I'm spoiled by striper in this one spot in town. Yanked in a few yesterday on a little ugly-stick. I was going after the Mack's that the striper corner into the harbor, so you can imagine my surprise and joy when I hooked the first striper. Unfortunately they were too short.
Hey Mike, thanks for the video. I don't have sonar on my little Jon boat, but I will combine what you just demonstrated with the underwater topography with some NOAA maps showing depths and contours in my local rivers. Do you ever use blue crabs for bait? If so can you use hard crabs, or just soft ones?
Great question and great game plan, using charts. I have not personally used a whole Blue Claw crab for bait, but I absolutely would in the right situation. I would use them wherever I see commercial crab and lobster pots. Drifting a live crab or live lobster can be deadly in those areas because the Stripers get trained to eat the bycatch getting thrown back, short crabs and lobsters are easy pickings when dropped from the surface. Stripers learn to hang around those pots. We cleaned a few fish up in Massachusetts near some pots and the bellies were full of shellfish. The smaller fish had green crabs and the larger had several lobsters in their bellies. Of course we aren’t local to that area so we would have to buy legal live Lobster which can be expensive, but if you live by Good lobster water you can get a license to catch your own legally. Just check the regs in your area first. Don’t want to break the law.
I'm 53 years old, been fishing since I was 5. This might be the best fishing video I've ever seen, it is certainly the best striper video I've ever seen. This man knows what he is talking about. Well done Mike, clear, concise, and accurate knowledge anyone can understand.
I just logged on and watch the video and that's exactly what I was going to say and then I just saw your comment I mean it is a so thorough video makes too much sense
Mike, how do you handle the current/tide. I’m pulling up on spots but in my area in the river the current can be moving pretty good. Add a weight and I think those fish know it’s being held down. I see you live lining bunkies but if I let em run I’d be out of line before I know!
Current is not really an issue if you are drifting. You don’t have current pulling against your bait because you are all moving at the same pace. You can still use no weight. I personally don’t let the fish run if I have a long line, there is so much stretch in a long line that the fish won’t feel you too soon. (braid stinks for live bait.). On a short line I will let the fish run, but only for a second or three.
Do these salt water fish make it down to South Carolina coast? Fish Murray,Russell, and the Hill a ton. I want to feel a salt water one pull the ol string? Thanks for the awesome videos
I will be near Harrisburg, PA in late Oct. or early Nov. I would like a striper charter for 3 people. 80, 50, and 16 yr old. Three generations. Do you do charters or can you recommend someone? Thanks, Don
thanks Mike for sharing your knowledge. you def, speak the truth. u never know what to expect out there more often than not its hard to find bait fish and you have to resort to other means (chunk, plugs & trolling etc.) (Gloucester area)
Thanks brother!! The more flexible you are the better. I think that’s why I like Striper fishing so much. Dozens of ways to catch them. Appreciate the comment!! 👍
Its funny I gave up looking for stipers and went to look for other species and find A whole bunch of stripers in less than A foot of water on A marsh island next to A deep chanel.
Mike, we have massive pogie schools up north. They go for miles and miles and while there are some fish under them, mostly unbothered. Any suggestions?
Be near that bait as the sun starts to go down, if you can set up chunks under them or drift live Pogies thru them. We rarely see the bait get bothered but we catch fish under it constantly. It takes a lot of energy to chase an adult Pogie, they are fast as lightning. The big girls sit and wait for an opportunity very near the bait, like a fresh chunk, a live injured Pogie (hooked bait). If you have miles of bait I wouldn’t go very far from it. 👍👍
Mike Smedley Thanks and noted! Saw a solid 50 inch fish come up for my pogie yesterday but she saw the boat and was game over. I sometimes see voids and look for the arches hoping stripers are clearing spots out. Works like 1 out of 20x. Frustrating to fish in the big schools though,
If you can find shallow areas with bait schools that’s where I would fish. A Striper can’t run down a healthy adult Bunker in 50ft of water without burning more energy than it would receive, but it’s another story in 5ft if water. Every try netting Pogies in 50ft? It’s very tricky, (impossible for the untrained) but in 5 ft it’s cake. Think like a Striper 😁 This probably wasn’t too far from you. Where do you fish?
