Striper advice

[Gerry Zagorski]

Dug an article I wrote out on this very subject



The “Clamberto”

First thing you will want to do is get yourself some frozenclam bellies and a dozen live clams for every hour you'll be fishing. Thefrozen clam bellies come in 2 or 5-gallon buckets. I like to use the 2 gallonones since they are easier to handle and if you don’t use all you bring you canrefreeze them. .



Now you need to find a spot to anchor up. Best spots to doThe Clamberto in the early spring are in back bays with warm mud flats andshallower water. Once again you want a moving tide and the wind and tiderunning in the same direction. I rarely do the Clamberto in the early spring inmore then 10 - 15 feet of water. This water warms up first and will put theStripers on the feed.

Once your set up on anchor next thing you want to do is takethe top off the bucket and put the entire bucket into a chum bag or a fishingnet tied at the top. Tie a line to the chum bag or fishing net and throw itover the side. Tighten up the line so the motion of the boat makes the bucketbob in and out of the water, which helps deploy the chum.



Now that you have a nice Clam chum slick started shuckyourself a fresh clam and cast it out into your slick. An important notehere... The snotty part of the clam is really what the Stripers are after sowhen you do The Clamberto make sure you get the entire contents of the clam onyour hook. Run the hook through the foot of the clam several times and then runit through the snot. The rig I like to use consists of a barrel swivel, sinkerslide, 30 pound leader material and a 4 or 5/0 bait keeper hook. Take the linecoming from your pole and thread it through the sinker slide and tie it to yourbarrel swivel. Tie a 4-foot piece of leader material to the other end of thebarrel swivel and tie your hook on the other end of the leader. Attach a sinkerto the sinker slide, run the hook through the firm part of the clam severaltimes. As far as how much weight to use a lot depends on how fast the tide ismoving and where in the water column the fish are biting best. I will fish one polewith a weight just heavy enough to hold bottom and another pole with enoughweight to keep the bait up in the middle of the water column. Once I see whichis producing best I will switch the other pole over.



Once I have the lines in the water I set my conventionalreel in free spool with the clicker on. I then adjust the line out tension justenough to keep line from coming off the reel yet give the fish some line if hepicks up the bait and decides to run. I usually put my pole in the holder whiledoing The Clamberto and watch the tip for a strike.



Before the Striper takes the bait you'll typically see thetip pulse a few times and then hear the clicker scream. First thing to do whenyou see the tip pulse or the clicker go off pick up the pole, which is still infree spool, point it towards the fish and engage the reel. Once you feel somepressure set the hook with a strong sweeping upward motion. If you choose touse circle hooks then don’t set the hook. Just engage the reel let your linecome tight and the fish should hook itself.



Drifting Worms



Notice I said drifting since worm fishing is not typicallydone at anchor…. Once again, early in the spring try to find a nice dark muddybottom to set your drift over… You also want to be drifting where the wind andtide are in the same direction… The rig I like to use consists of a barrelswivel, sinker slide, 30 pound leader material and a 4 or 5/0 bait keeper hook.Take the line coming from your pole and thread it through the sinker slide andtie it to your barrel swivel. Tie a 4-foot piece of leader material to theother end of the barrel swivel and tie your hook on the other end of theleader. Attach a sinker to the sinker slide. As far as weight use just enoughto keep your sinker bouncing along the bottom as you drift. Thread the head of the worm on to your hookand push it up to the barbs of the bait keeper hook. Set it out and let enoughline out so it bounces along the bottom… Take your convention reel, put theclicker on and with the reel in free spool and adjust your line out tensionjust tight enough to keep line coming off the reel as you drift. Once you hearthe clicker go off detect or detect a strike or a pick up while watching yourpole tip set the hook quickly…