STRIPED BASS FISHING

Fishing for Striped Bass - Stripers!

Striped Bass, or Stripers as they are referred to for shore, are a great fighting, great tasting fish. They make great fish tacos, fried fish fillet’s, and even on the bbq in a butter boat (aluminum foil with butter and seasonings). They are fun to target, as they slam your baits and put on a huge fight. Also, they are HUGE. Stripers live in the ocean and in the bay up until they are ready to go up into the delta and rivers system to breed in the spring. In March through May they are running up into the delta then to the river system to spawn and head back to the bay and the ocean after the spawn. They will travel outside the bay and into the ocean in June and July to chase the anchovies along the beaches. In August, September, and October the Stripers will head back into the bay, and then in November, December, and January the Stripers will move back into the Delta System in huge numbers to feed and get ready to make their spawning migration further up into the river system.

Striped Bass Fishing Guides and Charter Boats

There are many different fishing guides that offer guided fishing trips for striped bass, and pretty much any other fish that you may want to target. FishingBooker is a service of local guides that you can choose from and schedule your next guided fishing trip. Book A Striped Bass Fishing Guide Today!

Largest Striped Bass Ever Caught

The biggest world record sized Striper ever caught, as per the International Game Fish Association, was caught in Connecticut, at Long Island Sound, in 2011, and it weighed in at 81 lb 14 oz.

Striped Bass Fishing Techniques

There are several techniques to catching striped bass. Throughout their life cycle you can find, target, and catch Stripers, but you have to change locations, and type of fishing in order to do that. You can catch them along the beaches, in the bay, up in the delta system, and up in the river system.

Types of Striper Fishing

• Fishing for Striper from the Beach • Bait Fishing • Fishing with Stickbaits

Fishing for Striper in the Delta and in the Rivers

• Bait Fishing • Trolling • Casting Crankbaits

Fishing for Striper from the Beach

Striped Bass Bait Fishing

Bait fishing works great with a high low rig, where you have a sinker on the bottom, with two hooks, each about every ten inches above the sinker.

Striped Bass Fishing Bait Types

• Sandworms • Sandcrabs • Bait Fish (like Sardines, Mackerel, or Shad) • Clams • Squid • Ghost Shrimp • Grass Shrimp

Striped Bass Lure Fishing

Fishing with lures along the beach for Stripers works the best. It gives you the most action, and the best opportunity of catching Stripers, or about a dozen other types of fish that frequent these same waters.

Striped Bass Swimbaits

• Berkley Saltwater Mullet - 4 or 5 inch - Chartreuse or White • Kalin's Lunker Grubs - 4 or 5 inch - Chartreuse or White • Zoom Fluke - 4 or 5 inch - Chartreuse or White • Spooltek Fatty Swimbait

Striped Bass Fishing Hooks

• XPS Wacky Worm Hooks - Size 2 • Gamakatsu G-Finesse Stinger Hooks - Size 2 • Mustad TitanX Finesse Wacky/Neko Hook - Size 2

Striped Bass Fishing Stickbaits

• Offshore Angler Shallow Running Baits - 5 ½ in • Daiwa Salt Pro Sinking Minnow • Yo-Zuri Hydro Minnow LC

Yo-Zuri Hydro Minnow LC For Striped Bass Fishing

The new Hydro Minnow LC (long cast) is the ultimate lure for surf fishing for stripers and white sea bass. This lure is made for long casting, and comes in two sizes. The 6 inch Yo-Zuri Hydro Minnow LC weights 1 ¼ ounces, and the 6 ¾ inch Yo-Zuri Hydro Minnow LC weights 1 ¾ ounces. Both have the extra weight needed for long casting out into the surf where these tough hitting surf predators lie in wait. Unlike other stickbaits used for surf fishing for stripers, the Yo-Zuri Hydro Minnow LC is 30 to 40 percent cheaper. The Hydro Minnow LC comes with ultra strong 3x strong treble hooks and stainless steel split rings. The Yo-Zuri name is well known, and well proven in the trolling for stripers world, but the new Hydro Minnow LC is a game changer for surf fishing. Check out our hard bait lures page for more great striped bass fishing lures.

Fishing for Striper in the Delta and Rivers

Bait Fishing for Striped Bass

Soaking Bait - You can soak many different types of bait for stripers but these are the most effective: sardines, anchovies, Frozen or fresh shad, ghost shrimp, grass shrimp, or pile worms. Soaking bait is the easiest and most relaxing method of striper fishing but results in the highest mortality rate for released fish. When using shad, I like to fillet the side of the shad to provide more scent and better rolling action in the water. With sardines I use a 2 inch piece of fillet from the side of the sardine. Try to use a hook that fits the size of your bait. Ranging from 2/0 to 5/0. The most common setup for bait fishing is the sliding sinker rig. Place a 1 - 8 oz. (depending on the current) weight so that it slides freely or use a slider at the end of your main line, followed by a heavy barrel swivel, followed by a 2 - 3 foot leader, last goes a 2/0 - 5/0 hook depending on the size of the bait you are going to use. Another commonly used bait fishing rig is the 3 way swivel rig. Place a 3 way swivel at the end of your main line. Then tie a 1 foot dropper with a 2 - 8 oz. weight on one of the other eyes of the swivel. Last tie a 3 foot leader with a 2/0 - 5/0 hook to the last eye of the swivel so that the weight sits on the bottom and your bait is suspended one foot from the bottom. This rig works very well to keep your bait out of the mud and grass. You can adjust your weight line if your bait comes up with grass on it. Live Bait - Live bait is very affective for catching larger stripers. Most common live baits are anchovies, Jumbo minnows, Bull heads, bluegills, and mud suckers. There are many methods of live bait fishing. This technique is similar to soaking bait but gives you the ability to keep the smaller diaper stripers from robbing the bait all day. The most common method for live bait is the 3 way swivel method described above. The hook size and style varies for the type of bait. When fishing with bullheads or mudsuckers you should thread the bait down the back so your line enters near the tail then continues just under the skin and your hook is exiting the skin at the top of the head. Stripers attack their pray head first. Another live bait method is flylining or freelining. This is when you use a hook and live bait at the end of your main line with no weight. This method allows the bait to swim freely but the hook and line slightly inhibit its swimming ability making the bait fish look injured.

Trolling for Striped Bass

Trolling is a technique that is very effective in catching large stripers. It is a growing in popularity and is a very exciting way to fish for striped bass.

Striped Bass Fishing Seasons

The spring run up is the best season in the Delta for trolling and catching fish in large numbers. Summer months usually produce a little less fish than the spring but is shortly followed by the fall/winter run which seems to be when a lot of really big fish are caught by the anglers soaking bait. Some trolling spots - Franks Tract, San Andreas shoals on the San Joaquin, White Slough, Potato slough, the Mokelumne River on the San Joaquin side. Steamboat slough, Cache slough, Power lines below Rio Vista, and the old Sac river on the Sacramento river side. I like to troll deep more often than most anglers running Broken Back Rebels. I do however troll shallow if the deeper fish won't cooperate. For shallow trolling I use shallow Bombers and Yozuri’s. Don’t forget the worm trailer! You can troll many different varieties of lures including: Rebels, Bombers, Rapalas, Yozuris, just to name a few. Fast trolling about 3 - 4 mph is the most effective. You want to fish waters that are just slightly deeper than the depth your lure runs. It is very important that your lure stays within 2 feet from the bottom. The best time to troll for stripers is when the current is very slow. The top of high tide is your best bet for trolling but low tide is good sometimes too. Most people like to modify their trolling lure by adding a long rubber worm to the bottom of the back hook so it follows the lure. This makes the lure more visible and adds great action to an already good bait. Marking on the lure with bright paint or marker works well also. The fish usually pick up your lure from the bottom so apply your markings to the bottom and sides of the lure for best results. Be sure and keep some unmarked lures in your boat for those days when the fish don't want the marked up ones. Chang your lure about every thirty minutes if you aren’t catching on the one your using. Stripers change their eating habits very often and the hot lure for one day may not work at all the next. You don’t want to waste your time dragging a lure around all day that isn't going to work. Keep changing and you will find the right one.

Casting Crankbaits To Fish For Striped Bass

When stripers get up into the delta and river system you can also cast lipless crankbaits into the shallows and close to the vegetation that grows along the edges and islands in the delta system. Lipless Striper Crankbaits Strike King Red Eye Shap Bill Lewis Origina Rat L Trap Rapala Rippin’ Rap Rattling Lipless Crankbait

Our Sacramento, CA Delta Striped Bass Fishing Success

This picture is of our last spring Striper fishing trip a few years ago. We pulled in some very nice stripers on that trip. Striped Bass fishing is some of the funnest fishing experiences you can have. They are hard hitting, and it doesn’t stop there as they come up from the ocean with fat bellies and lots of energy to fight, and fight hard. About The Author Mike Mendenhall is the the founder of Mendenhall Outdoors. This website is an extension of the Mendenhall family’s lifestyle and passion for the great outdoors. Everything that they learn, and experience, along the way that they find may be valuable to our website visitors is on the site for you to enjoy. We highlight products and services that you might find interesting. We frequently receive free products from manufacturers to test. This does not drive our decision as to whether or not a product is featured or recommended. If you click a link on this page, then go on to make a purchase, we might receive a commission – at no extra cost to you, and does not impact the purchase price of any products that you may purchase. The Best Striped Bass Fishing Experience Awaits!