Number 21 – Weather, Temperature and change, I’m talking water temperature. I am not sure I would have stated this before this year but I think the best water temperature in fall at least is somewhere between upper 50s and upper 40s. Good news for us on the bay is that the water temps rarely drop below 50 until Jan. As for air temp I would say it changes the water temp and is a portion of the weather factor but otherwise not important.
Number 22 – Weather, Barometric Pressure and change, the actual pressure is not as critical as the direction and I think even more critical is the speed of the change. Best conditions I believe is a sudden change from high pressure to low. Now all things considered this does not last as long as you may think and I don’t know enough to tell you how long that is so get it done early.
During this time the fish know they are going into a lull so they try to eat as much as possible. Worst is when there is a sudden increase in pressure. This is because stripers have a swim bladder for buoyancy that gives them an uncomfortable feeling during this change. A good bite can easily be had as well on maybe the second day of relatively unchanged pressure. So if the pressure is just meandering for a few days in a row go any day except the day that it reaches that point. There are certainly as many opinions as there are fishermen and scientists will tell you that the pressure can’t change quickly enough for it to matter. I agree it is just one of the 50 things but my log book declares it does matter.
Number 23 – Weather storms, I’m not a fan of thinking that rough water slows them down much. A windy day would not be a problem for the fish, the fisherman yes it can be zero fun to be out on a windy day.
Number 24 – Fishing Poles, well let’s get started but I will likely break this one down into the various kinds of fishing you can do for stripers as opposed to hard line stance on a particular brand, style, etc. I will tell you after I have been fishing for a whole bunch of years is to buy something better than you would think you need. Yes, pretty much any kind of equipment can work in the best of days and with small to medium size fish but to land the trophy a ton of things must go right and your equipment will be tested. Are you ready to pass that test?
Number 25 – Fishing Poles – Boat Rods, yep designed to be connected to the boat, like during trolling. I like these aspects of the rod, your mileage will vary but give this some thoughts. I like a medium action rod any more and it’s a telephone pole and you may need that for tuna but if you are in the Chesapeake Bay medium is completely fine. You feel the fish more, better for a novice and you just have more fun. Length, I prefer 6 or 6.5 feet certainly no more and if you have less by a little that is ok but I am not a big fan of the much shorter cousins.
Number 26 – Fishing Poles – Jigging Rods, for me the lighter the better. It gets heavy quick if you are jigging a medium action rod with a big jig in deeper water. But, for me if I am jigging it is probably early in the season and we are catching a lot of undersized fish. Now there is nothing much more fun especially if you have a kid on board than to jig in a big school of small stripers. We tend to catch one every time you put the jig down so it is the best way ever to get our youth interested in fishing. Be sure to remove the treble hook completely and add back a single hook. It is far easier to keep fishing and it is far less likely to hurt a fish you will put back.
Number 27 – Fishing Poles – Casting, Well I use either a light action or again smaller in size. A bait caster works better for most but don’t give it to your friends, give them a spinning reel. When I go we work the flats and banks of the river and creeks. Again for me this is in the early season of fall or summer time fishing for fun.
Number 28 – Bait – Trolling probably best to see my entry on setups. I’ll make another entry in for “stretches”.
Number 29 – Bait Live -Well lets put at least two on the menu. Eels and spot, I’m sure there are many others but those tend to be the majority share. Striper love them both, I tend to float those and the boat along with the current.
Number 30 – Bait Jigs – Jigging especially in the early season can be fun. If you find them you can catch hundreds even one every cast if you are lucky. No question if you compare trip for trip jigging produces more fish. However, they tend to all be throwbacks. But…if you have a child with you there may never be a better way to fish. For baits I find better success with the rainbow and tiger colors. For weight size that depends on depth and current but somewhere between one and five ounces. For the hook if you do nothing else cut at least one or two of the barbs off, you will have plenty of throwbacks and we certainly don’t want to harm the fish in any way.