14 replies to this topic

[FlyFisherC&R]

hey guys,
im just wondering if their is any spots that you can "surf" cast ( fly fish) for striped bass, in the surf..? i'd be willing to drive about an hour to a good spot if necessary... can you fish new river beach for striped bass, are their any stripers around their..??? and what time of year is best to fish in the surf for stripers thanks...

C&R

[Bigfish1]

The best surf fishing I've had was at McLaren's and Saint's Rest beach about 4-5 years ago in late September for about 5-6 days straight. Sometimes one after another or at least 10-12 fish. All schoolies, nothing over 10lbs. I haven't seen any stripers there since, but I didn't fish it every week either, so it wouldn't have been hard to miss the run. Basically, if there aren't a lot of stripers at the shuttle dock at the falls by early September, they are running the coast and could be anywhere, so keep hitting the beach.

Lepreau causeway, St George and any river or inlet inbetween holds stripers at times, but it seems like there are a lot less bass to go around nowadays. Try Mispec beach and the river mouth in the summer, I've heard of a few around there, but small ones. In my personal opinion, the herring fishery is taking all the forage fish and the bass and mackerel aren't coming around or close to shore like they used to. It's happening in the US with the Menhaden and they are planning on reducing the commercial take by 30+ %. No food=No Striped Bass

[FlyFisherC&R]

thanks for all the info... so basically its all about timing ehh..? id be fly fishing sooo clousers, eel patterns, lefty's.... usual flies..??

[ipop]

those are the right sort of flies FlyFisherC&$R. keep in mind the best striper fishing is at night, so plan on going to any new spot and trying it during the daylight first, just to make sure you know of any hazards there.

[Bigfish1]

Don't forget some sort of popper fly. It is important if fishing the surf that your fly is properly dressed for maximum castability. If just casting into the current at say the lepreau causeway, then not so much. Shooting heads and a long rod are the norm in the US for fly fishing into the surf and it is especially important here where the tide goes out so far and the best beaches are often steep, making it necessary for a high back cast. Casting baskets and a good double haul are a must.

We have few spots that are safe nor easy to fly fish from at night and are productive. I would only bother if you knew the spot well and knew there were fish around. Not only do you have to worry about the tides, rocks, currents... you have to worry a little about other humans too. I had two fellas hiding in the woods by my truck down at the shuttle dock one night. I never return to my truck the same way I left, because at night it was too easy to be ambushed on the overgrown trail. I came up from behind them hiding in the bushes beside my truck and my headlamp light them up, blinding them. They said they thought I was the warden. Unless the wardens are using a non-american SUV that is a couple decades old and beat up, I don't see how they could have thought that. Another time on Saint's Rest, at about 12am on a foggy night I could sense someone near, so I flicked my headlamp on and sure enough, there is someone coming towards me, all I could see was the reflectors on their shoes. They stopped for a second, then moved right, then left, then away. They were still hiding near the rocks later. Weird people out there. If I was fly fishing I probably would have never noticed that person sneaking up on me.

[Twinfan]

Bigfish1, on 27 January 2012 - 03:06 PM, said:

If I was fly fishing I probably would have never noticed that person sneaking up on me.

Chuckle, you might have noticedif you beaned him on your backcast with a 4/0 Clouser. He would be howling! Good points though, there are a lot of hazards to be aware of when fishing after dark.

[FlyFisherC&R]

what about New River Beach.... any stripers in/or around their..???

[ipop]

that whole strip from new river beach to macies bay all has stripers. it`s mostly noted for numbers of schoolies but can have the occasional big keeper. bigfish1 is correct about the poppers, i hadn`t notioced you had left them out. i have some monster striper popper flies!

[FlyFisherC&R]

what time of year are they hangin around maces bay/ new river,..?

[ipop]

basicly it`s a summer/fall fishery, with some available in late spring and early winter.

[FlyFisherC&R]

ok thanks alot, really helps me out a bunch... im such a "noob" when it comes to striped bass fishing...

[ipop]

it`s a good idea to use a clear intermediate line between the leader and your floating or sinking main line for stripers. you can use heavy mono if you can`t find a store bought one. do you make your own leaders or just use strait leader? most say to use a tapered leader, which is what i do, but i have seen strait leaders used by others just as well it seemed­. i end up walking into the water a lot fly fishing for stripers...lol!

[FlyFisherC&R]

well im going to be making my own leaders now, im going to the fly fishing forum in march to pick up leader material, flies etc...

[ipop]

i based my leaders on one used by a striper fisher in maine. like most it goes from 30£ down to 17 or 18£ test line, starting with mono and finishing with floro or copolamar. some will go as low as 14£ as the final taper. i have learned to leave 48" instead of the 18-24" they recogmend for the final section, it eats up line to fast changing flies on striper line, so it isn`t 48" for long.

i believe the formula was: mono, 4` of 30£; 3` of 25£; 2.5` of 20£; and either just 18-24" of 18£ floro/copolamar (now 48") or 2` of 18£ mono followed by 18-24" (now 48") of 17£ floro/coplomar.
it`s a long taper with a lot of knots. it`s a good idea to super glue and test all of them.

[FlyFisherC&R]

ok thanks again for all the info.. muchly appreciated..