I thought it would be a good idea to start a "Tips" discussion on fishing for Stripers, if there is already a thread on this, I didn't see one. I have fished these P.I.T.A. fish for about 8 years now, and each year I learn things that help with future trips. I know that with all the people that fish Rockfish on this board, there ought to be a ton of killer tips that everyone can benefit from. Here are 2 tips that I learned last year.

1. When bringing a fish in on a stretch (30,25,20 doesn't matter) it seemed that if I grabbed the leader, the fish had a chance to rip the bait out of his mouth, as my hand did not give as much as a rod tip. So I switched to letting the angler reel the fish next to the boat before I netted it without touching the leader. Our loss rate next to the boat on a stretch dropped considerably. On any other type of bait that had a single hook, it doesn't seem to matter as much if you grab the leader or not, just the stretches with those durned treble hooks.

2. Eels. Hook em in the tail, they will swim down and away from you and not try to knot up on your line.


OK.... who is next???

-Mike

If you fish the cbbt with light tackle. Vertical jigging has the been the way to go for us the last few years. Get your lures deep under the marks and work it to the top.

My tip is to use G&H Mojo's.....they just catch fish !......big fish......

I'm a rookie at this Striper fishing but it's fun.....reading all the tips people are going to put out there....thanks..>bob

Sounds simple but. Do not leave fish or good marks to go find fish because they either stopped biting or refuse to bite. Stay ,try different tactics and or wait them out. Do not radio fish or follow boats to fish. You will enjoy your day more on your own.

Todd

the silly season is almost here........

Go with a variety of rods rigged. There is a lot of difference between pulling a 20 oz. mojo and tossing a 4" swim shad but conditions may tell you to do either one or anything in between. I personally like the lightweight stuff and topwater action but carry gear to hit any depth- I also like windcheaters, stretches... hell, I like anything that catches fish. You can start out with lighter gear, hitting the topwater and casting along pilings with heavier lures and slow retrieves and add heavier gear as you go along. The heavier stuff seems to cost more bucks all the way around. The heaviest reels I use are TLD 15's and 20's and they are recent acquisitions. Don't be afraid to experiment! And the heavy tackle doesn't always get the heaviest fish. Our best rockfishing memory is an afternoon on the way in that we decided to troll some storms and hit a school of big fish. 2 rods went down with large fish and from then on we cast to fish literally making whirlpools when sucking down baitfish on the surface. For an hour and 15 minutes, we worked that school alone (by the anchorage heading into Lynhaven) and caught nothing smaller than 38" and up to 50" on light spinning gear. We may never have a better day though we have caught bigger fish.

I second staying on the marks- if it is off where you are, it is likely to be off all around. When the bite turns on, you want to be on the fish! And as we all know now, radio reports are for the most part worthless. Most folks use their phones to relay worthwhile info. Become a subscriber to VBSF and print out the phone numbers on the subscriber forum and use it. If you know a boat on the list is out there, you can call and get good info or pass along what you have found. Don't be afraid to share if you expect to learn from others.

I am still learning, too, and look forward to hearing from others. Tight lines!

Something else that has produced for me on slow days is casting a jig with a Gulp! eel along pilings and structure, letting it drop progressively deeper and with a slow retrieve. We have begun eeling but don't always have the live variety with us. It has saved us before on an otherwise unproductive trip and usually produces fish in the upper slot.

G&H,

Another "Great" topic.

When you encounter a Bee hive of birds working....... Don't troll thru the center........ Work the outside edges. Try not to drive everything back to the bottom.

Make sure that all of your hooks are sharp. Use a red or black sharpie to prevent rusting. After using your Mojos wash well in fresh water. When the hair gets tangled use some non-scent conditioner and use a Barbie comb to make them look like new again.

Enjoy this "Great Fishery" and Catch Em up.

See you all on the water!!!!

Capt. Scott

Scott the behive rule should be punishable by death. Yes I do feel alittle girlish when Iam washing my mojos hair.HAHAH
Todd

Scott- You forgot to add "eat your wheaties!". Big fish eat those pretty, combed out, conditioned mojos.....period. I cant wait to hear that certain captain yelling "get that mother @#@$%@^%! in the boat!"

yes, I have heard that Scott gets somewhat excited when boating fish.....now myself, I am the picture of serenity, the fountain of peace, the bearer of calm when we get covered up in Tuna or Mahi....I never yell....Bob

I have not fished with Scott yet, but I have with Bob and I know he is speaking the truth....Mr. Calm, Cool, and Collected.....


I thought of another Tip, one I learned from a certain Yellow Boat Capitain:

1. Fishing with Mojo's, daisey chains, or umbrella rigs, or any type of heavy, tangley, thing. Do not attach to rods until you are on location. The banging around only hurts your gel coat, lure, and tangles stuff up. If you leave the 3-way swivel on your rod and have some 4 and 6' leaders rigged up with snaplock swivels on each end, it is a snap to deploy your rigs once on site. That way you can keep your sinkers, mojos, daisey chains, stowed safely away where they do not tangle or bang around on the run out.

Ok,

I have no idea what you are talking about!!!! I can only admit, " I LOVE THE DAMN FISH". So with that being said, lets go give em hell this year and "Catch Em Up".

One other tip. "Dont forget the net"

And by the way, "wheaties" are good for you too!


Capt. Scott

One other tip. "Dont forget the net"



Scott, you don't know how good of a tip that is.....that is something we forget on a regular basis!!!

Hi Fellows,
I'm new here but thought I would contribute if that's ok because I appreciate the tips you are offering. In the first post related to grabbing the leader when landing a fish on a stretch, I use wind-on leaders which keeps everything tight and consistent until the fish is in the net and never touch the leader. I use it on all of my lines unless I have an in-line sinker. It makes everything easier.

