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I recently moved to the north shore in Massachusetts and want to get into saltwater fishing. I used to do alot of freshwater fishing on the finger lakes in western NY, however I have never fished saltwater before. I plan to do most of my fishing from a small 16-17 ft boat. I was wondering if anyone out there has any advice for me for getting into striper and/or bluefish fishing. Specifically I have questions about types of rods/reels I should be using, but I'd appreciate any advice at all from anyone who wants to comment on anything.
I recently picked up a Tsunami 702M 7ft rod and a Shimano Stradic 5000 spinning reel. Has anyone out there used either of these products? I bought them from a "sales" guy that I hoped steered me in the right direction after all my questions. I also looked at the Tsunami 702H? I'm assuming the "M" or "H" stand for medium or heavy flex/action. What is best for striper fishing?
As far as a bait casting setup, any advice for that?
Location: Quebec, Canada and Pirates Cove, OBX, NC
Posts: 17,813
RE: striper fishing help
Quote:
tp13 - 4/2/2006 9:50 PM
I recently moved to the north shore in Massachusetts and want to get into saltwater fishing. I used to do alot of freshwater fishing on the finger lakes in western NY, however I have never fished saltwater before. I plan to do most of my fishing from a small 16-17 ft boat. I was wondering if anyone out there has any advice for me for getting into striper and/or bluefish fishing. Specifically I have questions about types of rods/reels I should be using, but I'd appreciate any advice at all from anyone who wants to comment on anything.
I recently picked up a Tsunami 702M 7ft rod and a Shimano Stradic 5000 spinning reel. Has anyone out there used either of these products? I bought them from a "sales" guy that I hoped steered me in the right direction after all my questions. I also looked at the Tsunami 702H? I'm assuming the "M" or "H" stand for medium or heavy flex/action. What is best for striper fishing?
As far as a bait casting setup, any advice for that?
Thanks in advance to anyone who responds to this.
Welcome to THT
This is a great board, great people, and great info
I all depends on the type of fishing you are going to do. If you are using a lure, the spinning reel is fine. If you are trolling a heavier conventional reel and rod is needed.
Here in NY, my preference is chunking bunker for stripers. For this I use a fast action Gloomis Pelagic Series rod with a Penn International Baitcaster 975 reel.
Try using the bunker heads for bait. Big stripers love them. Good luck.
I live in CT and fish for Stripers from a boat. I have a rig nearly the same as yours (Tsunami 7' rod, Stradic 4000, same reel, smaller spool, should have sold for about $200 Good stuff!) If I were Striper fishing with that setup, I would be tossing soft plastics (SlugGos, Fin-S-Fish, etc) in the 5" range. Anything larger would be too heavy in my opinion. You could try 3-waying sand or bloodworms on the bottom also. Tube 'N Worm is also another possibility. You could probably handle up to a 30" Bluefish with that combo, it would certainly be a blast. As far as locations, you will need to get local info at a tackle store. It will probably be another few weeks 'til you see Stripers up there and a bit longer for Bluefish. Good luck.
The best part about striper fishing is that there are a thousand way to do it successfully .... and EVERYONE thinks their way is the best!!!
So lets start by removing any chance of buyers remorse....you made a very good choice for a spinning rod and reel. You will be very happy with that combo. It is an excellent set up for throwing lures or eels (if we can this year) from a boat. From the beach it will work, but the 7 foot rod may be a bit short....but your 16 or 17 foot boat will get you to where you need to be and the 7 foot rod will do the rest.
The next approach is trolling....that is a different game. I personally like Penn 113 HSP and wire line. It is pretty much a standard in Mass.... But there are a million variation on this theme. Very few are wrong and it really comes down to personal preference.
Then there is drifting and chunking ... another method that works and has it devotees. I plan on trying it more this year. The 113 will work ok for that ... but wire would be a PITA for drifiting. I would use my Avet LX's and braid for drifting this year....
I would grab a beer and do a search on this site for "stripers." That should take a couple nights and you will learn more than I can type....
Nice set-up. I just got the same reel and similar size rod for fishing from a boat. Will work great for casting from the boat into the rocks or breaking schools of Stripers and Bluefish. Your sales guy did you justice for getting you started around here. Yes, you will read about wire w/ tube & worm, chunking, drift, etc, but casting light tackle for nice size fish is a great part of striper fishing. Have fun.
Thanks for all the quick responses. That was quick.
What is the difference between a rod such as 702M vs 702H. The medium vs. heavy, is that basically just the stiffness/action on the rod? Is it personal preference as to which to use?
Yes, action, which can be personal preferrance. Usually refers to line & lure weight as well - in your case 10-20lb test & 1/2-2 oz lures. I'd rig it w/ 15 lb test, and perfect for Slugos, small/med size poppers, & deadly dicks. You'll also have fun casting to false albecore in the fall w/ this set-up.
You got some good advice above. I'd only add that if it was me, I'd find a local tackle shop and do some hanging around with those guy and listen and ask questions.
Tight lines.
