Fishing for Trophy Striped Bass - Second Installment
As the summer season continues, and the water begins to warm the
shallower coastal waters, the striped bass begin to migrate to
deeper inshore areas and take up station around rips and drop offs.
Beginning in early July and continuing into late September, if you wanted
to take a big fish, it meant primarily fishing at night drifting eels over
structure and inshore rips. However, with the comeback of stripers
another technique for taking bass in daylight is bunker chunking. This is
a "deadly" method when done properly has taken many large fish. Chunking
is effective in all inshore areas where there is structure and moderate
tidal flow. I would recommend fishing early in the morning to coincide
with the proper stage of the tide and a minimum of boat traffic. Check
with the local tackle shops in the area for the latest information.
I do most of my daytime summer bass fishing on the rips around Montauk
Point, New York. I have seen this technique work on both the north
and south shore of Long Island as well as on Cape Cod.
Tackle consists of a medium heavy boat rod of approximately 7 feet
with a 3/0 size reel spooled with 30 lb. mono line. Tie a Spider
Hitch knot into your 30 lb. mono with 3 feet of doubled line. Then tie
on a 100 lb. black ball bearing swivel to the doubled line with an
improved clinch knot. Tie on 6 feet of 80 lb. mono shock leader to
the swivel and an 8/0 black Mustad or Gamakatsu Octopus or Live Bait
hook to the shock leader.
The boat should be positioned uptide of the structure approximately
200 yards and drop your anchor. Tie off your anchor line so the boat
is positioned just uptide (150-200 feet) from the structure. You are
now ready to fish.
The fish lay back just downtide of the structure looking for a meal.
Start by preparing your bunker by cutting a fairly large chunk to go
on your hook. Use a large piece cut from the center of the bunker
that has the belly guts intact. Cut up the head and tail pieces into
small pieces and start dropping a few small pieces over the side to
start a slick. Do not chum too heavily or you will bring in the
bluefish.
Place the chunk on your hook by inserting the hook once through the
back of the chunk. Then put your reel in free spool and let the chuck
float naturally back in the current. Let it drop back about 150 feet.
If you do not get a pick up, reel in and start over. Another way is
to put on a fish finder rig with a sinker and walk it back it the tide
about the same distance. Fresh bunker is key to success. Also,
changing your bait frequently is also important. Once the guts have
washed out of the chunk it's time for a fresh piece of bait.
Usually it takes about 10-15 minutes for the bass to respond to the
scent of the bait. However, I have seen them hit immediately. As
the fish begin to bite, they will start to come closer to the
boat as the tide begins to slacken. Eventually they can come right up
to the stern of the boat. It's then that I have my casting or fly rod
ready to throw a plug or bunker fly and really have some fun.
Last year the fishing was spectacular at Montauk. We usually limited
out early and spent the rest of the day chasing fluke or sea bass.
You will usually land a lot of fish between 15-25 lb. Please remember
to practice conservation and think about putting that cow back to
fight another day.
I hope to see you out there.
Return to Al Goldberg's Tackle Corner, Al's Columns or Dave's Homepage.
Beginning in early July and continuing into late September, if you wanted to take a big fish, it meant primarily fishing at night drifting eels over structure and inshore rips. However, with the comeback of stripers another technique for taking bass in daylight is bunker chunking. This is a "deadly" method when done properly has taken many large fish. Chunking is effective in all inshore areas where there is structure and moderate tidal flow. I would recommend fishing early in the morning to coincide with the proper stage of the tide and a minimum of boat traffic. Check with the local tackle shops in the area for the latest information.
I do most of my daytime summer bass fishing on the rips around Montauk Point, New York. I have seen this technique work on both the north and south shore of Long Island as well as on Cape Cod.
Tackle consists of a medium heavy boat rod of approximately 7 feet with a 3/0 size reel spooled with 30 lb. mono line. Tie a Spider Hitch knot into your 30 lb. mono with 3 feet of doubled line. Then tie on a 100 lb. black ball bearing swivel to the doubled line with an improved clinch knot. Tie on 6 feet of 80 lb. mono shock leader to the swivel and an 8/0 black Mustad or Gamakatsu Octopus or Live Bait hook to the shock leader.
The boat should be positioned uptide of the structure approximately 200 yards and drop your anchor. Tie off your anchor line so the boat is positioned just uptide (150-200 feet) from the structure. You are now ready to fish.
The fish lay back just downtide of the structure looking for a meal. Start by preparing your bunker by cutting a fairly large chunk to go on your hook. Use a large piece cut from the center of the bunker that has the belly guts intact. Cut up the head and tail pieces into small pieces and start dropping a few small pieces over the side to start a slick. Do not chum too heavily or you will bring in the bluefish.
Place the chunk on your hook by inserting the hook once through the back of the chunk. Then put your reel in free spool and let the chuck float naturally back in the current. Let it drop back about 150 feet. If you do not get a pick up, reel in and start over. Another way is to put on a fish finder rig with a sinker and walk it back it the tide about the same distance. Fresh bunker is key to success. Also, changing your bait frequently is also important. Once the guts have washed out of the chunk it's time for a fresh piece of bait.
Usually it takes about 10-15 minutes for the bass to respond to the scent of the bait. However, I have seen them hit immediately. As the fish begin to bite, they will start to come closer to the boat as the tide begins to slacken. Eventually they can come right up to the stern of the boat. It's then that I have my casting or fly rod ready to throw a plug or bunker fly and really have some fun.
Last year the fishing was spectacular at Montauk. We usually limited out early and spent the rest of the day chasing fluke or sea bass. You will usually land a lot of fish between 15-25 lb. Please remember to practice conservation and think about putting that cow back to fight another day.
I hope to see you out there.