Four New England Surfcasters Share Their Must-Have Lures For Fall Stripers
Angler: Will Sirotnak
Home Waters: Connecticut
Lacking the reputation of its more famous neighbors and suffering from a lack of shore access, Connecticut is often overlooked by surfcasters. However, Connecticut angler Will Sirotnak has been able to crack the top of the Striper Cup leaderboard several times with Long Island Sound bass caught from the Connecticut coast, including some fall-run cows. Here’s what’s in his fall plug bag.
North Bar Bottle Darter
Sirotnak’s first choice is a plastic plug with a big profile that swims shallow—an important consideration in the currentswept boulderfields and rocky points that he fishes at night for big bass. “It’s been a constant producer for me in areas with heavy current, where I can let it swim across rocky points,” says Sirotnak. “It swims well in strong current, and keeps working as it swings out into slower current.”
9-Inch Slug-Go
Sirotnak packs the 9-inch Slug-Go in fall and rigs it two different ways for two very different applications. For shallow water and calm weather, he rigs the Slug-Go weightless on a single hook, wrapping the hook shank in Dacron first and adding a few drops of glue before threading on the soft-plastic bait. When the weather is rough along the coast, forcing Sirotnak to target fish inside rivers or deeper channels, he’ll fish the Slug-Go rigged on a leadhead and swim it close to bottom structure.
Dead Eel
While not technically a plug, Sirotnak fishes fresh, dead eels much like artificial lures. In the fall, when hunting for big bass after dark, it’s what he fishes 90 percent of the time. Size matters, says Sirotnak, who requests the largest eels at the baitshop, the “rigging eels” usually reserved for threading with Dacron line and rigging with two fixed single hooks. However, he doesn’t go through the trouble of rigging the eels, instead fishing them on single large live bait hooks, such as the VMC Tuna Tamer or Owner Gorilla, inserted through the lower jaw and out the top of the skull. Instead of having to lug a dedicated container to keep eels alive, Sirotnak packs single fresh eels in Ziplock bags before heading out and stuffs them into his plug bag. Besides being simpler to transport, the dead eels are easier to fish in shallow boulderfields around slack tide, when Sirotnak likes to target monster bass. “I fish them slow,” says Sirotnak, “reeling just enough to keep in touch with the eel, and giving an occasional twitch.”
Angler: Steve McKenna
Home Waters: Rhode Island
Betraying the stereotype of the ultra-secretive New England surfcaster, Steve McKenna is happy to share information on tactics and techniques that he has learned from years of pursuing stripers in the surf around Rhode Island. It’s an attitude that has earned him a lot of respect and many visitors to Quaker Lane Tackle in North Kingstown where he works the sales counter. “In the fall, I like to fish lures that not only catch bass consistently but also have a penchant for catching big bass,” says McKenna. “The fall is a great time to catch a monster striper.”
Rigged 9-Inch Slug-Go
McKenna’s first choice is no surprise. About ten years ago, he developed a way of rigging the 9-inch Slug-Go using Dacron line, two single hooks and insert weights, and after sharing it in On The Water magazine and on an episode of On The Water TV, it became known to surfcasters as the “McKenna-style rigged Slug-Go.” It’s still one of his go-to lures, especially in the fall. “I fish it because it catches fish,” says McKenna. “I still enjoy catching fish, big ones and small ones, and the rigged Slug-Go catches fish of all sizes.”
Super Strike Zig Zag
When fishing in an area with current, McKenna clips on the well-known plastic darter-style plug, the Super Strike Zig Zag. “I’ve had unbelievable success with this plug,” says McKenna. “Places like the Charlestown Breachway, the Short Wall, the Narrow River, or anywhere inside Narragansett Bay where there’s current, this lure is indispensable.” McKenna recommends fishing the Zig Zag on braided line so that you can feel the subtle movement of the plug as it swings and dips with a slow retrieve against moving water. It’s this subtle, lumbering action that McKenna thinks makes the lure so effective. “It swims like the shiners here in the bait tank,” explains McKenna. “They aren’t making exaggerated movements—it’s more of a subtle darting action, just like the darter.” McKenna feels that color choice is important, and his favorites are yellow, amber, black/orange, and black/chartreuse/white.
