Striper fishing

[dc410]

May get the chance to go striper fishing in early June in the Cape Cod area. Not knowing anything about this type of fishing, I am looking for any information about what may be some good striper patterns for me to tie up. Thanks for any help.

 

[codym21]

Not really familiar with the cape but I would have sand eel flies( surf candys), Deceivers, clousers, and some poppers. Colors chart/white olive/white brown/white all white. Pay attention to the tides as well hopefully someone who has fished there more can give you info

 

[sandfly]

1.Full bodied flies (Lefty’s Deceiver, Herring Streamer)
2.Slim profile flies (Clouser Minnows, Sand Eel imitations)
3.Surface poppers (Bob’s Banger, Saltwater Poppers)
4.Everything else (Crab Flies, Squid Flies)


http://www.fishingthecape.com/

Good advise


http://myfishingcapecod.com/fly-fishing-cape-cod-10-strategies/


at the point
http://www.nelsonsbaitandtackle.com/

 

[Fishidiot]

June at Cape Cod is prime time for stripers in "Bassachusetts."

For flies you'll want a collection of Clousers in the typical colors (green over white is always a winner). If you think you may get out on the flats then you'll want a few crab flies too.

 

[johnstevens5462]

Do not go overboard tying flies, especially since this is your first time. If you want to tie a few I would suggest a white Lefty's Deceiver four and six inches long, a chartreuse/white or olive/white clouser minnow three and five inches long, and a few plain old sparsely tied bucktails in mixtures of white, yellow and olive (maybe a little red mixed in) from three inches to as long as possible (yes, like a Mickey Finn or Black Nose Dace trout streamer). Do not underestimate the effectiveness of the bucktail flies. Of the three flies I noted, if I had to pick one it would be the bucktail pattern.

Tie all of these on a 2/0 wide gap tin plated hook. I personally prefer Gamakatsu SC15. Buy one pack (ten hooks) and you can tie everything above. If you need dumbbell eyes for the clouser buy a pack of medium plated eyes.

If you need any other fly, buy them at a local store.

Final advice, striper fly fishing is all about presentation and not so much fly selection.

 

[jay348]

I'm jealous! I won't be able to get up there this year. My previous trips have been during late summer/early fall though, and the fishing is much less consistent. FI is right...June is the time to go.

Do you know where you will be fishing? Sand eels and other sparse patterns always did the trick for me.

And if you're considering fishing the flats, I would absolutely talk to some shops/locals about strategy, tides, etc. Bring a compass at the bare minimum.

 

[teedee]

I usually start with a chartreuse & white Clouser and never change about 90% of the time. Fish Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard in early June, it's a very good time. This year could be a slower start due to the cold water temps.

 

[johnstevens5462]

Excepting times when stripers are feeding selectively on a prey like shrimp or worms where color and size is important, more often than not it's the length and profile of the fly that's important (sometimes you need contrast). Contrast means how you transition the darker colors on top into the lighter colors on the bottom. Tip, the darker colors on top should extend beyond the lighter colors on the bottom and the larger the fly the greater the extension.

A great approach to finding out what appeals to the striper is to fish a two or three fly rig with flies of different sizes.

One misconception about striper fishing is it is not always active retrieve like fishing a plug. Takes on the fly rod are not always explosive, many times they are very subtle.

If fishing tidal rivers most times it is dead drifting a fly in the current. You are watching your line for any sudden movements during daylight and maintaining slight tension at night so you can feel any takes.

If fishing from rocks/cliffs you are casting your fly, letting it sink and letting the waves swash it around. This type of fishing is the one instance where you may get an explosive strike, specifically when you yank your fly from the water to recast. I cannot tell you how many times I've watched my fly floating up against the cliffs five feet from me and when I begin my backcast a striper jumps up out of the water and grabs it.

If fishing the surf you are letting the current drift your fly to the fish in the same way as tidal fishing.

If you happen to see a bait blitz, although you will be tempted, do not toss your fly into the middle of the bait ball and start rapidly retrieving. You may get something but this is a low percentage tactic. Rather cast your fly just outside of the bait ball and let it sink. Maybe a little tug here or there but let it sink. This imitates a stunned or injured baitfish and stripers are lazy fish and look for easy meals. This is an easy meal.

 

[dc410]

Thanks to everyone for all of the great replies. What a wealth of information! I am really getting pumped to try this kind of fishing.

johnstevens, Thanks so much for the tactical post, you answered a lot of questions that were churning in my head.

Jay, I don't know exactly where we will be fishing at this point in time, somewhere out on the cape. A lot of my research seems to point to Ray's fly as a great all around striper pattern. Here is one that I tied. What do you think?

 

[jay348]

Ray's fly looks good!

I got into flatwings a bit this past fall and the big eelie really stood out to me. I only got to fish it once, but it swam like a champ.

 

[johnstevens5462]

Very nice tie but some refinements.