Mike
On the North Shore of Mass not too many use wire line for stripers. Depending on where you are some use lead core line. Around Salem, Beverly, Marblehead the coast is very rocky and you'd get hung up fast. Most guys seem to throw live bait (depending on what's there to catch to use for live bait), or chunks of herring that can be purchased at most bait shops. You're set up seems just right. Try 17-18 lb mono with a 20 lb 4' fluoro leader and size 6 circle hook. Throw out small pieces of cut up herring as chum every few minutes and stick a big piece on the hook. Good luck.
The MA north shore has a lot of estuary fishing opportunites that would be appropriate for the size boat you have. I used to fish the north shore out of a 19ft boat and there where many days that I wouldn't take it into the ocean but could still have good shots at stripers staying "inside". Now with a larger boat I have more possibilites, but still find myself estuary fishing sometimes.
As people have mentioned there are a lot of different ways to target stripers. When fishing the estuaries tide & location are big factors. Stripers like to lay in wait for the tidal activity to push the bait to them. I sometimes have to re-learn the best spots each spring as the winter storms and runoff changed the bottom layout. When estuary fishing I use exclusively spinning gear (a little lighter than what you purchased) unless I'm fishing live mackeral. When fishing the live macs I like to thumb a conventional in free spool to allow the fish to swallow the bait before feeling the pressure. That is a lot easier to to with conventional than a spinner unless you are using a baitrunner.
You aksed about rod weight class. I have three sets of weight classes on board that I vary based on the conditions and type of fishing I'm doing. My favorite to catch fish on is my lightest (12lb test 4000 series reel, light 6.5ft rod) spinning setup. Nothing like catching a 40 plus inch striper on that rig. Of course fishing that light has its draw backs. Last year I lost two large fish to broken hooks. This year I'm going to Gamakatsu hooks which are supposed to be stronger. My next up in weight class setup is also a spinning setup (15 -17lb test 4500 series reel light - medium 7ft rod). The heavy gear is not that heavy with medium ( 6.5 - 7ft)conventional rods and 30lb test mono. I also keep one conventional reel spooled with lead core for fishing the tube and worm.
My 1st year fishing stripers and blues on the north shore I only caught a few fish all season. By the thrid year I could consistantly catch fish and harly ever got skunked. Part of it is knowing how, and part of it is avoiding time/location/tide combinations that have low probablity. So... be patient, you may not hit the jackpot right away.
I hope you enjoy fishing the north shore as much as I do.
__________________
Newburyport, MA
Eastern 35 FB
Door#3
By no means am I an expert (in fact I am from New Orleans) however I have fished stripers off the cape successfully. It was very surprising to me how similiar the feeding habits and fishing methods can be to cobia fishing. Basically, stripers love eels, and cobia really love eels. Our most productive method was deep jigging the rips. I used ling kings (a gulf coast staple for cobia) a penn senator and let the boat parrallel drift down the deep side of a rip. Caught bluefish every drop, but had enough bass mixed in to make it interesting. Plus, I feel like you get a better fight with this method than if you were trolling. I was probably no help, but thanks you gave me a chance to remember my trip to Mass. and those great bass.
Fishing alone in a 20-ft. CC, I use two Tsunami 702Hs, both with Baitrunner 3500s, loaded with 30# PowerPro. They're cheap and tough. I can't imagine putting a Lami, G Loomis, etc. on my boat. I troll, drift eels, drift chunks, live-line everything but the dog, drift for fluke, cast eels, cast plugs, cast jigs with them, and they are the best multipurpose boat rigs I've used. Sometimes around here you have to use up to 14 oz of lead to bounce something on the bottom in a heavy current at 90 feet. I don't think you're going to pull that off with a 702M.
For tuna, I replace my 30# Baitrunner spools with 65# spools when the big boys are around.
They are accompanied by two wire rigs--Senators on two custom wire 6-footers--for trolling spoons, umbrella rigs, etc., near the bottom.
I also carry a Sabiki rod for macs, small blues, small bunker, silversides, etc. Great rigs for a boat with grandkids on it--no hooks flying around the air!!
In my experience there is no need for anything else.
On the 702M vs 702H question, I think the M is just too skinny for big bass, although it might be a lot of fun. The Hs, on the other hand, are fantastic in that they'll handle just about anything out there. $49 ea for the rods; ~$100 ea. for the Baitrunners. I have some surf rods where the guides alone cost more than that.
I have a whole shed full of surf rod-reel setups, mostly custom stuff, that I keep off the boat. That stuff is just too tweaked, too specialized, too EXPENSIVE to be thrown around a boat.
FWIW, I suggest anyone using the Tsunami 702H (and maybe the 702M, too) in a boat, replace the tiptop. The stock one will cut your line in a drift where the line runs out at an angle in a rodholder and rubs against the braces on the sides of the tiptop that comes on it. Learned that lesson fluking with them when I first got them.
Good luck. I can smell the stripers arriving in Southern Rhody!!!
__________________ Catch & Release: "Was it good for you, too??"
Learn your quarry and you will know how to catch. Learn how they setup in reference to structure in relation to tide, and you will be able to locate fish from the kitchen table with a chart. Find a technique and perfect it. Chunk-always heads, never tails. Troll-SLOW and LOW, Casting-let it sink, bigger fish are lazy and low. Best of luck, enjoy the journey
__________________ VERADO CLUB
"Every man dies, but not every man truly lives....."
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