Danny-Style Plug
McKenna’s third choice is the classic, versatile metal-lip Danny-style swimming plug. “In the daytime when it’s overcast, and at night around boulderfields, a Danny is irresistible. You can swim it along the surface, or bring it a little deeper.” His favorite is the tough-to-find Beachmaster Danny, but there several luremakers that offer similar plugs in the 6- or 7-inch range. McKenna carries the plugs in yellow, white, parrot and blurple.
Bucktail Jig
Honorable mention has to be given to the versatile bucktail jig, says McKenna. He prefers Andrus Bucktails in ½- through 2-ounce sizes, in white with a white twister tail or a piece of Uncle Josh pork rind in red/white.
Angler: Jimmy Fee
Home Waters: Cape Cod, Massachusetts
In a given striper season, surfcaster and On The Water staffer Jimmy Fee puts thousandsof miles on his truck, crisscrossing the Cape to fish its incredible diversity ofsandy beaches, rocky shorelines and estuaries. “Surfcasters can do well with a wide variety of lures in the fall, from big surface plugs in the Canal to small teasers on the backside beaches,” says Fee. “But there are lures that will catch regardless of whereyou wet a line on the Cape.”
Guide’s Choice Needle Stick
“In the fall, my plug bag is full of needlefish, no matter where I’m fishing on the Cape,” says Fee. “The primary reason is that needlefish can be made to imitate a large number of different baitfish.” Fee will switch up which needlefish plugs he carries based on where he’ll be fishing. “A small, slender needlefish like the Guide’s Choice Needle Stick is a good match for the spearing or sand eels you might encounter on the south side of Cape Cod, while a larger, wider needlefish will better match the mackerel, bunker or herring that draw big stripers into the Cape Cod Canal.”
Another reason to like needlefish in the fall is because they cast well into the wind. From Mid-September to November, the windy days far outnumber the calm ones on Cape Cod, and often, the places where the wind is blowing directly on the beach are the places where the stripers are feeding. “With a heavy needlefish, like the Super Strike ‘loaded’ Super ‘N’ Fish, I can still get a plug in front of the bass, even in a gale,” explains Fee.
Crippled Herring
Although the Crippled Herring is a favorite, Fee keeps a number of metal lures handy at all times in the fall. “Depending on the shape of the lure, a metal might imitate a sand eel, a herring or a peanut bunker, all of which are major players during the Cape Cod fall run,” says Fee. Much like the needlefish plugs, Fee selects metal lures for his plug bag based on where he’ll be fishing. “When fishing a sandy beach, either on the south side or the Outer Cape, I pack slender metals like the A.O.K. T-Hex, Point Jude Po- Jee and Ava A17, as well as some wide metals like an Acme Kastmaster, Point Jude Butterfish and Hopkins Shorty.” Slim metals can be fished close to the bottom, occasionally dragged through the sand to imitate a sand eel. The wider metals can be fished near the surface to imitate peanut bunker.
Another benefit to packing metals in the fall is to reach fish that pop up out of casting range. “In the Cape Cod Canal, I’m never without a 4-ounce Crippled Herring,” says Fee. “It casts a mile and is a dead ringer for a peanut bunker. Bounce it along the bottom, and if the fish are there, you won’t have to wait long for a bite.”
7-Inch Red Fin
Minnow plugs are Fee’s third fall staple. “If I had to narrow it down to one style, it would be the 7-inch Red Fin. Though it’s just one plug, you can tweak it to fish several different ways. Right out of the package it will swim beautifully right on the surface with a slow retrieve. Replace the rear treble with a dressed tail hook, and you have a lure that is almost always good for at least a hit or two.” The Red Fin is light, however, and does not cast too well, especially into a headwind. So, Fee adds weight to the lure by loading it with water, an alteration that surfcasters have been performing for decades. “A ‘loaded’ Red Fin casts much better, and though it swims a bit deeper, it is still a striper killer,” says Fee. Whether I’m fishing day or night, in Provincetown or Bourne, the Red Fin is one of the most reliable plugs I pack.
