"Livelining
the Jersey Shore"
by
Capt. Dave Azar
It’s nice to have friends; sometimes they even give you good advice. It was
that way last June when I was getting my boat ready for a charter and one of the
other guides came over to give me the scoop on the fishing. The day before a
large body of big bass had moved into the
Monmouth
Beach area and they were taking live bunker, he even told me where I could snag
all the bunker I needed. It wasn’t hard to find the fish, there was a fleet of
boats working the area. Unfortunately I had made several stops over surface
feeding bluefish before heading there, I tend to want my clients to catch fish
when I find them, even if I “know” something better might be happening somewhere
else. After all in fishing there is never any guarantee of a sure thing. By
the time we arrived the action had all but died. The next morning I returned to
the same spot only stopping along the way to snag bunker and fill the boat’s
livewell. Within minutes of deploying my first bait I had a runoff and released
a healthy striper of about 40 inches. For the next hour and a half, until the
tide slacked, I took stripers on each drift, for a total of six fish weighing
from 20 to 28 pounds. When the tide turned the action was even faster paced and
I took another bunch of big stripers before I ran out of bait. As luck would
have it I didn’t have a charter that day.
Scenes like this one have become commonplace over the past three
years. Since the implementation of the
Menhaden Protection Bill
several years ago, the
elimination
of purse seining for menhaden has allowed this excellent striper forage to
proliferate, and in turn this has caused an explosion in catches of trophy size
stripers along the
Jersey Shore. This past June and into early July boat anglers from Raritan Bay
to Point Pleasant
were finding the fish by locating the massive schools of adult bunker within a
mile of the shoreline. Pretty much anywhere there was bait there were monster
stripers underneath, but working known structure, like the
Shrewsbury rocks, also paid off.
Getting Bait
The first step in this fishery is obtaining bait. It is often
easier to locate bait at one location and fish at another. Adult bunker love to
hang around marinas. The best time to find them is.jpg)
early morning, before there
is too much boat traffic. When they are at the surface they are easy to spot by
the commotion they make when they flip and splash. From a distance it will
appear as if the water is darker and choppier than the surrounding water.
Getting bait when the bunker are ganged up in a big school is relatively easy.
The best technique is to throw a cast net. One or two good casts can provide
all the bait the average small boater will need for a day's fishing. While cast
netting is very efficient and does not harm the bait, the way snagging does, it
can be quite a chore. The net should be a minimum of 12 feet in diameter and
must be heavily weighted to catch these fast moving baits. It takes a lot of
practice to throw well and requires some fancy boat handling to be effective.
For small boaters who will not need more than two or three dozen baits
snagging also works well. If the schools of bait are thick several anglers
snagging for about 30 to 60 minutes should be able to harvest the baits needed
for a day’s fishing. If the bunker are swimming close to the surface a weighted
treble hook tied directly to 20 or 30 pound mono on a medium heavy spinning rod
works well. The technique is simple, cast into the school, reel out the slack
and sweep the rod sideways, repeating this procedure until a bunker is snagged.
If the bunker are not showing but you suspect they are in the area
locating them with a fish finder can be effective. Cruise slowly in a
crisscrossing or concentric circular pattern and watch the screen for a dark,
hill shaped or large oval mass. If the schools are deep it may be necessary to
employ a snagging rig with a heavy sinker. To make this rig snell a large
treble hook, say 5/0, to the middle of 24 inches of 30 to 50 pound leader
material. Tie a barrel swivel to the top and make a surgeon's loop on the
bottom for the sinker. Usually all that is needed is a two or 3-ounce bank
sinker to get down fast. When the school is located the snagging rig is dropped
straight down and when the bunker are felt bumping the line a sharp upward sweep
of the rod will usually be enough to snag a bait.
Snagged baits should be reeled in quickly and gotten into the
livewell with a minimum of handling. If the bunker is bleeding heavily it
should be placed into a bucket of sea water until the bleeding stops and before
placing it in the livewell. If the bait is badly injured keep it on ice to use
for chunking. When several boats are working the same school of bait extreme
caution and courtesy should be exercised. Patience will usually allow everyone
to get all the bait they need.
Fishing Techniques
When the fish first show up, around early to mid June, the bigger
stripers tend to stay deep and work the bottom of the bait schools. Fishing the
live bait on the bottom will be most effective. As waters warm and the fish
acclimate to the area, baits can be fished un-weighted, free swimming in the
upper water column.
To fish these large, live baits from a boat a medium to heavy boat
rod no more than 7 feet long and a conventional reel loaded with 20 to 30 pound
mono or braid is best. Conventional reels are easy to keep in free spool
allowing the bait to swim without resistance, and the clutch can be engaged
instantly when needed. These days there are a wide choice of spinning reels
that have a “bait-runner” feature that will do the same thing, making reel
choice a matter of personal preference.
