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Fishing Gear
I have never caught a striper and want to!
Uploaded on January 18, 2009As the headline reads I have been surf-fishing for a few years now on the CT shoreline and I have yet to catch a striper. I fish from the shore along the New Haven Harbor line and at the Silver Sands State Park in Milford, and have yet to catch a striper and I really want to! I use spinning surf tackle and usually chunk fresh bunker but nothing has worked yet...Where would be the best place for me to get into some decent sized stripes along the CT shoreline and what should I be using?
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Don't worry... you're not the only one. Never landed a striper, hooked and lost 2 though...
What time of year are you fishing? Have you tried it at night? The beaches along the inner sound can be tricky because the bass aren't always drawn to the shoreline the same way they are along the ocean beaches. I ask about night fishing because heavy water traffic and swimmers will push bass out and shut them down in shallower water. Have you ever walked out to Charles Island and fished?
You're not using the wrong bait. Sometimes it takes a while. It took me three years to catch my first bass when I seriously started pursuing them, and the first one was a total accident.
In the sound, tide is crucial. If you go at any old time, you're reducing your chances. If I were fishing Silver Sands, I'd make sure I was there at the top of the high tide and had baits in the water when it switched and started flowing out. I'd also concentrate my efforts in May/June for your biggest bass. Spring in the sound is killer. If you can net/snag live bunker, I'd throw one of those out there, or at least use the freshest bunker possible to chunk. That old frozen stuff doesn't usually cut it. They're smart fish. Give me a bit more info and we'll see if we can figure out the best approach.
same Here ONly I fish on Marthas Vinyard great place.
I fish the months of July-September, mainly at night from 4pm on, I try to catch the tide when it is 2-3 hours before coming in and fish until it is 2-3 hours past the tide going out...I will call my local bait shop and have my buddies there save me the fresh bunker, I tend to stay away from the frozen stuff. I remember one day me and my friend were fishing in Milford at the mouth of the river at Gulf Beach and there were bunker going crazy! We chased them up the river and snagged 17 of them in 30 minutes! We cast one out on a hook but no takers..to this day we cannot figure out why they were being pushed up river..
When I fish I use a 10 ft medium powered rod with a baitrunner reel spooled with 25lb test, I use a fish finder rig and a 2-3 ounce sinker. We have been using wire leadered hooks because for some we always run into bluefish, and we primarily use the freshest bunker we can get...but still no stripers. As stated before I fish the late afternoon to 9-10pm when the tide is coming in, we tend to go out at night when we know there is a high tide between 7 and 9pm, we either fish off the rocks or camp out on the shore with our rods in rod holders and just let the fresh bunker sit there for hours...
Am I on the right approach? Lately I have been hearing at night I should switch to either the head of the bunker or use a live eel..
AJ,
Live eels are overrated in my opinion. Plus, they're super expensive. Now I've only fished that area of CT a few times, but I can tell you that July- September is not the best span of time to be chasing larger bass around there. For a better shot at 20-plus-pound bass, you'll want to be fishing May and June, then late September into November.
I have good friends that fish farther down the sound from you in New Rochelle, NY. By the beginning of July, they're usually done targeting stripers. Places like Montauk will have big bass almost year-round, but the water in the Sound can get hot and push the bass and the bait out. The Sound turns off and on, and in mid-summer, you might be better off playing with the blues or trying for fluke.
Or take the surf rods for a weekend trip to Montauk or Rhode Island.
i have only fished for them once and didn't catch anything but i liked it and want to catch one.
I agree with Joe about summer being the worst time to fish that area. Spring and fall will be best. I used to fish the Milford=Stratford area a lot in the '70s and '80s, where there are lots of options for stripers by boat, kayak, or wading. I fished mostly by fly or plug; didn't bother with bait much. Access in that area can be tricky. I don't want to get into specific spot-burning here, so I'm not posting details. But check out http://www.stratfordbaitandtackle.com/ and go to that shop, where you should be able to get all the local skinny and tackle you need. Good luck!
use live eels at night! also, try lures such as black needle fish and blue and silver pencil poppers (<---use small ones)
use topwaters and rat l traps. they catch bluefish too.
I caught one on accident while fishing for flounder with live finger mullet. I thought I hooked into a bulldozer/freight train mix. Very exciting.