Mike Smedley Northern MA and Southern NH coast. Used to be that the scene boats would decimate the schools and for years and maybe over a decade we never saw a pogie. The last 3-4 years though, there is more pogie flesh than water within several thousand feet from most shorelines. Fished pogie schools in 4-8 fow but only found schoolies. They love the tinker macks and better chance for a legit keeper (28-34”). I do hope that the reason the fishing is so bad is due to the over abundance of bait. We have dolphins, humpbacks, orcas, and bluefin coming within 1/2 mile from shore now feeding in these pogie buffets.
I've been fishing Boston harbor for 50 years. You have the best tips and technique I have ever seen. Dammit you're good, Mike Smedley. I really enjoyed seeing those young guys scoring. I always enjoy myself more when there are kids on board like you had here, (they did an outstanding job by the way with their fish.) I think it's because, when it comes to striper fishing - I'm a kid, too, even though I'm 55. Also, as a diehard dock chunk fisherman, I can confirm that FRESH bait is best. It really does make a difference! 20 minute rule is a wise policy. PS- I really enjoyed your sonar for dummies videos. I have a Raymarine Axiom 7 and I was not looking at what I was seeing correctly until I watched your videos. Thank you so much Captain. It is important to me to become a better fisherman every year and your advice is very solid.
Wow. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the kind words brother. Thanks for taking the time to comment 👍😁😁. It means a lot coming from a salty vet like yourself.
Mike, I am in the process of purchasing a 228. I like the splash guard/cover you have over the windshield. Where can you get that? I've been looking. I was hoping to block more wind from the center console leaning post for travel to make create a more comfortable/friendly discussion area. Blocked wind equals noise reduction which makes easier to talk and or hear music.
Wow. That’s always a good problem 😁. The Frabil folding nets have really taken one heck of a beating! The only problem is those little push buttons always break off and need to be replaced.
The best tip for not breaking a landing net is to not try and lift the fish like a spoon - horizontally. Too much pressure on the pole. Watch videos of how big fish are landed by pointing the handle up to the sky and lifting it vertically, all the pressure is on the webbing of the net, and you won't bend or break your net handle.
Use live caught scup bergalls as well as bunker cast net snag that sonar was lit 🔥 check out the Karen Ann guy Vinnie Calabro he floats the back canals and dock lines under the street lights at night to cast net perfect sized bunker before dawn before heading out to breezy,sometimes bass only want dead stiff bunker.you got Jeramy hooked for life and that’s what it’s about
Hey brother!! Those are rails I designed to be popped in or out whenever you want. I attached Smith rod holders to the rails. I had a welder making them for anyone that wants them, unfortunately I’m not comfortable recommending that welder anymore. The rails are 18”x18”. 1-1/4” aluminum pipe welded at a 30degree angle. You can give these numbers to any welder and they can make them for you. 👍👍👍👍
Hey I have question please i live at south Jersey and I go pretty much hunt for stripers every other day and I don’t catch stripers at all usually I fish at lake but now I fish at saltwater And I use shrimp to catch stripers they work 💯 and bait fish sometimes But I be hearing people saying that all the striper are at the north side why they go at the north is that why I am not catching stripers beside shark and blues Also I do bank fishing thanks 🙏
Right now the migratory fish are out of NJ. They are up north in Gloucester, Montauk area. They leave when the water gets warm. There are always some resident fish around but are mostly smaller and hard to find. The big groups of fish will be back in October
There’s a ton of peanut bunker around. Do they make a smaller flutter spoon to match the size or what else could we use. Thanks Mike. I’m loving my new rods from Rich coulson. Thank you again
You need to come and try this in Northern AR. My dad and I have been fishing Beaver and Norfork for 20+ yrs and I've never seen anyone (or even a guide) use chunk bait fishing. It's either live gizzard shad or casting to visibly active fish via a jump or following the birds. We rarely even catch any trolling or casting lures, only top water but they can't really be that much different - can they???
When you talk about fishing the shallow water, and about that it has to be close to deep water, what do you mean by close to deep water? Like within 50ft of the channel,100ft?
Mike Smedley really?! 😯 could you take me out fishing with you? Love to learn from you 🙌🏽 swear Im doing something wrong because I always nail sharks and rays 😒
You’re probably just out there at the wrong time. The biomass of Stripers is there mainly form March to mid June. Of course there are resident fish that stay all summer, but those are very difficult to find. Email me if you need more details. Mikesmedley9@gmail.com
You guys are lucky to have large stripers 20-30 pounds. West coast stripers are so small. The government really screwed up the salmon and striper fishery. We only see 10 pound striper as big. No more 30-40 pounders.
