Fall Run Stripers: Pump and Dump!
A healthy, slot sized Fall Run Striper on Plum Island
I woke up this morning with heightened anticipation. I haven't been striper fishing in nearly a month, a dramatic swing from fishing nearly every day since May, for one reason or another. I'm back at my "other job" and regulated to weekends only. Offshore tropical storms have made mincemeat of my typical excursions in the past weeks. With nature's clock counting down, I'm beginning to realize what little opportunities we have left in our 2022 season. The hardcore tuna guys will fish well into December if there is a quota. The savage inshore aficionados will pop their boats on trailers to migrate to southern states for tautog, black sea bass, and stripers moving down the coast. The harsh reality is that most Northshore boaters will have their boats shut down, covered, and out of the water in the next few weeks. The time to put the cherry on top of an incredible yet unique 2022 season in northern MA and southern NH is now! My story from today will emphasize that you can't ever stop learning or experimenting with new tactics.
When I left my house at 6:30 this morning, it was false dawn as the sun struggled to get up in the sky, like me getting out of bed for work. There was a slight dew/frost mix on my windshield, and I could see my breath in the air. It feels like fall. I was particularly excited, not just to wet a line but to get into some ravenous topwater striper feeds the fall run can be notorious for. With reliable intel, I was armed for an anticipated morning of topwater silliness. Post Father's Day, the reliability/predictability of a topwater striper bite is usually nil, and fall is the opportunity to get some shots on some nice fish.
I had my spin rods loaded up as follows:
Shimano Saragossa 6000 on a TFO Tactical Inshore Heavy w/ a Daddy Mac Spook
Shimano Saragossa 6000 on a TFO Tactical Inshore Heavy w/ a 1 oz jighead and 7-inch Sluggo
Shimano Stradic 5000 on a TFO Tactical Inshore MH w/ a Rebel Jumpin Minnow
Shimano Stradic 5000 on a TFO Tactical Inshore MH w/ a Nomad Floating Riptide
Seigler SG on Tsunami SPJ 6'9 w/ a Ben Parker Jiggning Spoon
My goal was to only fish artificials for a few hours in the morning. Even though the temptation was high, I did not want to use mackerel to deceive the stripers as I was convinced I would stumble onto the National Geographic scene of birds and fish tearing up the ocean's surface in a demonstration of the circle of life. My search began as I left the marina, skimming for the clouds of birds that legendary fall runs are known for up and down the coast. After 45 minutes of searching, I found myself 10 miles south of the mouth of the Merrimack with nothing to show. No big deal, I just turned around and made my run back to the north to see if anything had woken up yet.
As I continued to peruse north along Plum Island, I realized I needed to conjure up another plan. It didn't seem like the topwater bite would be happening today. Still, I refused to get mackerel and troll as I wanted to catch fish MY way! I committed to utilizing my electronics to find fish for me. I have two transducers for my Humminbird Apex units, one being a shoot-thru transducer that holds bottom even when I push the boat to 40 MPH. Over the last few years, I have put a lot of trust in my electronics when fishing on the beachfront, and today was no exception.
I moved up the coast around 20 knots and zig-zagging under loosely gathered flocks of birds, over structures, rip currents, and lobster pots hoping to find a massive school of migrating stripers. With my eyes glued to my Humminbird for any blips on the screen. When traveling at that speed, any markings on your sounder will be small and subtle, even large schools of fish. A trained eye is vital for identifying schools of fish that may look like "turbulence" or "bait" on your screen.
While underway, I notice a scattered pile of faint, light blue "noise," indicating I passed over something. I immediately stopped the boat, and my Apex revealed that I hit the motherload of fall run stripers! They were hanging out in the water column, not pushing up as I had hoped. Nonetheless, they were there for the pickings!
That is what we call a mother load of stripers!
I pulled out my jigging stick from my quiver of rods and sent down the Ben Parker Spoon. When given the correct situation, the spoon has been one of my favorite new techniques this year for catching stripers. (Check out our entire blog on Spooning for Stripers). Drifting over vast schools of stripers is the exact situation when I want to give it a whirl. As the spoon fluttered to the bottom, I could not believe the size of the school I was drifting over! I immediately hooked up to a 33" fish, and the fight was on!
As I fought, landed, and tried to take a pic of the fish, my Hummingbird continued to light up like Vegas. When I finally released the fish and dropped my spoon back down, the school had disappeared. However, the school's sheer size wouldn't be difficult to find again.
My run and gun topwater expectation instantly morphed into more of a "pump and dump" situation. Utilizing my track lines, GPS Charts (I have the Humminbird Coastmaster Charts), side imaging, and down imaging, I would putt around at 6-7 knots, looking for schools showing returns on my electronics. What I found to be key was:
It was a very windy day, so I only stopped the boat when I headed into the wind. When stopping, the wind pushing the boat back would slow the "coasting" of the boat, allowing the spoon to descend faster into the school. If you go with the wind, you will be out of the school by the time the spoon reaches the bottom.
Don't stop on small batches of fish but continue to work until you find the mother load.
Don't stop as soon as you mark a school. Instead, slow down and continue to move until the school ends on your screen. Then, make a hard 90-degree turn to put the boat broadside to eliminate spinning.
Drop the jig and go to work.
A small school like this is good for trolling or live baiting, but when jigging try to find a bigger school. I had similar marks to this as well that looked like bluefish and was confirmed by my buddy fishing macs. These look like stripers to me.
Over the next hour and fishing solo, I managed to catch nine fish in total. The spoon produced seven fish (five slots and two schoolies), then I started playing with a Sluggo on the jig head and managed two more around 27". We could have put up ridiculous numbers using the same pump and dump method if I had had multiple rods and live mackerel. But I was by myself, having fun, and trying new things, which is what I'm about! It's another example of adapting for a specific bite. Now, when I'm cruising looking for a topwater bite, I'm not devastated when it doesn't show up top because I have my electronics to be my eyes underwater and a spoon/jig to seal the deal.
Get out there while you still have time!
Tight Lines,
Capt, Chris