If interested, take a look at my profile photos. A group of us charted on the Chesapeake Bay this past weekend and got our limit, mostly trolling. Hang in there, it will come.
Fish the higher tides, fish at nighht. To the guy who was using wire leaders, take them off and use heavy mono instead. The bluefish will not alwasy hit if they can see the leader
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Don't worry... you're not the only one. Never landed a striper, hooked and lost 2 though...
What time of year are you fishing? Have you tried it at night? The beaches along the inner sound can be tricky because the bass aren't always drawn to the shoreline the same way they are along the ocean beaches. I ask about night fishing because heavy water traffic and swimmers will push bass out and shut them down in shallower water. Have you ever walked out to Charles Island and fished?
You're not using the wrong bait. Sometimes it takes a while. It took me three years to catch my first bass when I seriously started pursuing them, and the first one was a total accident.
In the sound, tide is crucial. If you go at any old time, you're reducing your chances. If I were fishing Silver Sands, I'd make sure I was there at the top of the high tide and had baits in the water when it switched and started flowing out. I'd also concentrate my efforts in May/June for your biggest bass. Spring in the sound is killer. If you can net/snag live bunker, I'd throw one of those out there, or at least use the freshest bunker possible to chunk. That old frozen stuff doesn't usually cut it. They're smart fish. Give me a bit more info and we'll see if we can figure out the best approach.
same Here ONly I fish on Marthas Vinyard great place.
I fish the months of July-September, mainly at night from 4pm on, I try to catch the tide when it is 2-3 hours before coming in and fish until it is 2-3 hours past the tide going out...I will call my local bait shop and have my buddies there save me the fresh bunker, I tend to stay away from the frozen stuff. I remember one day me and my friend were fishing in Milford at the mouth of the river at Gulf Beach and there were bunker going crazy! We chased them up the river and snagged 17 of them in 30 minutes! We cast one out on a hook but no takers..to this day we cannot figure out why they were being pushed up river..
When I fish I use a 10 ft medium powered rod with a baitrunner reel spooled with 25lb test, I use a fish finder rig and a 2-3 ounce sinker. We have been using wire leadered hooks because for some we always run into bluefish, and we primarily use the freshest bunker we can get...but still no stripers. As stated before I fish the late afternoon to 9-10pm when the tide is coming in, we tend to go out at night when we know there is a high tide between 7 and 9pm, we either fish off the rocks or camp out on the shore with our rods in rod holders and just let the fresh bunker sit there for hours...
Am I on the right approach? Lately I have been hearing at night I should switch to either the head of the bunker or use a live eel..
AJ,
Live eels are overrated in my opinion. Plus, they're super expensive. Now I've only fished that area of CT a few times, but I can tell you that July- September is not the best span of time to be chasing larger bass around there. For a better shot at 20-plus-pound bass, you'll want to be fishing May and June, then late September into November.
I have good friends that fish farther down the sound from you in New Rochelle, NY. By the beginning of July, they're usually done targeting stripers. Places like Montauk will have big bass almost year-round, but the water in the Sound can get hot and push the bass and the bait out. The Sound turns off and on, and in mid-summer, you might be better off playing with the blues or trying for fluke.
Or take the surf rods for a weekend trip to Montauk or Rhode Island.
i have only fished for them once and didn't catch anything but i liked it and want to catch one.
I agree with Joe about summer being the worst time to fish that area. Spring and fall will be best. I used to fish the Milford=Stratford area a lot in the '70s and '80s, where there are lots of options for stripers by boat, kayak, or wading. I fished mostly by fly or plug; didn't bother with bait much. Access in that area can be tricky. I don't want to get into specific spot-burning here, so I'm not posting details. But check out http://www.stratfordbaitandtackle.com/ and go to that shop, where you should be able to get all the local skinny and tackle you need. Good luck!
use live eels at night! also, try lures such as black needle fish and blue and silver pencil poppers (<---use small ones)
use topwaters and rat l traps. they catch bluefish too.
I caught one on accident while fishing for flounder with live finger mullet. I thought I hooked into a bulldozer/freight train mix. Very exciting.
If interested, take a look at my profile photos. A group of us charted on the Chesapeake Bay this past weekend and got our limit, mostly trolling. Hang in there, it will come.
Fish the higher tides, fish at nighht. To the guy who was using wire leaders, take them off and use heavy mono instead. The bluefish will not alwasy hit if they can see the leader
Post a Reply