stripers - stay & coax 'em or run & gun???

[civicrr]

A little advice (again ;-) ) please! In case you haven't read my other posts, I'm new to flyfishing period not to mention new to flyfishing for stripers. I come with a few years of experience fishing for largemouth bass.

When chasing largies, you either run & gun (fish, move, fish, move) chasing the active fish with reaction lures or you slow down using finesse techniques trying to entice them into biting.

Now to the questions part of the post. When moving into a likely looking spot, do I make a 1/2 dozen cast & move on if no action? Does that change if I mark fish? Say I do mark fish but they aren't active. Should I try to 'activate' them? Will your approach change as the season progresses & water temps drop?

Any & all advice is appreciated. Thanks

[Darian]

From my perspective, what you describe for Black Bass fishing (run & Gun) is applicable to Stripers, as well. That tactic will serve until water temps cool down to winter lows. Then the bite will become soft or more difficult to detect. Slowing the retrieve will get some takes then.

It's been my experience that marking fish on the finder doesn't necessarily result in takers. Make some casts. If nothing happens in 15 minutes, move on. You might waste a bunch of time fishing over good looking water without getting a take.

Just apply what you already know about Black Bass fishing. Hopefully other with more experience will offer more advice. :D

[civicrr]

Darian,
I appreciate the reply/info.

Mike

[WinterrunRon]

Mike, I'm not sure I qualify as more experienced, but I've spent enough hours/miles/casts on the delta chasing stripers to feel confident in offering some advice.

First, let me say, I agree with everything the Darian has stated. However, here's my take on it...

For what it's worth, I make my striper fishing very simple. I hit ambush spots I've come to learn about through trial and error, I never slow down and I never use my electronics to find fish (unless I'm fishing deep and using a [everyone else close your eyes now]...spoon). Why, you ask? It's a waste of time for me.

They're either there or they're not and they're feeding or they're not. If they're there and not feeding or not there at all, it's the same for me... I move on. I'm not interested in trying to entice, they're not trout! So I let my fishing dictate whether I work the area or not, not my electonics. No takes in say 20-30 casts or so and I'm firing up the motor to the next spot. If I hook a fish, I stay and work the area more. I have never, and I mean never, stayed in a spot for any length of time and have it produce any better than the first 10-15 minutes (20-30 casts or so). I also rarely change a fly. Why? I've never changed a fly to a better producing one! So what I start out with is on the line at the end of the day.

And I never slow down. One, I don't have the patience, and two, I've ripped rattle traps as fast as I can with a high speed bait casting reel in the middle of winter during a strong tide when the water is under 50 degrees and have had stripers engulf the bait. If they're hungry and in the mood, they'll find you! These are the fish that keep me coming back for more. Amazing preditors!

And I rarely re-cast through a spot the second time for the same reason, but I will revisit that same spot at a later time during the same fishing day (typically a tide change, that's how I've come to learn what spots fish best during what tide).

FYI, having a bass boat helps when employing my method. It doesn't work well in a float tube or kayak!

You now have many years of my experience on the delta in a few paragraphs. :D

Hope this helps and shortens your learning curve... good luck! Ron

[Darian]

Ron,.... Thanks for the info. You're really focused. I Gotta work on that.... :nod:

[civicrr]

Thanks for the info.

Guess I've been hanging out at unproductive spots for too long! What prompted the thread was seeing guys idle by & watch me. They'd stop & make just a few casts.....and then leave. Guess I should have left too. Haha

Thanks