When the bass are staying deep a fish finder rig can be utilized.
This rig should be tied a 36 to 48 inch leader of 30# or 40# mono or
fluorocarbon. Tie one end to an 80# barrel swivel and snell a 4/0 to 6/0
offset hook to the other end. For the hooks, strong, thin wire hooks, like
those from Gamakatsu or Owner, are preferred. A heavy duty “fish-finder” should
be slid onto the running line, before connecting the leader. When the stripers
are working the upper water column it is better to swim the bunker un-weighted
to keep it close to the surface. For this technique simply tie the same type of
offset hook to the running line. The commotion of a wounded bait struggling on
top will often draw a strike. This makes for some great visual fishing; seeing
a cow bass chase down and eat a 2 pound bunker is a sight that can really get
the adrenaline flowing. If two or more anglers are fishing, both techniques
should be employed until it is determined which is working best that day. From
a boat it is usually best to hook the bunker through the snout which allows them
to swim straight. Some anglers hook them in the belly to make them run deeper.
Either way care must be taken to hook the bait in a non-vital area so as not to
kill it. This fishing can be done from an anchored or drifting boat depending
on conditions.
If bunker are located where the fish are feeding the “snag and drop”
technique may employed. With this technique a snagging rig, that will also
serve as a fishing rig, is utilized. To construct this rig a 3X strong 4/0 or
5/0 treble hook is tied to 18" of 20 to 30 pound leader material. A quality 100
lb. barrel swivel is tied to the other end. Six inches of leader is attached to
the second eye of the swivel, and the lightest egg sinker necessary is slipped
on before another barrel swivel is tied on, which is then tied to the running
line. Cast into the bunker school and utilize the same technique described
above to snag a bait, but when a bait has been snagged open the reel’s bail and
let the bait swim freely until there is a runoff.
Setting the Hook
When a striper has picked up the bait it will make a fast run.
Usually the striper is holding the bunker in its mouth and has not swallowed it
yet. The striper will be repositioning the bait in
order to swallow it head
first. The trick is knowing when this has happened before trying to set the
hook. Some anglers believe that the striper will stop when they turn the bait
to swallow. My experience has shown that while this may be true with relatively
small bass, say from 9 to 12 pounds (by the way these fish can take a whole
adult bunker!), bigger bass can easily engulf the bait on the pickup and then it
is only a matter of seconds before they have the hook in place for a good set.
As a general rule the fish should be allowed about 15 seconds and then the bail
should be engaged. At this point the line should come tight. Before sweeping
the rod up to set the hook, it should be held pointing straight at the fish. If
heavy resistance or pulling is felt then the rod should be swept upward sharply
to set the hook. If, on the other hand, the fish drops the bait the bail should
be opened and the bait allowed to swim freely again. More often than not the
striper will come back for another grab. The stripers will act differently on
every occasion so different responses may be required in order to hook them.
There have been days when the fish have needed to run for almost a full minute
before attempting to set the hook. Sometimes a fish may play with the bait,
bumping it several times before either picking it up or swimming away. As in
most kinds of fishing one has to be ready to adapt to these changes.
Fighting Big Bass
When fighting these bigger bass attention to tackle becomes
imperative. The techniques that have been employed for early season schoolies
in cool water must be left behind. Fresh, quality. mono or braided line of 20
or 25 pound test should be spooled on at the beginning of a new season. Drags
should be in excellent working order and should be set to no more than 6 to 8
pounds, about 30% of the lines breaking strength. During the initial long
run the fish is in control and the rod should be kept pointing straight at the
fish or at a slight angle, with only the reel’s drag applying pressure. When
the initial run stops the angler has control and should begin reeling in
immediately. If the fish is giving heavy resistance the most efficient
technique for recovering line is the “short pump”. With this technique the rod
is never lifted beyond a 45 degree angle and line is reeled in quickly as the
rod is lowered back to the horizontal position before repeating the same
motion. Any time the fish “has its head” and starts to run tension should be
relieved by pointing the rod at the fish and letting the drag do its job.
Whenever the fish stops running line should immediately be taken in. Any let up
on the fish gives it a chance to regain strength and momentum, unnecessarily
prolonging the fight, which can wear out both the angler and the fish and
increase the chances of a dropped catch. Beating a trophy bass quickly insures
a greater chance of a healthy release. While recreational anglers can legally
keep fish for the table it should be remembered that these big fish are almost
always female brooders. Only keep what you need, and release the rest safely.
This will help to insure this spectacular fishery will be available for
generations to come.