Fished Saturday from about 7 p.m. till 1:30. Lots of boats there early. Tried chunking in between casting. Had limited success with the chunking and had only one undersize hit all night. Casting resulted in two hookups and one 18" keeper and the other a throwback. Real slow night.....and cold.

Sunday, took the wife along. Started about 7 p.m. Nice weather. Several boats in the area. Started casting and Tried chunking again too. No success at all with chunking. Around 9 p.m or so, things changed for the better and they were biting like crazy. Of course, the blitz is on and my wife spends most of the time in the cabin keeping warm. She would come out occasionally to cast a line, catch a fish, then dissapear again.
The majority were undersized, but we managed a couple of keepers. All in all, had a great time playing catch and release with a couple of keepers. Did notice the majority of the bite came at the beginning of either tide. Also, they preferred the 4" plug with the green body and slanted head (painted red) (Sorry, don't remember the name, but I do remember the gold colored hooks on it bent or broke too easily).

Any tips on how to catch the bigguns?

Was it a Gotcha-Plug?

I've fished the HRBT many times over the last two years and have yet to catch a striper over 22" there. If you're after the big ones, head to the CBBT. Less action but larger fish.

Eels and live bait would probably be your best bet now. And it shouldn't be too much longer before the bigger ones show up around the Cape Henry area.

[quote=manicone314,Nov 26 2007, 08:49 PM][quote=engine19,Nov 26 2007, 05:05 PM]Fished Saturday from about 7 p.m. till 1:30.  Lots of boats there early.  Tried chunking in between casting.  Had limited success with the chunking and had only one undersize hit all night.  Casting resulted in two hookups and one 18" keeper and the other a throwback.  Real slow night.....and cold.

Sunday, took the wife along.  Started about 7 p.m.  Nice weather.  Several boats in the area.  Started casting and Tried chunking again too.  No success at all with chunking.     Around 9 p.m  or so,  things changed for the better and they were biting like crazy.  Of course, the blitz is on and my wife spends most of the time in the cabin keeping warm.  She would come out occasionally to cast a line, catch a fish, then dissapear again.  
  The majority were undersized, but we managed a couple of keepers.  All in all, had a great time playing catch and release with a couple of keepers.   Did notice the majority of the bite came at the beginning of either tide.  Also, they preferred the 4" plug with the green body and slanted head (painted red)  (Sorry, don't remember the name, but I do remember the gold colored hooks on it bent or broke too easily).

Any tips on how to catch the bigguns?

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Was it a Gotcha-Plug?

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Yes, it was. I looked up Gotcha plugs and that was it. Thing really worked great, except the hooks would bend and eventually break off. Going to buy some more soon.

Thanks for the info. Went out there to look around Sunday, and was pretty intimidated by all the boats in the channel trolling. Also looked at trying to anchor up to fish around the pilings, north of the fourth island, but I was looking at around 65 foot of water depth and one helluva current. Most of the boats looked like they were tied to the pilings. Any suggestions on how to go about it? Thanks.

[quote=fordbjr,Nov 27 2007, 10:08 AM][quote=engine19,Nov 26 2007, 05:05 PM]Any tips on how to catch the bigguns?

[/quote]
Eels and live bait would probably be your best bet now. And it shouldn't be too much longer before the bigger ones show up around the Cape Henry area.

[/quote]


thanks for the tips. Greatly appreciated.

[quote=engine19,Nov 28 2007, 08:19 AM][quote=71Whaler,Nov 26 2007, 09:36 PM]I've fished the HRBT many times over the last two years and have yet to catch a striper over 22" there. If you're after the big ones, head to the CBBT. Less action but larger fish.

[/quote]


Thanks for the info. Went out there to look around Sunday, and was pretty intimidated by all the boats in the channel trolling. Also looked at trying to anchor up to fish around the pilings, north of the fourth island, but I was looking at around 65 foot of water depth and one helluva current. Most of the boats looked like they were tied to the pilings. Any suggestions on how to go about it? Thanks.