Fin-isher - Welcome to the board! All tips are appreciated. Thats whats keeps this board the "Best Fishing Forum on the Internet"! Hands down......

Quote" I have a Mahi on Bob " " i don't give a sh*t, i saw porpoise over here" And i don't remember it being said in a soft voice. love ya !

I heard that was a Rumor

...Bob

Make sure to work the upper half of the water column...especially Dec/early Jan before the water gets real cold. Yes, a lot of fish are caught on the bottom or near the bottom but I've had many, many days when 80-90% of my fish came off my outrigger lines which I set pretty far back. I mainly fish 10-16 oz worth of "baits" via tandem rigs (large and small parachute or a large chute and spoon/tomic tandem). This has been very effective when you get suspended fish marks and the bite seems spotty...you'll pick at em' and turn a slow day into a good one. Stretch's also work well in these situations but I've done much better with tandem rigs off my riggers

Heres one that no one has brought up yet, Make sure before you leave the dock, everyone agrees on a time to return!

I can't tell you how many times I've taken my friends out and we are in the middle of a blitz when I hear, "Hey dude, my Wife wants me home now". I hate that

yes, that one sucks. there was a time when i thought my uncle whom is an avid fisherman would never invite me out to fish. it pissed me off. now that i am that fisherman, i now know that you have to very carefully select your fishing crew because not just anyone can sit on a boat for up to 16 hours without a bite and still have a good time. we are a special breed. i got that feva now.

Along the thought of 'Don't forget the net', has anyone used one of the lip gaffs (I don't know the right term) similar to Rapala's lock-n-weigh? I would assume they are legal but don't know about how practical. I 'obtained' one last year at a really dirt cheap clearance and it looks to be long enough to reach over and grab a big rock. Mine lacks the scale but is just hanging in my console. I figure its a good backup if I have net problems if nothing else.

Boga grips work fine, just remember to use the wrist strap, not that I forgot or anything, and it helps to put a float on the strap. Learned that one the hard way

Here's a tip: Always have enough shads (9in,6in,etc.). ya never know when that one beehive you troll by is covered in blues. happens every year to me

Dan

When I use eels I like to use a 7/0 inline circle hook. Have a bunch of them ready because the leader will get chaffed and you will go through them like crazy if your on a good bite. Also have some with 1/2 oz weights to cover the different areas of the water column.

When using umbrella rigs try inline weights this will keep you free of tangles vise using a using a three way swivel.

Don't be afraid of using small weights further back. This will help when the fish are not biting and feel pressure.

Hope this helps.

VooDoo

When the tide goes slack, I have learned to keep fishing because I caught my biggest cast fish in slack tide. (slot fish) I would work a swim bait or buck tail and bounce it off the bottom, I would lift up the rod and then let the bait fall and nail the bottom. It produces a dust cloud which attracts the fish so when you have that bait bouncing miserably off the bottom and begin to jig it back to ya the fish will nail it!! The fish think its an injured bait fish and usually hit it right as your start to move the bait back! (And the longer the cast the better so the bait is in the strike zone for a longer period of time) Now they do alot of reaction strikes so a soft tip rod makes it easier to hook the fish, A LOT EASIER! And fighting a big fish in slack current is fun because that fish will run a couple times. I hope this helps when the bite gets slow so that you can keep fishing and add just a different aspect of finesse fishing!
-GOOD LUCK
_manicone314

My two cents for what it worth....

a. Big bait = Big fish. When trolling with umbrella rigs I always have more biggens on than smallens.

b. Don't touch the numbers. I was blessed with some info from a good friend on how to get your umbrella rigs to a specific depth (20') in the water column. When things are slow I will muck about with one side of the boat but won't touch the other side cause I know eventually I will find some fish in that magic depth of 20'.

c. When anchored always put a menhaden chum bag on your anchor chain. I can't count the times I've caught fish all the while watching people next to me not catching a thing.

d. If it ain't chartroose, it ain't no use. I have caught these tasty critters on just about anything and believe they will eat just about anything, but when it is slow, I will always make sure I have some sort of chartroose plug/bait in the water. Pearl White is a close second.

e. Cast up current (varying distances) letting your plug drift back to the structure. This will ensure that your plug comes back to the structure at different depths. Usually the deeper you get the bigger they get.

f. Never pull more rigs than you can deal with if they go off at one time, especially in heavy traffic. Had all 6 poles go off on a spread one day at about the same time the fleet closed me. Only had 3 anglers on the boat. Impossible to real, steer and boat all of them and be safe all at the same time.

Most important tip of all, don't troll behind that guy named Marrdro and his 20' CC, Angler boat when he is anchored next to the structure (Bridge pilings/Rocks) he is fishing. He will absolutely throw some sort of lead weight at you no matter how big a cat you are. Just kidding, be courteous around other anglers especially if they were there first.

Great Stuff Marrdro, I do have 2 questions on the tips you gave....

1. Do you find that the 20' depth works well no matter what the total water depth is?

2. You bring up an interesting point about Pearl White, do you find that Pearl White is more effective than true white? I know that Chartruese is a killer, but have always wondered if the difference in the Pearl White and True White matters that much.... opinions anyone??

Haven't been at fishing the bay long. Started in 2004 when I wandered out of Ft Monroe with my bass boat one weekend to fish the Hampton bar so I don't have alot of historical data to back it up but yes, the 20' mark seems to be were I get most of my fish regardless of the depth.

That doesn't mean I haven't caught them deeper or shallower, but that is my starting point all the time.

As to the colors, again, not much historical data but I have had pearls go off when whites don't. Whats important to remember though, this is only applicable when the fish aren't biting very well. What I've really found is that when Stripers are actively feeding (bait ball above em) they will bite on just about anything that gets within reach.