stripers in rough surf?

[donkeyhunter007]

Im fishing the surf for stripers and wondering if its worth my time when it gets rough? Are the stripers still comin in close to shore? anyone with any advice for when to target these fish in the surf with my fly rod would be greatly appreciated. Im fishing clousers with floating line and four foot leader and stripping in, is this gonna work? I havent seen any other fly guys to ask so Im giving it a shot here. Thanks for your time.

[Loren E]

Hey DH,

based on my experience and that of others I know I think the concern of very rough conditions is more one of how effectively you can fish than if the fish are still there or not. I think the tides play a lot more significant role in how close to shore stripers will come at a given time than wind and swell...these are just the two factors that can be damn tough as a fly angler.

There are however techniques you can utilize for fishing more effectively in high wind circumstances. This is when I go away from my floating and intermediate shooting heads and fish a type 3 or type 6 head with an intermediate running line. The sinking head will be of thinner diameter than a floating or intermediate and will cut through the wind much better. An intermediate running line behind it will help to keep you with a direction connection to your fly instead of having a floating running line getting yanked this way and that on the surface by nasty wind chop that will hinder the effectiveness of your retrieve.

Although I usually fish unweighted flies for stripers, I would opt or a clouser with small eyes on it for windy days. Too big of eyes are always a pain, but a small pair of eyes can actually help to give the fly a little momentum and help to turn it over into a wind when an unweighted fly can be more air resistant and act like a sail, flopping at the end of the cast instead of providing any turn over.

Hope this helps, let me know if you have any other questions tight lines -Loren Elliott

[1flyfisher]

Im fishing the surf for stripers and wondering if its worth my time when it gets rough? Are the stripers still comin in close to shore?

Question #1. Yes Stripers will be in the surf in any surf conditions no matter how rough. If there is bait there then they may be there. They do not care how rough it is.

Question #2. Stripers can be in as close as right behind the shore break or even swimming in the waves as a wave washes up a beach. They will swim in water less than their height in the surf chasing bait. If they are blitzing bunker they will sometimes get washed up with the bait onto the beach. I have picked Stripers up off the beach. So they'll swim shallower than it is safe for them to do.

If you want some nice stripers in the surf they are banging 40+ pounders off my beach right now.