[/quote]
Wow, does that bring back memories. My first time trolling I was about 2 miles from the fleet minding my own business and wham I was in a beehive of birds and fish. Next thing I new I was slam in the middle of the fleet. Again, Wow

Anyway, I recommend that the first couple of times you go out try to find your own fish if possible and work on getting lines in and out of the water when there is no pressure of a mass of white fiberglass hulls all around you.

A good depthfinder and watching the birds help.

After you get act together then move up into the world and try to hang around the edges of the fleet keeping your lines short so that you can manuver in a tight bind if needed and kindof watched the flow of how the guys did it.

Try to figure out the flow/direction most are going and stay with them. Over time you will get the feel of it and it will become second nature.

Biggest thing for me is that I am there to run the boat and only fish if I have someone on the boat who I trust to drive with the fleet.

Again, start out on the edges. It can be very fun and exciting. Good luck.

Good advice. Also if you want to fish the pylons along the CBBt there are places that are <65', more like 30-45' which are easier to anchor at. I have had luck at numerous places near the 1st and 2nd islands catching 22-40" fish. I usually like to fish the ebb (outgoing) current and anchor on the bayside. I try to position myself so I can easily cast to the pylons from my stern. If you haven't anchored much this could take some practice and you probably want to have someone helping you. I then cast towards the pylons using a 6" storm, bucktail, etc. I let it sink with the current and then slowly retrieve. Sometimes I also anchor between the spans. If the current is not moving to fast then I will also drift around the pylons so I can cover more space. I have a small boat which makes this easier. Best advise is to just get out there and try different things, trial and error is the best way to learn. Good luck.

Thanks for the info. I will give it a try this week and let you know how it went.

[quote=Marrdro,Nov 28 2007, 09:59 AM][quote=engine19,Nov 28 2007, 08:19 AM][quote=71Whaler,Nov 26 2007, 09:36 PM]I've fished the HRBT many times over the last two years and have yet to catch a striper over 22" there. If you're after the big ones, head to the CBBT. Less action but larger fish.

[/quote]


Thanks for the info. Went out there to look around Sunday, and was pretty intimidated by all the boats in the channel trolling. Also looked at trying to anchor up to fish around the pilings, north of the fourth island, but I was looking at around 65 foot of water depth and one helluva current. Most of the boats looked like they were tied to the pilings. Any suggestions on how to go about it? Thanks.

[/quote]
Wow, does that bring back memories. My first time trolling I was about 2 miles from the fleet minding my own business and wham I was in a beehive of birds and fish. Next thing I new I was slam in the middle of the fleet. Again, Wow

Appreciate the tips.

Anyway, I recommend that the first couple of times you go out try to find your own fish if possible and work on getting lines in and out of the water when there is no pressure of a mass of white fiberglass hulls all around you.

A good depthfinder and watching the birds help.

After you get act together then move up into the world and try to hang around the edges of the fleet keeping your lines short so that you can manuver in a tight bind if needed and kindof watched the flow of how the guys did it.

Try to figure out the flow/direction most are going and stay with them. Over time you will get the feel of it and it will become second nature.

Biggest thing for me is that I am there to run the boat and only fish if I have someone on the boat who I trust to drive with the fleet.

Again, start out on the edges. It can be very fun and exciting. Good luck.

[/quote]

We fished the HRBT last night (7-11PM) and as usual the action was nonstop. I did notice that there were some larger fish down below the ones hitting the surface. By larger I mean 22-24" but nice and fat. If I let the 4" storm sink deep after casting, a nice long 5-10 count after the lure hits the water, and then a slow retrieve I would usually get a fish on every cast. I also found that if you felt them strike and miss, stop reeling and almost every time they would hit it again and I would hook them.

Probably the last time I will fish the HRBT this year. Time to search for larger fish. I can feel the coastal action calling me.