Striper Noob
 

I'm 38 and I've never caught a striper. I've not done a ton of saltwater fishing, my father wasn't much on it. I have gotten plenty of bluefish, scup, dogfish, etc. but not stripers. I want to get my 9 year old son fishing. I've taught him what I know for freshwater, now it is time for saltwater.

I live in Wareham. I work in Falmouth. I don't have a boat. I do have several surf casting rods and a tackle box with a few plugs, plastic shads, weights, and floats. I make my own leaders. Any and all advice on rigs, locations, times, etc will be appreciated.

I've been tossing shads in at the canal near the Town Hall. I've been tossing shads into the Agawam River off Apple Street.

First concrete question. Plug and teaser. Anyone got a picture of a rig like that? I read on another site how to make the rig, but there wasn't a good picture. (search "How to Rig Red Gills and Teasers" in google, first hit). Is it worth making this rig for a noob?

TIA

Oh, I should mention, with my family of 5, I don't have much cash to spend so thrifty is the top priority.

Mods, if this isn't an appropriate post, please feel free to delete. A friend directed me to this site when I indicated an interest.

To get you and your 9 year old fishing, using lighter 7' rods with small Storm shads or Cocahoes on jig heads early morning or late evening (morning preferred).

Plenty of water from home to work to fish with the kid. Also, see Mike at M&Ds on Main St in Wareham - great shop, prices, and he can give you better local info on where to go and probably offer advice where to take the kid.

Don't forget worms off a pier for cunners are fun for a 9 year old too

Welcome to S-B :btu:

Pm me if your allowed to leave the cape ..,:smash:

Also look into a local fishing club....most of them run Kids programs to teach kids (as well as their parents) techniques and such.

Welcome to the site,you'll enjoy it here there are tons of good info here and you'll cut that learning curve in half.
You live & work in great locations so getting stripers will be a thing of the past as long as you keep at it!
If your going to fish in the canal before work plugs and shads are a must:fishin:
Good luck out there!


5/0

right track
 

Sounds like I am on the right track. The boy has a 6 footer. I've got a 7 footer. We've been using shad. I've got a flourescent orange plug that has got me blues before. Would that be a candidate for using a teaser? I'll pick up some Cocahoes.

M&Ds was my place to go back in high school. It has been a while. If the wind dies down today, perhaps a trip out tonight. :fishin:

If anyone is bored and wouldn't mind helpin' out a noob sometime, I am only a few minutes from the canal. And I am a homebrewer if that is any enticement.:buds:

Forget the teaser idea, it complicates things and is a sure way to put a hook in your face when you bend over to unhook a fish on the plug. Teasers on 6-7 foot rods are also impractical. It is a technique for big gear when you want to fish small.

Buy a few small mambo minnows and maybe a couple of small Spoffords needlefish. A little later in june poppers work well too. There is a good one called a smack-it (I think)/ Go at dusk to any Buzzards bay beach or estuary. Cast from 715-815 pm. Reel slow with some pauses and shakes. From now until mid June you will find fish. Bring bug spray if it is a calm night. Crush your barbs.

Here are all you need to start. The sharpie is for scale, although guys from Franklin often use it to mark the way back to their truck.

Us guy in Northern RI also. We is 'bout as sharp as the Franklin boys.

Hey, I've got a sharpie too!

Here is my tackle box (as far as lures go), mostly hand me downs from my grandfather or given to me by others. Honestly never knew what to buy-the difference between fresh and salt water fishing is immense.

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/f...g/P1080605.jpg

PS In the armpit of the Cape, we use blue sharpies, the direction arrows show up better on the yellow lines in the road.

Another question. Do you use a leader for these? If so, how long and what material?

For the leaders, 2 1/2-3 feet of 20# mono will do fine on a 7 footer.

Lose those little rusty hooked crankbaits. A bass will rip those hooks right out. Take the hook with the orange tubing on it and put it on the back of that tin on the bottom using the split ring.

Use those tins and the popper by day and the Rebel minnow and the swim shad by day and night. Although that shad may be a tad heavy for a 7 footer depending on the rating printed on the rod.

Rebel minnow = 4th from the top?
The crankbaits aren't rusty like they appear in the picture.
The "tin" is actually quite heavy, heavier than the shad but I'll give the tube attached to the back a shot. Remove the triple hook, right?

So stripers aren't as likely to cut the line as a blue where you use wire leaders?

One of the best ways to learn about how to do anything is to read books on the subject. Even if you cannot afford to buy the books I am sure the library will have some available.

One to start with is: The Ultimate Guide to Striped Bass Fishing: Where to Find Them, How to Catch Them.
Others are any of Frank Daignault's books, Striped Bass & other Cape Cod fish by Phil Schwind, Reading the Water by Bob Post, and, in my opinion, one of the best for a beginner, Secrets of Surf Fishing at Night by Bill Muller.

Dude, PM me your addy and I'll send you some rubber, plugs etc...

