Why do you think this is ?

[Fish Chris]

In my Striper spot, I can and do nail the Stripers consistently, on live Split Tails. Obviously, this is the prime forage for the Stripers in that area.

.....and I have caught Stripers in the past, on artificial lures (Rattle Traps, Hair Raisers, Flukes, etc + night crawlers and other types of baitfish) in other areas.

But I can't seem to buy a Striper bite, on anything other than a Split Tail in the hot Striper area I've been fishing the last 3 months ! I've thrown wakebaits, swimbaits, rattletraps, you name it ! I've even stayed after dark a few X's.... but not so much as a touch, on anything but, a Split Tail ???

So next week, (if I can find a break in the rain ) the tide is a great one ! My shallow Striper bay will have a BIG outgoing, and drop all the way down to -0.8 feet ! This means that the part of the bay where they stack up, will probably get down to 8 inches ! (shallow enough to get me stuck if I'm not careful !) But this also means, that if (another big if) it's not windy, and choppy, I will actually be able to see the wakes, and even in the murky water, be able to tell exactly where the fish are at, so I'm able to crank my wakebait right in front of their noses !

So, yet again, I'm thinking, "Why wouldn't they hit an MS Slammer" ? I mean especially if I'm fishing in 1 1/2 feet of water ! They should, right ? It's just that all of my past experiences have shown otherwise.

Why do you think these fish are so single minded ?

Your thoughts and suggestions please.

Thanks,

Fish

PS, One nice thing, here in Cali, we have what's called a two rod stamp. So, I can still have one rigged Split Tail out there kicking and thrashing, while I use my other pole to throw artificials....

[SirSnookalot]

I have caught many stripers, in addition I fish with Stu Tinney who is one of the leading experts on fresh water stripers and Norm Brook who is a charter Captain from New Jersey, one of my snow bird friends, I hear lots of info about stripers.

Stripers are just like snook, will hit about anything a LMB will, in fact they call snook salt water LMB.

You seem to be overlooking eels, one of the most prolific striper baits.  If live is unavailable artificials are for sale, I think Storm makes them, I make my own out of surgical tubes.  A fisherman out of Maryland at one time was making and selling tubes for stripers, they caught on and soon was discovered they were barracuda magnets, some companies like Sea Striker market the tubes as "Cuda Tubes".http://www.seastriker.com/lures/lures_files/cudatubes.htm

I have hear people catching stripers on sausage, but have never witnessed it.

[RoLo]

In my experience as well, striped bass show a marked preference for natural bait over artificial lures.

I'm now out of the northeastern loop, but between Sandy Hook, NJ and Monmouth Beach, NJ

the most deadly bait was menhaden followed by herring. Jerseyites refer to menhaden as mossbunkers

and the method back then was known as Bunker Dunk'n (in a word...'devastating').

With respect to artificial lures for striped bass, I agree with SirSnook.

We've trolled up our share on Tony Accetta Pet spoons, but my favorite lure was surgical tubing,

which we called "surge tube

Roger

[Fish Chris]

I've never heard of live Eels for sale anywhere in Nor Cal. In the last few years, frozen Lamprey Eels have come on pretty strong for Sturgeon bait. I used to be able to get them for $5.95 from one local place.... but at regular bait stores, they can go anywhere from $15 to $30 each !

Once I was using a cut strip of Eel, for Sturgeon, and hooked almost certainly, a nice sized Striper, but it came ubuttoned before I got to see it. Somewhere it seems to me that I've seen large, soft plastic eels (6" to 9" ?) that could be rigged on a jig head, or even a wobble head, then casted, and retrieved.... and I'm not beyond trying this, but these Stripers just seem to be SOOO keyed in on those bright silver Split Tails....

Hmmmm.....

Just hope I don't get weathered out Mon and Tues !

Eels..........

Fish

[SirSnookalot]

I bassfished with Norm Brook yesterday afternoon and I asked him about eels.  Live eels are not his preference as he made the comparison to " deadsticking", too boring and no challenge was his assessment.  He likes artificial only for stripers, spoons,tubes,most any lure and umbrella rigs.  Norm and I feel the same about this, live bait is only used when all else fails, his exception are his paying customers who just want to catch fish.

[Catt]

I noticed over the years under certain conditions even bass will not hit artificial lures when they are feeding on live bait. Why? Can't answer that they just do!

[Crestliner2008]

In our neck of the woods, one fine presentation is the Striper Magnet by Bill Hurley lures. Here's the site:

http://www.codandstriperlures.com/products.php

I've been quite successful fishing the Striper Magnet in our CT River, where the stripers run up to the Holyoke Dam in the spring. Some approaching 20 lbs. - although I've never caught one that large - yet!

If you decide to try them, let me know and I'll take some pictures for you on how we rig them. Good Luck!

[RoLo]

I noticed over the years under certain conditions even bass will not hit artificial lures when they are feeding on live bait. Why? Can't answer that they just do!

To that I might add, I've had days when they wouldn't hit Lures OR Bait ;D

Getting back to stripers, we used live eels mostly after dark.

The worst part is handling slimy eels, in fact, it's nearly impossible without a dry rag.

Big eels are so powerful that even after they're swallowed by a striper,

they're known to slither their way to freedom through the striper's gullet.

Striped bass instinctively know this and really "wallop" an eel,

If you enjoy a ferocious strike, you'll love fishing live eels and surge tubes.

