Remember live-lining herring? These silver bullets seemed tailor-made to be used as live bait. Their size was just right to lob out from shore. They were easily found and acquired, and bass of all sizes couldn’t swim past them without taking a swipe.
But river herring have fallen on hard times, and closures have put them off-limits as bait. This isn’t news; in Massachusetts, the herring ban is more than a decade old. Many of today’s surfcasters weren’t even fishing at the time herring were a legal bait option. New Jersey, Connecticut and Rhode Island also have a moratorium on this baitfish. Besides the Hudson River north of the George Washington Bridge, river herring are off-limits in New York as well. At first, fishermen groaned and complained about the ban, but after the initial wailing and gnashing of teeth, surfcasters got busy seeking alternatives.
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Soft Plastics
Soft-plastic baits emerged as one of the best bets. Rigged weightless, they can be worked at or just under the surface in an erratic retrieve that fired-up bass attack without thinking twice. On a light jighead, they can be swept through the current, presenting a herring-like profile to bass waiting in ambush near runs.
Effective herring imitating soft-plastic stickbaits include the durable Z-Man HeroZ and the ever-popular Lunker City Slug-Go in the 9-inch size.
Paddletails offer a fool-proof herring imtation. Fished on a light jighead and fished with a steady retrieve around herring runs, these baits are nearly fool proof. Effective shad baits include the Tsunami Swim Shad in the 6- and 7-inch sizes, RonZ Z-Fin, and Al Gags Whip-It Fish.
Plastic Swimmers
The tight wiggle, thin profile, and shallow-running depths of plastic minnow plugs make the minnow plug another must-have herring imitation. Plugs like the Cotton Cordell Red Fin that can be waked across the surface as well as fished a foot or so down make a great option for the bays, rivers, and backwaters where stripers are hunting herring in the springtime.
Articulated swimbaits with lifelike swimming actions, such as the Sebile Magic Swimmer, can be deadly with a moderate to fast retrieve.
Glidebaits
Glidebaits are another excellent option. They can be hard to get your hands on, but stripers love them. Read more about Glidebaits for striped bass.
Retrieve
Retrieve is important when it comes to imitating herring. Stripers often turn up their noses at artificial lures when river herring are abundant, but there are ways to draw a strike. For one, pick up the speed. A faster-than-normal retrieve will give a striper less time to inspect an artificial lure. Articulated swimbaits, in particular, are well suited to fast retrieves. Soft-plastic stickbaits worked frantically across the surface also have the power to pull stripers away from a herring feast.
Another ticket is to “wake” a bait across the surface. Herring can often be spotted leaving V-wakes as they head for their freshwater spawning grounds. A Red Fin retrieved slowly enough that it stays right on the surface will draw violent strikes from herring-crazed stripers. Surface metal-lip swimmers like the Danny Plug are another popular herring imitation.
Color
For color, lures in white or chrome work best. I’m not sold on lures with “herring” color patterns being necessary. Many herring patterns include a baby-blue to royal-blue back and pink lateral stripes on the sides. Lures with a dark-blue back and white-to-silver sides are the closest representation of an actual herring’s color, but an all-white lure seems to perform as well as (if not better than) any other color when herring are abundant.