-spence

Same here, I have a bunch of poppers that will never see the inside of my plug bag. I'd be happy to send you some to help get you started.

Really? That'd be awesome and really appreciated! PMs sent.

No more wire leaders! I don't remember the last time I got bitten off by a bluefish. Stripers will see that leader a mile away. If you are really concerned about being bitten off find some Perlon leader material. Check your local tackle shop. it is cheap and heavier duty than mono.

I was fishing last year a few times when there were nothing but big blues in the area. I put on a crappy plug and caught them for three hours on one day without changing my leader just to test it. 40 lb Perlon leader. It was nicked up but I never lost that plug.

Bass won't bite through any leader. They don't have any teeth.

I second visiting M&Ds.... Mike, Barb and Felicia are topnotch. You'll get more good local instruction from them than I could type.... Mention that you found this place.....

Ok, going to stop at the tackle shop tomorrow after work then to the canal after supper. I'll be using my popper, 6" shad, and the "tin" with the tube attached to the back. I would like to make a leader with a snap swivel to be able to swap out the lures. What would I need to pick up?

I've got 50# test nylon leader material.
A handful of ~1" long brass barrel swivels.
Reel is loaded with 15# monofilament.

Anyone have a diagram of a rig from the end of the reel to the lure?

TIA

M&Ds is actually where I was going to stop. Used to go there when I was a kid.

You'll be in Good Hands

Hey if I send you guys my address will you send me free stuff ALSO.

M&Ds is always great to our boys during my Cub Scout Pack's fishing derby. Gave the kids free bait and bobber/hook setups. They give the scup heck at the Narrows every year. Best catch there ever was a freshwater fishing rod and reel that had obviously gone in within a day or so because it was in awesome shape, still had the plastic on the cork grips.

Did I mention I hate being the noob at things?

Work->M&D's->Home for dinner->Canal for bass

Have Mike at M&D's show you what to use and how to setup the leader from swivel to lure. He'll be happy to show you.

Stopped at M&Ds and got some gear. About to make some leaders now, then hit the canal.

No luck. No bites, no follows, no nothing but cold wind. But lots of casting practice. 6:45-8:30 I was there.

Welcome to the site.

PM me your address, I'll send ya some stuff for the lad. :)

And later in the season, he'll have a BLAST with the snapper blues.

Father in law is coming this weekend. Well, guess he'll be going to the canal with my boy and me if he wants to see him. ;)

Another two hour outing at the Canal tonight and still nothing. Saw two carcasses on the edge so there is something in that ditch...just not for me.

4:30-8:00 am this morning at the Canal, Herring Run area....nothing. There were A LOT of people fishing this morning.

At the risk of upsetting a lot of people, I don't think the canal is the best place to learn saltwater fishing.

Although some years there are a few days of spectacular fishing (and several are probably imminent), catching fish with any consistency in the canal is very difficult to say the least and takes a lot of experience, skill, connections, and expensive tackle. Most guys who fish the canal (Sauerkraut, for example) have no clue and are showing up hoping to get lucky and have something (or more precisely, lots of somethings) pop up in front of them. 9 times out of 10 that isn't happening.

Particularly if you have a kid with you and own light tackle, I think you would be far better off to find somewhere easier to fish (Buttermilk Bay, Back River, or any BB or SShore beach with rocks and jetties) and move around throwing small stuff at dusk (bring bug spray) learning to hunt out and catch small-medium fish. Sure, you will miss some epic fishing in the canal.....so what? The consistent quality of the fishing experience will be far better than the addictive feast or famine fishing lottery that is the canal. There will be plenty of time for that later when you and your son are more experienced.

How far up the rivers do these fish go? I have a peaceful spot I've fished with no luck but just love the peacefulness and beauty of the location. Perhaps I am fishing for the wrong fish there or using the wrong tackle. I've tried finding friends who fish but everyone I know gave up fishing long ago.

It wasn't totally unproductive. The boy found a nice pencil popper lure in the rocks and I got to watch others running pencil poppers and shads so I got a good idea how to reel them in.

Imagine my surprise when I came home today. Wifey said I had a large box waiting for me. Wait, I didn't order anything I could remember. Then when I saw it was from a residence I remembered. I got a whole ton of stuff from a very generous Spence! Boy and I looked over and over at the stuff. I am floored by the generosity. We are going to pick the boy up a tackle box for some of this stuff.

Hope to get a trip or two in this week.

PROST!

Any surf area suggestions for me in either Wareham (preferable) or Falmouth? Don't want anyone giving up a hot spot, just a kindly suggestion. Not looking for monsters, just a good chance at either the boy or I to hook onto a fish.

Again, for the second time, there are tons of BOOKS on the subject. You can google "fishing spots in Wareham".
Go to the library and pickup some of the books I listed in my post a week ago. Most of the guys on the striper boards are not going to give you specific spots to go and fish. We all learned the hard way, on our own.:chased: