Q&A for How to Catch Striped Bass

Live bait is not necessary. Artificial bait is effective for catching striped bass as well.

Yes, there are striped bass in some American rivers.

Add a weight to the line and make sure you have enough line to reach the bottom. Some baits are heavy enough on their own.

I've always had the best luck with mackerel, it stays on a long time and stinks like crazy. The stinkier the better!

It depends on where you live. In New England states, May through October is a good time.

High tide is better because in low tide, some of the fish are stuck in tide pools or rocks.

Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn or the lower East River in Manhattan. Use clams in the East River and bunker in the Bay.

I just bounce a 1/4 ounce skirted jig around on a steady retrieve. I have caught pretty large stripers in shallow water.

Lake Cumberland in Jamestown KY, which is just 2.5 miles north of Knoxville, is great. This is a 50,000 acre lake that covers 3 counties in SE KY. Guides are available year round.

No.

Yes, goldfish make exceptional bait if used properly. I suggest a 3/0 hookset on their underside, going through the lip with the hook exposed.

You should troll large swimbaits, such as a 6 ounce skirted swim jighead, with a 12-24'' shad swimbait as a trailer.

You may use flavored worms if you like, but they are not necessary for catching striped bass.

No.

The largest of all striped bass come from the bay. It's the sport fish of the state of MD.

It doesn't matter. It is actually preferred by many, just because you may also catch a bluefish.

I really like fishing for them in Rockport and Gloucester.

Try the site bayareafishing.com. This website has a great breakdown of, not only striper, but many other species as well. It talks about the best places, time of the year, most successful set ups and more. Helped me starting out after many years away from fishing.

Along the East Coast and Gulf of Mexico, and they have been introduced to some areas on the West Coast. If you live in one of these areas, your state's website will list areas in which they can be found.

Most people four oz when fishing from shores, though you can get away with two.

Diamond jig. Live eels and whole or chunked fresh bunker with a hook size 5 - 10 are awesome baits for big stripe bass.

Absolutely! Minnows work great and are very popular. They're best when still alive, as they swim and look completely natural.

They love white perch, but keep them live. Use a good strong hook, because they usually like bigger perch.

It is not difficult to catch them when they are surface feeling. Consider using surface plugs, simple colors such as white (base color), yellow (for bunker- menhaden), blue (mullet and herring), pink (squid), and green (sand eel).

Fish for them at dusk or dawn. This is a great time to fish anywhere for stripers, as they love to feed at that time of day.

Near shoals or sand bars where this is a deep drop off. The stripers ambush the bait fish in these areas. I just came off a trip where we were catching stropers in 8 feet of water on the edge of a 40 foot drop off.