Live Bait Striped Bass Fishing
Fishing for striped bass with live bait can be done from the shore or a boat. It is probably the most effective way to fish, since stripers love live bait.
This section has 5 subsections. Don't miss anything, visit them all!
- Summary descriptions of live bait for striped bass fishing
- More about: River Herring
- More about: Sea Herring
- More about: Menhaden
- More about: Spot
Live Eels
Throwing eels is similar to plug fishing, but instead of a plug you use live eels. Eels are pretty tough and will stay alive for quite awhile, and they will stay on the hook. Eels can be cast with no additional weight, but to cast them further you can add an egg sinker. Thread it and a bead on the line above a swivel and a length of leader, as in Colorado rigging for largemouth bass. After casting, eels are usually slowly retrieved along the bottom. Live eels are also a good bait to use for drift fishing through inlets, or over rips.
A good way to hook an eel is through the mouth, and out the bottom of the chin.
Eels do not need to be kept in water. They will stay alive for some time if you just keep them cool. If you keep them cold, they do not squirm and twist as much as you put them on the hook.
Herring
Blueback Herring
link to larger image
In the spring herring come into the bays and rivers and go up tidal creeks to spawn. The stripers are right behind them. The stripers are spawning too, but they love to eat herring. Herring are sometimes called "Striper Candy". The herring can be caught with nets in the tidal creeks as they bunch up near narrow spots or come upon a dam. Fisherman net the herring and store them in aerated containers. They then use them as live bait in the rivers where the stripers are spawning.
This is a very effective way to catch stripers. However, catching female stripers full of eggs before they spawn is not for me. In recent years herring have become scarce. A moratorium on catching river herring has been instituted in some New England states. Link to more about River Herring
Sea Herring
Striped bass also love Sea Herring. Sea Herring are quite different. Sea Herring are an ocean fish, and don't go into freshwater.
Live Bunker
Peanut Bunker
Link to more about Peanut Bunker
In the fall, juvenile bunker ( peanut bunker ) come out of the bays and estuaries and appear
all along the coast. They are often found in tight bunches near the surface and sometimes
in close to the beach.
Fishermen cast into them using a weighted treble hook, or a treble hook
with an egg sinker located about 15 inches ahead of it,
to snag the peanut bunker. Once snagged they are
reeled in and used for live bait on another rod. Some just let the snagged bunker drift to
the bottom, and then catch the strippers on the same treble hook. Both techniques work
and they are also used by boat fisherman on pods of bait further from the beach.
You can also fish live adult bunker in much the same way. Adult bunker are found more commonly in the spring, but also at other times.
A good way to hook live bunker is through the back, just in front of the dorsal fin.
Link to more pictures of bunker - Bunker.
Link to photo of bunker snagging rigs - Bunker Snagging Rigs
Spot
Spot - link to larger image
Spot are an excellent bait to fish live for striped bass, mostly from boats. Spot are expensive, but some fisherman pay the price. Stripers love spot.
To hook a live "Spot", put the hook through the open mouth and out behind the upper lip.
Mullet
Mullet
In the early fall, around the middle of September in NJ, there is a Mullet run. The mullet are often close to shore and tightly bunched, and are therefor easy to catch with a cast net.
Bluefish love mullet, and when you use them for bait, the bluefish grab them before any stripers around get a chance. Besides, most stripers are still further north. The mullet leave in early to mid October, before the stripers show up.
Live Bait Sources
Cast Net - link to larger image
When the bait runs occur along the beach, John and I often catch our own live bait using a cast net. We keep the bait alive in 5 gallon pails with a portable aerator. These aerators have an air stone which you drop into the pail of water, and the battery operated pump is hung on the side of the pail. These work OK if the number of baitfish is limited to about two dozen, and if you don't keep them too long. Change the water once and a while if you can. Last year during a power failure, I used one to keep the tropical fish alive in my aquarium, until the electricity came back on.
If you have a boat, it may have a livewell built in to hold bait. The best ones have raw water circulation.
How To Throw a Cast Net
Throwing a cast net is not hard. However it is difficult to explain in words. When you buy a cast net , it usually comes with an instructional video.
There are numerous "How to throw a cast net" videos available on YouTube.
Here is a link to: YouTube Cast Net
Videos
Live bait is often available from local bait and tackle shops.