Roger

[Fish Chris]

To that I might add, I've had days when they wouldn't hit Lures OR Bait ;D

I think we can ALL relate to that one ! ;D

Fish

PS, Crestliner, their's a bunch of cool lures on that site. Link saved. Thank you.

[Alpster]

If they are keying on the shiny minnows, try a white double bladed spinnerbait. We have killed them on spinnerbaits when they are actively feeding on baitfish. Might be worth a try. If the water is as shallow as you say, maybe a surface popper or "walk the dog" lure could generate some interest.

Ronnie

[Fish Chris]

Alpster, well yes, they are keying on shiny minnows, but those shiny minnows are often 12" to 14" long ! That's why I always come back to an MS Slammer.

Another thing I've been thinking about, is throwing a #16 Hud, in spite of the fact the water is so shallow, and just burning it back as fast as I can, to keep it from sinking into the soft mud bottom. We all know that a person just can't crank it too fast, for a Striper to catch it.....

I remember burning rattletraps, a million miles an hour, and having Stripers blast it while swimming a million mile an hour, in the opposite direction ! ....and I was using braid no less ! Talk about the most bone jarring hits of my life ! But again, that was in other times and places.

I've just never seen Stripers SOOO freaking selective / picky, as they seem to be in this area.... which in one respect is probably a good thing. As even the guys that find out I'm sticking good ones in this area, have such a hard time catching the Split Tails in the first place. I guess I'm just lucky to have that part of it pretty dialed in. They can be tough sometimes, but I've never failed to stick a couple nice ones, every trip this year, anyway. Hope I didn't just jinx myself ! 

Peace,

Fish

[Fishing Rhino]

Stripers can be very finicky indeed.  Back around 1970 when we lived on Cape Cod, I was striper fishing in Pleasant Bay (Chatham/Orleans).

I was catching one now and again, but one fellow was slaying them.  I worked my way closer to get a glimpse of what he was using. 

When he unhooked one, I got a good look at his bait.  It was like nothing I had ever seen before.  It was about six inches long, and had a tail which curled up in a "J". 

I've always remembered that.  When I took up fresh water fishing again in 2008, I saw something that looked exactly like what he was using.  A Mister Twister.

A google search turned up the info that it was in that era that Mister Twister came into the marketplace.

I also looked at the website Crestliner recommended.  Some of those "eels" bear an amazing resemblance to the Rage Tail Anacondas. 

One of the common baits around here was sea worms.  Most came from Maine, and back then, it was not uncommon to get sea worms that were over a foot long.  Bass loved them, but so did a lot of the bait stealers.

Eel skins, rigged over an Atom plug were one of the mainstays of the Cuttyhunk charter boats.  They'd drill a hole in the front of the plug, remove the hooks, cut a groove around the plug just behind its head, pull the eel skin over the plug, secure it with wire at the groove, put the hooks back on, and they were ready to be trolled behind the boat.  The hole in the head of the plug allowed water to pass through and fill the skin. 

They kept them in jars of brine, so they wouldn't spoil.  Several bass could be caught on the same skin.

[Sam]

Fish, interesting post.

I have no idea what goes through a fish's mind.

If we could understand their behavior better we would catch more of them.

Let us know how you do. 

[bigredxlt]

Berkely gulp has some artificial eels that I have heard work pretty well, but I have trouble catching them on live eels so I havent had a chance to try them out.

[SirSnookalot]

Based on recent posts it seems as though you have a an easy, simple system in place already, I wouldn't change it.  Live baits usually will out catch artificial 5 or 10 to 1, the hardest part is catching the bait.  Been fishing down here for 30 years, the last 6 almost every single day, used live bait once.  Few seconds with a sabiki, herring on line, 20# snook all in less than 10 minutes, never used live bait again.

I love those fish you are catching, I'd really like to see a video of you catching one on micro lite using a plug, that would be real interesting.

[Fish Chris]

Well SirSnook....

On a micro-light... easy.

On a plug, quite a bit tougher (so far in this area, impossible)

On a plug on a micro-light... good luck.

.......although about 5 miles from my spot, I had an old buddy who was throwing a little, tiny 3" fluke, on a long, flimsy, steelhead (I think they call them, noodle rods ?) I believe with 10 lb mono, and he stuck the most beautful, fat, 48", 45 1/2 lb Striper I've ever seen ! That was at night though.

As long as you have a line in the water, anything is possible.

Oh but hey, I have been thinking about videos lately... and looking at some cameras....

Peace,

Fish

[roadwarrior]

If they are schooling and breaking on top:

http://www.basspro.com/Bomber-Saltwater-Grade-ASalt-Popper/product/10203398/-1495549

8-)

[Intrepid]

i suspect theres just an extremely high population of split tail so the striper have decided to make that their food of choice, once they eat the population of split tail down some, other things may start to work

[WRB]

Stripers are normally school feeders or group feeders for those who don't believe predators like LMB or stripers school up to feed.

If the stripers are large adults they have prey preferences and target that specific prey type. If your MS Slammer is the right color/profile and the stripers are active and competing to catch prey fish, you should be able to have some action on the artifical.

Uncle Josh still makes the 9" black widow pork rind and works OK for stripers (better LMB) on a 3/4 oz hair jig, if large worms or eels are in the area you are fishing.

Good luck.

Tom