MassBass

I want to get a topwater strike on my spro shad. Hopefully tomorrow evening.

topwaters when its calm in the morning, then crankbaits and tubes during the day. Its been 3 years now since I have fished (winnipesaukee). I used to vacation there every summer. I would think the smallmouth tactics that work at winnipesaukee could be used at squam.

rattlebait

How do you fish your pencil popper? walk it fast? I found a mint condition pencil popper floating in the river looks like it was custom painted.

did he noodle that one?

What brand of braid? Spiderwire stealth starts to break on the cast after some use. Power Pro is much more durable in my experience.

I agree you should get a kit from cabelas. They come with a fancy little fly box to.

You have had some good luck! Catch any big smallies by accident?

I have not caught a striper from the bank yet. Im burning myself out going down there and getting skunked. But when I went out in my friend's boat I caught a 28" and a 33".

I think swimming a jig is the best way to feel bites and gain confidence.

whole kernal corn works but its not crack to them. To me its a proven bait but i always have in the back of my mind there must be something better.

outfished my buddy's shadow rap with a husky jerk.

slug-go

I carry a machete when I go down to the river. Not specifically for self-defense but for getting thru the brush. There is a little farm pond that I like to fish, but it is a bullpen. I feel safer with an ax when I go there. A machete is kind of light to defend from a bull.

River smallies will hang around carp that are rummaging the bottom, quickly darting in for crayfish and helgramites rooted up by the carp.

Quite the tode.

Wait till night and then, from a distance, run a spinnerbait by that dock.

Hot dogs will attract monster snapping turtles.

Wouldn't a pattern be the culmination of all of these?

I used to have one, chart. and black, it was basically dynamite, a very effective popper. I lost it to an american flag on a flagpole on a dock. I had to cut the line. I got a white one and a chrome one to replace it. I haven't used them yet but when their time comes I will have confidence in them.

Nice catch. When stocks start to decline it is the surf fishermen that feel it first. In the time of the indians and colonists, you could walk across the water on the backs of the striped bass.

Any one have experience with this rod? Im looking for a 6' mh casting rod. My main concern is; will these guides hold up over the years and not get grooved out?

Savage gear makes a soft swimbait that is a sand eel imitation, that is a proven swimbait for stripers; and yes stripers will hit a rattletrap lure just like a bass would.

You can absolutely use your bass combos for the stripers. I spool up my baitcasters with 50lb braid for stripers. As for techniques, try in the early morning ripping 9" sluggos topwater style. Dusk is a good time for that presentation to. The mid-day bite can be slow; unless there is good wind and wave action in the river. Striper fishing in the river during their migration is just fabulous sportfishing imo.

Fish still gotta eat. Triggering a reaction strike may be your best bet.