One late fall night years ago, I was out looking for the last stripers of the season. After fruitlessly working my go-to spots, I headed in. A couple hours of nothing had convinced me that the fish were gone for the season, but I quickly realized that wasn’t the case when I hit the local launch ramp. As I approached my takeout, I could hear steady pops all along the shoreline. The tide was rising, and a pod of bass surrounded pods of baitfish in just a few inches of water. The baitfish were feeding on micro food stirred up by the rising tide, which had drawn the bass into super-skinny water. That night turned out pretty well after all, and it was a lesson in the productivity of fishing the shoreline.
That lesson has been driven home repeatedly over my many seasons of targeting striped bass. As striper anglers, we often look for big bait like large bunker and schools of baitfish. It’s easy to find the obvious, but success often comes from thinking about the little stuff. By little stuff, I mean the really small organisms that are low on the food chain and start the frenzied chase.
The New England shoreline is full of life. Rocks are covered in algae and barnacles; underneath those rocks are crabs and worms along with myriad microscopic life. I’m not a biologist, but it is apparent there are few places on earth that host so much life as a rocky tidal zone. Part of my love of fishing came from visits to California tide pools at a young age. I still remember staring into the water and marveling at the many forms of life, from fish to anemones to floating things that were moving.
Any kayaker or surf fisherman who shines a light in the water at night has doubtlessly seen an abundance of life. This might spook the occasional bass, but it highlights how much bait there is. Much of it looks like grains of sand or small bugs, and all of it is food for something else. Plankton and other small lifeforms are at the bottom of the food chain and are an important part of what brings predators inshore.
We have all had those nights when bass are inexplicably active. The fish were feeding all around and easy to catch, so you tell your buddy and go back the next night, but the fish are gone. It can be hard to figure out what caused the frenzy, but often it is some kind of spawn or hatch. Many inshore species, such as barnacles and mussels, release their eggs or young to the currents, usually in massive numbers. This draws in the baitfish and crabs that stripers feed on. These events often happen in the dark around moon and tide phases, so it is difficult to tell what is happening unless you have a marine biologist with you.
During the day, I have often seen lines of what looked like grains of sand riding along a current or tide line. These blooms of plankton provide food for filter feeders like bunker. Current lines and diving birds often give away the presence of plankton. Sometimes, the current lines are filled with larger critters such as baby lobsters or crabs. Occasionally, stripers can be found sipping them off the surface.
When I tell people that I kayak fish, I always get the question, “How far offshore do you go?” Few understand that there isn’t much need to venture far from shore for stripers since much of my fishing is done in the tidal zone. I’ve taken many large bass from spots that are dry or are merely tidal pools at low tide. One of the great advantages of the kayak is that I can reach shore locations that surfcasters can’t, and I can venture into the shallows where boats don’t dare to go.
Many kayakers talk about “reverse surfcasting,” which is fishing close to shore and casting back to the rocks or beach. It’s a really effective method because it focuses on the fishiest spots where life is concentrated.
Standard striper techniques have evolved to take advantage of the inshore zone. I’m not much of a match-the-hatch angler, but I can often be successful by observing what is around and imitating it. I prefer to swim big plastics or larger plugs in areas where I think bass are actively feeding. A bait that stands out from the forage around it often gets a bite. When there are large baitfish like mackerel or bunker in the area, I switch to bright colors like white or pink to get attention, but my go-to color at night is black. There are times when the bass are keyed in on whatever bait is present, which may require downsizing. I always have a few smaller baits ready for those trips where the fish are there but are very difficult to catch.
The inshore zone is loaded with various types of worms. If you have ever fished a worm spawn, you know that bass can get very finicky. Smaller plastics or flies can be the breakthrough lures to get them biting. Don’t overlook the tube and worm, either. I’m not a big troller, but it’s hard to outproduce a worm when dealing with picky bass.
This season, watch the water while you are out. Occasionally shine a light to see what’s there, but don’t use a bright light around others and spook the bass away. Checking out what’s in the water can keep you in the right zone. If you’re fishing an area and notice that a few spots have rafts of something alive, fish it hard and ignore the empty water.
Understanding Tide and Current
