long; practice makes perfect! We set the rod on a 4 foot rod holder in the sand. This is just to keep the line above the surf. We tighten the line from the reel so we can see if something is nibbling on the line and set the rear drag so that when a fish strikes it would make a loud noise and we would know that we caught a fish. I use a Shimano 2600 Dual Reel System and I love this set up. I brought this reel from New Zealand when I moved here.
We set the rod into the rod holder and I take the time to find a bathroom. Upon my return, Frank's grinning from ear to ear! As I get closer, he tells me he just caught a striper! I didn't believe him so he showed me the fish. Only minutes later we had a Fish and Game Warden come over and ask to measure the fish. How did he know we had just caught the only fish of the morning' The fish measured exactly 25 inches. We kept the fish and left 2-3 hours later refreshed and relaxed becauses we had a chance to pursue our passion. You can contact us about fishing tips at www.24seven-realtor.com