Generally these flies fish better sparsely tied so I would use slightly less of the white bucktail on the bottom and the layering should have the yellow bucktail (middle) longer than the white and the olive bucktail (top) longer than the yellow. The standard length proportion based on a given hook size is white extends one-half shank length beyond hook bend, yellow one length and olive one and one-half lengths. As you increase overall length of fly without changing hooks (very acceptable) simply use the above proportions as reference so if you tie white at one shank length beyond hook bend (doubled from standard for that hook), yellow is 2 lengths and olive is three lengths.

For flash you can use almost anything. I happen to use either two strands of pearl flashabou or one silver and one gold mylar/flashabou strand tying one strand between white/yellow and one between yellow/olive. When tying them in leave them very long and then clip them just beyond the olive bucktail once you are done.

The curvature of the peacock herl is perfect. The herl should extend just beyond the olive bucktail.

This is exactly the fly I would fish. If fishing a three fly rig I'd fish one two inches long, one four inches long and one six inches long. If you start getting takes on a particular size, go single fly or tie all three the same size and try for a triple header.

 

[johnstevens5462]

Flatwings are great but you really need the flatwing saddle hackle feathers for them to be really effective. Keough makes the best flatwing capes but expect to pay fifty dollars for a cape.

If you look at packages of six to eight inch strung saddle hackles you might be able to find an acceptable substitute but typically the strung saddles are too wide, too stiff, too soft or most like, the stem has a slight twist so the feather will not lie flat. The real flatwing saddle feathers have a thicker stiff stem at the bottom that quickly transitions into a thinner and softer stem but the real benefit is flatwing feathers have straight stems so the feather lies flat.

 

[dc410]

johnstevens5462 wrote:
Very nice tie but some refinements.

johnstevens,

Thank you for the great critique. It was very informative and makes perfect sense. I will definitely incorporate your suggestions into my next ties. Did you ever have much luck with a fuller profile fly - like a Deceiver?

 

[johnstevens5462]

Before I invested in flatwing saddles I used mostly deceivers. They work well and there is no reason not to use them. The second largest striper I caught on a fly (thirty-eight inches) was caught in a small tidal cove at dead high tide while stripping a white deceiver along the weed lines in about three feet of water. I was catching mostly schoolies in the high teens so I was using my 6wt rod and this was totally unexpected.

To add depth and width to flies tie a white collar in three somewhat sparse sections - the bottom and two sides. Flare the bucktail out and wrap some thread behind to help keep them flared out. The top (another color) is done the same way. So the top and bottom flare up and down giving depth when viewed from the sides and the sides are flared out giving width when viewed from the bottom. You can do this on flatwings and deceivers.

A little yellow and/or red is always a good transitional color between the white bottom and sides and darker top.

 

[codym21]

John I would just reverse tie the bucktail in if your looking for a larger profile

 

[marcq]

tons of good fishing up there especially that time of year. just remember dusk and dawn are the best time to fish for bass. not sure if you have done much fishing for stripers but there are very tide and light sensitive fish. usually two hours before and after high tide is the best time.
focus on fishing inlets drop-offs and ledges of bars. this past fall I was fishing a spot in jersey. there was a bar and about a two foot drop-off the ran about fifteen feet off the beach.id casts right along the beach and a buddy spinfishing looked are me like I was carzy. funny thing is I caught about 10 fish that night he got one.

scout a spot out at low tide and learn how to read a beach.

for flies
small.
epoxies
clousers
crabs and shrimp
rays fly

large
flatwings
deceivers
hollow flies.

sparse is best.

ive been tying a lot of hollows an I have to say they are a much nicer looking fly in the water then a standard deceiver.more work but look nasty when wet.

 

[dc410]

marcq wrote:

ive been tying a lot of hollows an I have to say they are a much nicer looking fly in the water then a standard deceiver.more work but look nasty when wet.

marcq,

Thanks for the info, I have never striper fished before but I am really looking forward to it. The PAFF folks that have responded to this thread have been very generous with a lot of great information. I have learned an awful lot in the past two days.

I picked up some saddle hackle and have started to tie some Chartruese/White Deceivers on size 2 stainless steel hooks. What are you referring to when you mention tying a lot of hollows? I am not familiar with that style of tying but am interested in learning more about it. Thanks again.

 

[ebroesicke]

it is a style of fly. you tie in bucktail in reverse (tip forward), then stroke back and build a thread dam in front to hold the desired flair. the advantage is:

1. you can easily control the amount of flair
2. you can tie very sparsely and still get a "full" look.

developed by Bob Popovic's.

Lots of great info here, but don't go crazy with flies unless you like to tie.

check out www.aswf.info
and

www.stripermoon.com

 

[marcq]

http://www.stripersonline.com/t/925007/dirty-hollows-and-others

Here is a good thread on another forum. The guy Rachel ties really nice hollow flies. Bob pop also has some on it as well. If you want more info about the area you should check out the site. More local knowledge of the area and the fly fishing guys area pretty relaxed about giving info about the area. Cant say the same for the other guys.