MOM Picks - Top Early Season Striper Lures
We are just a few weeks away from our first run of fresh stripers migrating along the beaches and into the estuaries on the north shore of MA. Schoolie striper fishing in the early spring can be fast-paced and action filled. The first few weeks are an engaging warm up to when the bigger fish arrive in numbers. Today, the Mouth’s of the Merrimack contributors are going to review our top lure choices for spring school stripers. Later this week, we will have a highly detailed blog on targeting schoolie stripers for our members.
When choosing striper lures for the early season, there are a few parameters to assess before filling up your plug bag.
1) First, you want to match the hatch. Early season stripers are following schools of herring up the river or gorging on sand eels when they are prevelant. With the average fish being short of keeper size, small presentations are they way to go to keep rods bending throughout your trip.
2) Breaking down lures into where they fish in the water column is also important. You want a range of lures that will cover you for top water action, slightly subsurface, and to get down to the bottom. If you have a couple of choice for each situation, you can easily adjust depending on the what the conditions present.
3) Early spring means a lot of wind. In each category, we have at least one lure that can handle the effects of a 15 - 20 knot wind to get your offering out there.
4) For lures with treble hooks, I usually crimp the barbs on the middle treble hook and swap the rear hook with an inline single hook.
For our members, we would love to hear your opinion on what has worked well for you! Come to the Private Forum and lets continue this discussion!
Top Water Plugs
The situation we have been waiting all winter for. You see the birds on the horizon and as you get closer, mayhem is ensuing. Nothing gets the blood pumping like fish busting out of the water, spraying bait fish up in the air, and the chaos of birds dive bombing all over the place! Our dreams during winter are now coming true. Here are our top picks for top water striper situations.
Rebel Jumpin’ Minnow
A Merrimack River staple, the Jumpin’ Minnow is a timeless classic that draws vicious strikes from predators below. The small profile mimics a fleeting herring, its tight walk the dog action, and internal rattle calls stripers from all around. The trick with this lure is getting the correct cadence in your retrieve to get a consistent action. You can fish it slow or quick and it is one of my “search” lures. Don’t be afraid to pause or to switch up your cadence until the fish tell you what they want.
Cotton Cordell 3/4 oz Pencil Popper
Cotton Cordell Pencil Poppers have been a constant in my plug bag for years. A few years ago, Cordell came out with a “mini” 4.5 inch 3/4 oz version. It’s a perfect size imitation and its combination to walk the dog, throw a lot of water, and its internal rattle trigger a reaction bite to otherwise docile stripers. The mini popper casts very well on windy days and is a good substitute on for the Jumpin’ Minnow in challenging conditions.
Hogy Charter Grade Popper 3/4 oz
Another smaller popper that casts really well, the Hogy popper has more of a straight pull and is easier to fish then the previously mentioned lures. I actually like fishing this lures more subtly than most. Inside of making a big splash with a hard pull, I fish it more subtle and make “bubble” more than splash. This is a simple lure that anyone can use with success.
Subsurface Lures
Subsurface lures have my go to ticket the past few spring seasons. These are good for when you see birds, some swirls on the water, and marking fish on your finder but they are just aren’t hitting anything on top. A subsurface presentation has been extremely productive for me the past few seasons and these lures have produced exceptionally well in these situations.
Sebile Magic Swimmer - 5” 3/4 oz Sinking
Last season was my first using the Sebile Mobil Swimmer and I had outstanding results. When other lures weren’t getting bit, this little hoo-daddy did the trick. A really simple lure to use, you just cast it out and reel it in. I reel just fast enough so that I can feel the lure “kicking” as I reel in. You have to swap out the cheap stock hooks though and I go with 1/0 VMC inline singles on both the belly and tail. The mackerel pattern is also a dead ringer for herring. Don’t be surprised to catch a few keeper stripers on this bad boy as well. Unfortunately, the magic swimmer is tough to fish on windy days
Albie Snax
Quickly becoming one of the most versatile lures on the boat, the Albie Snax have a great crossover in the striper world. Again, their size and shape resemble herring, worms (for the worm hatch bite) and small sand eels depending on the colors your choose. You can fish it fast for a top water, walk the dog action or let it sink for a few seconds and make it walk the dog a few feet below the surface. I get a lot of hits just dead sticking this bait as well. It even calls in the bigger fish as we caught three fish over 40” last year on this lure in early June. I like white, amber, and dark green for colors and rig them with Albie Snax weedless hooks. The density of the plastic in Albie Snax allows you to cast in windy conditions.
Crippled Herring
For really windy days, metal spoons like the Crippled Herring allow you to fire casts effortlessly into the wind. Anything between 1/2 oz - 1 oz is sufficient to knife through a chilly spring wind. You also can’t find a better profile match to the small herring in the river than this lure. Other metals that work great are the Shimano Colt Sniper Jigs. I like the pink/blue and the sand eel patterns.
Down Deep
This if for when there is little to no surface activity, You could be scouting around structure and choke points, or marking fish tight to the bottom on the fish finder. In deeper water, we have to select lures that will get down to where the fish are. A lot of anglers predominately fish soft plastics exclusively in the early season for good reason, they work in a variety of situations and can be manipulated by the anglers retrieve. Here are some of our favorites.
Savage Sand Eel 4”
A constant top producer every year when schoolie fishing, the smaller Savage Sand Eel has this fantastic drop action with its paddle tail that I believe makes it more productive than say, a Sluggo, in most situations. Whatever the reason, stripers love this little lure. Olive and white are the two patterns that I mostly throw. You want this bait to hit the bottom, then I generally start with two quick twitches and a pause. Most of the time, you will get hit on the drop.
Lunker City Fin-S Fish
A cousin to the infamous Sluggo, the Lunker City Fin S Fish with a 1/4 - 1/2 oz jig head is a dead ringer for a small herring. Anglers can impart a variety of actions by their retrieve. When stripers are on gorging sand eels, try switching to a 6” Sluggo to match the hatch. You can fish these just like the Savage Sand Eels
Nomad Swim Vibe
Ok, I’m going to be honest, I have yet to fish this new lure and method, but it intrigues the hell out of me. After seeing these in person at the RISSA show this year, there is no way this is NOT going to be a KILLER striper lure. Basically, you cast the Vibe and let it sink. It is designed to drop and wobble vertically through the water column giving a parallel presentation that fish love. Once you hit bottom, you just reel in with a high rod tip and let it sink again. Think of it as jigging a soft plastic but slower. Once we play around with this a little more, we will share how we find it fishes best.
Other than the Vibe bait, these lures have proven themselves to be winners over the years. There are a lot of other great choices, but we have found these to be the most productive overall in our waters. If you have some favorite lures to share or discuss in more detail, head on over to our Member’s Only Forum and let’s chat it up!
Part II of this series will be for Member’s Only will discuss how to up your game and target these fish in the early spring. For only $7 per month, you can become a member and get access to all of our blogs, videos, podcasts, events, and the private forums. You can click below to join.
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