I just subscribed. Great info. I'm buying a Grady and want to learn all I can. Question, when you find these spots will they be spots you can rely on in the future. Nothing is 100 percent but if u caught them there will they be a good spot in future. I'll be fishing block island and buzzards bay and Cape cod bay.
Good question. Usually, but there are lots of variables. I’m not really a spot hunter because of the variables (bait presence, water temp, tides), but they can be good starting points. You’ll find a handful of spots that usually work and others that never work again.
Mortality rates are actually extremely low for Striped Bass released in saltwater water when hooked in the mouth. The Mortality rates are however extremely high when released into the cooler.
Youre right in the deep channel carved by the Susquehanna right there. Chunking, Trolling, all of it will land fish at that spot. It looks like a parking lot on weekends so you know it's good. Most of the 25s and up have migrated back north to cooler water but there are still plenty of keepers left.
2SaltyDicks Fishing The biggest fish seem to handle extreme cold better than the schoolies and the schoolies seem to handle the warmer weather better than the Big girls. But even that can be proven wrong sometimes. Most of the places we fish the big girls leave when temps reach 74-75. Schoolies May hang there all year long. Even when water hits 80’s.
I too like to fish stripers and bluefish up here in Ma. I could remember when I was a kid we used to catch Squeteague aka Weakfish. Have you guys ever caught these fish? I haven't seen them around for ages and don't think there is to many of them around anymore. I just remember how beautiful looking there where! Thank you!
Thanks for the tip. I went to Lake Murray SC Friday and used this tactic, found the fish on the side of a hump, spot locked on them and had a 4 man limit in 69 minutes!
No. They come with great hooks. I do add another split ring and swivel between the hook and spoon. If you don’t do that you will lose a few fish. The length of the spoon can work as a lever across the fishes head when it turns just right and the hook pops out. The swivel allows the spoon to turn. 👍👍👍👍
Another great video, thanks! There is a steep channel edge relatively near my dock that I frequent. It's a nice steep ledge that goes from 55ft deep up to 15 feet with a nice rip-rap pile and buoy on the shallow side. 99% of the time I'm there there is a thick school of big stripers hanging deep around 50ft. The fish are almost always there, down deep, year round. If I hit that spot early morning on a good moving tide, I'll sometimes find the fish shallow around the rip rap and have a nice run of catching, but most of the time I don't mark any fish shallow and they're all down deep with lock-jaw. I just can't get those deep fish to bite, they won't take jigs, live bait, cut bait, deep trolling, nothing. It's a thick school too. Am I barking up the wrong tree trying to target them deep? Should I set up on the shallow side and try to chum them up, even though I don't mark any fish in the shallow?
Yes and yes. You got it figured bro. That’s what I would do. I leave deep fish deep most times. If they don’t bite right away I set up shallow nearby. 👍👍
@@MikeSmedleyOLDSCHOOLSTRIPERS Thanks for the reply, I really appreciate it. Follow up question: If you're fishing on a limited time schedule, say you have to pack it up in 2-3 hrs, would you set up shallow next to that big school holding down deep in hopes that they'll be enticed up to feed, or keep searching and try to find another school of more active fish at the risk of burning up more time?
That’s the ultimate question. It would depend on time of day. If it’s a few hours before dark I would set up shallow close by. Especially if I can find a hump or sharp ledge. If it’s middle of the day or any time after 10am I would probably leave if I only had a few hours.
Like the video a lot !!!!! Mostly in all your videos, you include great tips, instruction, discuss techniques, etc regarding bait rigging, rods, electronics etc…. This is what puts you apart from most of not all of the RU-vid video guys. Great videos .. keep up the good work!!!!
Hey mike big fan of yours. Was wondering when you chunk and the striker takes off with the bait how long do you wait before you set the hook. Same question goes for live bunker? Thank you and keep on showing us your fans these great videos.
Thanks brother!! I really appreciate that!! I personally rarely let a fish run with the bait. We use soft rod tips and mono that stretches so the fish can turn the bait into its throat without feeling the rod and spitting it out. This is plenty of time with a locked up reel. Lock em up!! 👍