i have never fished for stripers or hybrids before but now that i have a real boat im very interested in trying. theres are a couple lakes with hybrids in them and one or 2 with big landlocked stripers in them. how do i go about catching these fish. lakes range around 700-2500 acres goin 40ft depth. gimme some bieginner step by steps to go out and try..

Thanks

Ryan

How are you? Well, I have a tip for you that works very well for Hybrids and stripers in Lakes in South Texas.  I have been successful on many occasions Trolling in order to find schooling Stripers or Hybrids.  The Trolling methgod that I prefer is the Hell / Pet combo which consists of a Hell Bender crank bait of just about any color with the hooks removed and a 3/8 oz sinker where the front hook was located.  Now, where the rear hook was located you want to make a leader of around 14# test at a length of about 48" at the end of the leader tie on either a #13 or 14 pet spoon.  You want to use atleast 17# test on your reel I use 20.  The reason for the downsize on the leader is so that if you were to get hung and you will the leader should break  and you will only loose a $2.00 pet spoon and not a $7.00 hell bender.  Once the shcool is located you can begin casting a slab spoon of around 3/4 oz to 1 oz or soff plastsics that resemble shad.  You can also use a jigging technigue for schools that are under the boat.  Take a look at a website called magnumsandbass.com there is an example of this trolling rig that I have explained. Let me know if it works.

what type of anything do u look for before trolling or do you just choose randomly anywhere to troll and hope for the best

Look for structure. Dropoffs channels points. Bridges and rocks can hold fish. Stripers tend to be found in deeper more open water.

I recommend this site http://www.stripers247.com/beginnersclinic.html

Though seeing as your in New Jersey I'd go to the ocean and catch one with your feet in the sand. In Island Beach State Park where I fish they can't stay off the 20-30" fish right now and it'll get better throughout the month with some big girls showing up.