Time for surf fishing for stripers.

 

In Spring Striped Bass linger off open beaches. You’ll find them in the rips and where tidal streams flow into bays or open water. They also like rock jetties or concert walls, under docks, piers and bridges.

 

Striped Bass that are found land-locked in reservoirs and lakes that have been seeded by fishing programs.

 

Some bass such as the freshwater Shoal Bass and the saltwater based European Bass, can’t exist in reservoirs and lakes. But the Striped Bass has no trouble surviving in freshwater. However as they migrate in spring they head north along the outside of beaches to their summer grounds.

Fly Fishing for Striped Bass

If you’ve never attempted fly fishing, it’s an exciting way to fish. Don’t be afraid to try fly fishing for stripers in open salt water.

 

Fly fishing for striped bass has been going on for more than 100 years in the ocean. Just make sure you use saltwater gear as the harsh saltwater conditions will destroy freshwater gear.

 

Historically anglers have used the same tackle and gear that is used to catch large salmon.

 

*We recommend reels and lines capable of handling 40 lbs to 50 lbs/18 kg to 23 kg bass.

Picky Eaters

The most important aspect to understand about striped bass fishing is that they’re very picky eaters, preferring one type of food at a time. They’ll gorge themselves on a particular prey and they’ll ignore everything else. Once they’ve had a chance to relax after gorging, they’ll gorge again and repeat the process. This pattern is not just common to one fish, but all stripers in the same school.

 

The best tip here is that you need to be aware of the most popular prey for a given area and just try one lure after another. In some areas, this is a simple task, while others it could take several hours to figure out what they’re eating at that time.

Spawning

From late April to July is spawning time for Striped Bass. Spawning begins early in the south while it may not start until summer in the north.

As a result spring fishing techniques may work very well in Nova Scotia in the summer time, when they’d normally work well in April and May in North Carolina.