Angler: Ron Powers
Home Waters: Greater Boston, North and South Shores
“In the fall, it’s all about the forage,” says Powers. “And recently, for Boston Harbor and the North and South shores, it’s been sea herring, pogies and mackerel.” However, says Powers, it’s not about exactly matching the forage. “When there is a lot of the bait in the water, you want to fool a striper, but you also want your lure to stick out, and get noticed.”
Shimano Waxwing
A relatively new lure that Powers has only recently added to his surfcasting arsenal, the Waxwing gets the nod when fish are feeding on sea herring or peanut bunker. In the fall, when blitz fishing can be frantic, the Waxwing’s simple rear double-hook makes for fast catch-and-release fishing. “While others are dealing with multiple treble hooks on a plug, I’m outfishing them with the Waxwing because I’m unhooking fish quickly and getting back out there,” says Powers, who prefers the 7/8-ounce size and recommends a simple fast-speed retrieve to make the lure dart and kick just below the surface.
Daiwa Salt Pro Minnow
If mackerel are on the menu, Powers prefers to toss the SP Minnow, a longcasting plastic minnow plug that has become very popular with surfcasters in recent years. However, instead of selecting one of the realistic mackerel-patterned versions, he throws his favorite color, yellow pearl. “It’s a strategy I learned from Cape Ann surfcaster Steve Pappas,” explains Powers. “He’s caught multiple big bass from shore, and he likes to fish yellow because it sticks out in a school full of mackerel.” The mackerel bite is often at the tail end of the season, sometimes as late as mid-October. Many times, surfcasters will see blitzes at this time of year and be disappointed to discover that it’s mackerel feeding on baitfish, not stripers. However, says Powers, that’s when he’ll work the water with an SP Minnow. “Late in the season, there’s fewer bass around, but there are often still a few beneath the mackerel, and they’re usually big ones,” says Powers.
Big Water Lures Junior Pike
When there are big bass around feeding on pogies, Powers reaches for a big plug like the Big Water Lures Junior Pike in a brown bunker pattern. “This is my choice when I am only after big bass,” says Powers. “If there are pogies in a harbor in the daytime, I’ll go after dark and target the channels, especially on a dropping tide.” Another benefit of the plug is its versatility. In shallow water, Powers fishes the plug by waking it on the surface with a slow retrieve, but with a quick retrieve or in swift current, it will swim 6 to 8 feet down. “I won’t catch many schoolies on this plug,” says Powers, “but I will throw it when I think I have a chance to catch my season-best bass.”
Thanks for the information, keep it coming ANDRE’
Hey those Big Water Lures look pretty nice, where can I pick one up?
GRS is Gary Soldati. Check it out on the web to get on his mailing list. He opens his on-line store when he has inventory and you have to be on it like fast drying glue to get 2 or maybe even 3 of them. Great looking stuff and in heavy demand by surf casters and collectors alike. Really big plugs.
More than just a pretty plug, Gary’s pikes are built to last and catch huge fish. Years ago I put one in the hands of quite possibly Boston’s best big bass fisherman and in just one night it became his can’t-d0-without favorite! Another cool factoid, Gary caught his personal best 51 pounder in the surf on one and NOT on an eel like most others do!!!!!!!!!!
To: Kevin Blinkoff
Enjoyed volunteering alongside you at Striperfest. Particularly enjoyed you.
PlugBag article incredibly helpful. Hope you’ll repeat this thoughtful concept in Spring and again in Summer. Your publisher is a peach of a guy. Guess I’m an official On The Water Groupie now. Best, Andy Mensing