Stretch 25 time Raritan Bay?

[Capt Sal]

When the gannets are starting to dive in the bay it is time to start pulling plugs.I love stretch twenty fives in purple. Purple is imitating a herring. Although the bay is full of bunker there are also herring and that is what gannets want and so do bass. Braid is good but mono works just as well .Do not go to heavy with the mono. Thirty pound line tops. I like a two foot shock tippet of 50lb so we can lift the bass right into boat unless they are hughe. Using a landing net with all those treble hooks is a night mare. We troll at 3.5 -4 kts tops. The size of the lip determines the depth it will go down to. Chartreuse is our next go to especially when the sun is high. I must own over 100 stretches but they were accumulated over many years. Start out with five or six and mix them up with 25 and thirties. Not my favorite way to catch bass but very productive and more so in the Spring than the fall. If you use yellow braid it is very easy to mark with a black sharpie at 150 feet. If you get a good one on and have to stop the boat reel the other one in fast and chances are good you will be doubled up. Try it you might like it. Simple fishing for sure!:)

[MVP]

Capt Sal

Appreciate you taking the time and sharing your years of experience with other fisherman to help them improve their catch.

[shrimpman steve]

I thank you as well as I have never trolled up a bass on my boat. I will take all the above wisdom and give it a shot. Thanks!

[Capt.Yasar]

Capt Sal

Appreciate you taking the time and sharing your years of experience with other fisherman to help them improve their catch.

Ditto. Please keep them coming. Not only interesting reads but open up other options....highly appreciate your time and efforts.

btw, when there will be a garage sale for all those 100s of stretches :D

[torchee]

I pull stretch plugs behind my kayak is relatively shallow water. They work great in raritan bay in the spring.

I pull them in May/ June and even score some quality fluke as a by catch.

I also like to pull them out front up tight to the beach at sunrise all summer.

[Joey Dah Fish]

Great post. I hate trolling but enjoy reading your techniques thanks

[makosnax]

They've been hitting plugs since Tuesday so I'm sure stretches will work now

[stugots]

All we basically do is troll plugs early season until the bunker bite starts up. Start in 16ft early season running the flats then work the contours up to 25ft seeing where the fish are stacked. We use Shimano Tekota Line Counters with 65lb braid and about 20ft of 50lb flurocarbon leader. The line counters are great because you can easily adjust to have the correct depth of the lure. Like Sal said Chartreuse is a go to color in our box of plugs but last year the two hot colors were silver/blue and a bunker colored plug. Catch em up guys.