Striped bass are some of the strongest fighters and most fun to fish for. Here are the best lures to catch this awesome fish next time you are on some.
Gibbs Danny Surface Swimmer
Where, When and Who
Along Long Island on New York’s southwestern coast, from Jones Inlet to Fire Island, Capt. Al Lorenzetti targets striped bass on current edges along inshore sandbars from late May through mid-July, and then again in October and November.
Lure Choice and Conditions
“When I’m anchored ahead of a rip, the blunt tip of the Danny, plus that metal lip, gives it a wobble that stripers want to pounce on, even with minimal forward motion through the water. Just the current makes the plug work.”
How and Why
“One angler on one side of the boat just holds the lure right in front of the edge of the rip. Another angler on the other side casts behind the rip and reels right up to it. The most experienced angler in a group of three then throws between the two and reels the plug right along the rip line, just fast enough to make it wobble. It lays over side to side and looks like the slow-moving bunker or shad that frequent those rips.”00:0202:28
Size and Color
3½-ounce in yellow (which is intended to resemble bunker)
Unique Rig
Bend the metal lip down, not quite to 90 degrees, to keep the lure on top, where it’s easier to keep an eye on it as well as see spectacular striper surface bites.
When to Switch
“Casting into the wind, the line tends to foul the Danny’s front hook, and if I can’t get close, like at a breaking inlet bar, it doesn’t cast far enough.” At such times, Lorenzetti goes with Gibbs’ Polaris Popper. “It doesn’t foul, and I can throw it a country mile.”
-Lorenzetti is a pro staffer for Gibbs.
Rapala Skitter Walk
Where, When and Who North Carolina sounds — really, one huge, shallow inland sea — provide stripers year-round, with “dynamite action from late April through November,” says Capt. Gary Dubiel.
Lure Choice and Conditions
If he knows where to cast, and stripers are either in shallow water or actively feeding on top, Dubiel says the distinct, loud rattle of the Skitter Walk attracts bigger fish than most other lures will.
How and Why
“Use a lot of rod tip and reel slowly” — the classic walk-the-dog, Dubiel says. “Rock the bait aggressively side to side to move that big rattle inside, and keep it moving toward you with slow momentum. The rhythmic noise and motion seem to trigger fish.”
Size and Colors
4 3/8-inch with a white or chartreuse belly, or — in particularly dark, tannic water — a model in orange hues
When to Switch
In choppy water that muffles noise, or when fish are deeper or more scattered, Dubiel prefers the louder sound and heartier surface action of Storm’s Rattlin’ Chug Bug, a cup-faced popper, which he says is also easier for many anglers to fish properly.
-Dubiel is a pro staffer for Rapala.
Rebel Jumping Minnow
Where, When and Who
Beginning in May, striped bass show up on bars and along marsh edges on the Merrimack River, just south of the Massachusetts/New Hampshire border, says Capt. Chris Valakatgis.
Lure Choice and Conditions
“On a calm day, you see the Jumping Minnow on top, even if it stops, and you hear the rattle. That helps get you into a rhythm and adjust your retrieve until you find the cadence that entices bites.”
How and Why
“Start with a slow walk-the-dog motion, then use slow twitches of the rod tip to make the bait swing out wider to the side. If stripers are breaking on the surface, try speeding up the cadence and tightening the zigzag.”
Size and Color
4½-inch in bone
Unique Rig
Replace original hooks with larger No. 1 or No. 2 trebles to handle 40-inch fish, but crush barbs to aid releasing smaller schoolies.
When to Switch
“The Jumping Minnow is so light, it’s hard to cast in any wind, and if it’s choppy, you need a lure with more surface commotion to stand out,” Valakatgis says, so in those conditions, he switches to the rear-weighted Cordell Pencil Popper for better casting and heartier action.
Sebile Magic Swimmer
Where, When and Who
After spawning in the Hudson and Delaware rivers, stripers return to the coast beginning late in March and hang there through June, says Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey, Capt. John Luchka.
Lure Choice and Conditions
“When adult bunker are around, the fast-sinking Magic Swimmer targets fish on the surface, midwater and all the way to the bottom,” Luchka says. Stripers are drawn to the vibration the jointed body creates and, the guide says, it looks like an injured fish once the fish get close.
How and Why
“They’re not super aggressive until they’ve had a few meals. Cast the lure outside the edge of the bait school so it looks like a wounded bait separated from the school. Let it sink, then bring it in slowly a couple of cranks and pause, a couple more cranks, and pause. They crush it on that pause.” A faster retrieve entices those same fish after they’ve eaten and become more aggressive.
Size and Colors
7½-inch, 3-ounce fast-sinking in bunker, or the brighter American shad color in murky water
When to Switch
When smaller prey are prevalent, Luchka prefers “Sebile’s Stick Shadd, which is a bit rounder, and better matches the body shape of peanut bunker.”
-Luchka is a pro staffer for Sebile.
Shimano ColtSniper Jerkbait
Where, When and Who
Chris Fox’s flexible schedule gets him on the lower Chesapeake Bay as regularly as many pro captains where, from October through early December, he parlays that expertise into frequent striper, trout and redfish slams, all from one lure.
Lure Choice and Conditions
Near the mouth of the York and James rivers, green shrimp — which are actually white — show up thick in shallow water near man-made structure such as old pier pilings. “The ColtSniper’s lip drives the lure underwater a foot or two, where the long, skinny body and white color match the shrimp.”
How and Why
From deeper water, “cast it up on a flat and just reel it in slowly. It flashes white as it wobbles and rolls side to side. The fish usually hammer it right at that drop-off,” he says. As the water temperature falls below 50 degrees, “I slow the retrieve drastically, almost to the point of boredom,” he says — until a 40-inch striped bass piles on.
Size and Colors
140 mm (5.5 inches) in bone color with pink highlights underneath
When to Switch
When the fish hang deeper than the ColtSniper will reach, “I switch to a sinking version of Hayward Tackle’s Genesis and twitch it for a walk‑the‑dog action.”
Strategic Angler Cruiser
Where, When and Who
Along Cape Cod’s eastern shore and north past Cape Ann, Massachusetts, from mid-May through mid-July, tremendous currents from 12-foot tides over bottom with minimal structure to hide behind force striped bass into huge, roaming packs. They’re “more like open-water pelagics” — not their normal ambush hunting style, says Capt. Dom Petrarca.
Lure Choice and Conditions
For about an hour on either side of slack tide, Petrarca says, “the stripers push the mackerel to the surface and attack from underneath. The long, wide Cruiser makes a lot of surface noise and offers the mackerel profile that bass are keyed in to.”
How and Why
“Every couple of cranks, give a light twitch to the left [for spinners with the handle on the left side]. The wide body is weighted so the narrow nose digs in and it kicks out to the side, then comes back in an S pattern,” Petrarca says, which mimics the quick lateral movements of mackerel fleeing predators.
Size and Color
10-inch in a blue- or green-mackerel pattern
Unique Rig
Owner Stinger 3/0 treble hook plus a Gamakatsu 8/0 live-bait hook at the tail
When to Switch
During ripping currents between high and low tides, striped bass change hunting tactics. “They stack up, looking like a long wave on the fish finder in the middle of the water column.” That huge wall of striper mouths swimming with the current sucks up any unfortunate prey it rolls across. “Get in front of the school, and drop a 3- or 4-ounce jig.”
-Petrarca is a pro staffer for Strategic Angler.
All credit for this awesome list goes to Sport Fishing Magazine. https://www.sportfishingmag.com/best-lures-for-striped-bass/
