Stripers In Your Sights

Get primed for spring and summer sight fishing.

by Lou Tabory

There's something special about a 15-pound striped bass popping onto a shallow flat to feed. It was mid-June and I was standing on a gravel bar in the middle of a big sand flat with my fishing partner Curt Jessup. We were looking for fish in the gully that drains the inner basin. Some sections of Massachusetts' Cape Cod Bay flow like a shallow river on rising and falling tides, and if there is ample bait around, stripers should be there, too.

As I watched, a big shadow appeared coming up the flow. I was surprised to see such a sizeable fish venturing onto a flat that would be dry in less than an hour. The water was only two feet deep, but the current was strong so I cast a streamer a good 20 feet ahead of the striper. As my fly settled I lost sight of the clear intermediate fly line, so I watched the fish for a reaction. It turned slightly to the right, stopped, then bolted up the flow. I saw the fish roll and before I could set the hook, the line tightened. The fish made a good run and some 10 minutes later I grabbed its lower lip, we took some photos and I returned it to the gully and watch with satisfaction as it made its way back to deeper water, still some 400 to 500 yards away.

There are many ways to sight fish for stripers. The most productive and easiest is to sight fish along steeper beaches and on the edges of bars with sharp dropoffs where the fish have access to deeper water. In bright sunlight stripers are less at ease when they are also some distance from deeper water. When stripers move onto big flats far removed from deep water, they become much more challenging. These are the fish I like to target because I have to earn each one.

When it comes to sight fishing waters, several scenarios stand out. The big flats (some are actually beaches at high tide) become flats at the lower part of the tides. Some are simply a series of bars and troughs that gradually fade into deep water. On a falling tide expect stripers to feed on the outer edges of the flats. If sand eels are trapped on the flat they are carried off with the last of the tide. I have seen fish feeding on outermost bars in a foot of water before the flat drains completely. This can happen quickly in "big tide" locations. The water seems to hold on the last section of the flat and then flush out; the water might drop a foot in 15 minutes in a location with a 10-foot tidal variation. If you are up on a flat with a boat move it off quickly unless you are planning to wade the edge until the incoming tide.

Whether casting a floating or clear, sinking tip fly line, the ideal presentation is to cast from directly upcurrent or at a slight angle so that your fly drifts down to the holding fish. If there are good numbers of small stripers on a flat, they will prove to be most aggressive. I like to look for bigger fish holding farther back on the flat or right along the edge. Typically, an edge of a flat might have a foot to 18 inches of water at the bottom of the falling tide. The biggest stripers will swim this shallow edge looking for food to flow from the flat into the adjacent trough. Once most of the water has dropped off the flat wade the bar and look for fish along that shallow trough. Stay well back from the edge and cast so the fly lands just above the edge and flows into the dropoff, or cast your streamer directly to the dropoff, five feet in front of the cruising fish. If there is little water flow, however, I've observed that the fish will be very spooky in this skinny water. If this is the case, use small, light flies, cast so that the fly and line land softly, then dead-drift the fly or let the fish take the fly off the bottom. If the fish is swimming toward the fly, don't move it unless you feel that the fish has lost sight of it. Where the tide flow is swifter, you can try imparting more action to the fly.

Cape Cod Bay flats are vast, running for many miles. The key is to find places that hold bait. In the spring and early summer, if you find good numbers of sand eels the stripers will be there as well.

I always seek out drainage gullies on both open beach flats and estuary flats. These slightly deeper waters concentrate bait and stripers on falling tides and draw fish in on the incoming tide. On any big flat look for such subtle channels that run from an inner basin to open water. These areas might be only a foot to 18 inches deeper than the bars around them; the deeper ones will be more obvious. On a falling tide look for exiting stripers, but be aware that some fish may swim against the flow as the tide drops.

For the most part you will be fishing in 2 to 3 feet of water and sometimes the tide will be strong. A clear intermediate fly line or even a fast-sinking line is ideal and in places with especially strong current, a 250- to 300-grain Teeny fly line might be necessary to get the fly down quickly. And be sure to use a 9- to 10-foot leader; short leaders may be the norm for fast-sinking fly lines but are ineffective for sight fishing. Fish that are holding in the flow, or swimming against it, will require a long lead, as much as 15 to 20 feet to avoid alerting the fish. Stripers are normally looking down and the fly needs to be on or near the bottom. If possible position yourself to avoid a long sweeping swing. Casting straight down, or slightly quartering downtide is the best presentation because you can control the fly. At times too much movement will spook the fish. In areas with softer sand the sand eels will remain hidden in the bottom most of the time. This is very true when fishing small creeks, which I will cover next. But even in hard sand locations the sand eels will burrow into the sand. When wading in soft sand, shuffle your feet as you walk and look for the small baitfish hopping in front of you. Getting the fly to hop and kick up some sand is an effective way to fish. But remember, too many hops or too much action and the bigger fish will bolt off.

Small rivers or estuary creeks are my favorite striper haunts. Crystal clear water and very spooky fish make it challenging. Some creeks are narrow, and only 3 to 4 feet deep at high tide with "holding pools" that harbor fish at low tide when their route to the sea dries up on a falling tide. Pool fish demand patience. It's wise to let the tide rise, and let the fish line up and start feeding before fishing for them. Otherwise, you'll spook them.

When exploring a new creek, get there at low tide so that you can spot incoming fish on the riser. If the creekmouth is especially narrow, set up shop inside the creek where there is more width. There, you are less likely to spook fish. At the start of the tide a floating line is fine but if the flow is strong a clear intermediate line is best. Fishing techniques are similar to fishing gullies on a shallow open flat; stripers will line up and work into the current once the tide starts. How this fishing differs is the fish will hold in one location at the beginning of the tide then keep moving up the creek with the rising tide. On falling tide they move out and are less apt to take a fly. Sometimes they will feed at the mouth on a faller, though on the lower stages of the faller, these feeders can be very spooky. Thus, small flies and delicate casts are a must.

From Maine to Cape Cod Bay there are both big flats and small shoreline pockets that offer good skinny water fishing, and big tides that average 8 to 10 feet. The coast from Chatham, Massachusetts to Long Island, New York offers the same type of water but smaller tides, only 2 to 4 feet or so. Only Long Island has tide ranges up to 7 feet.

The bigger the tides the faster fishing conditions will change. In locations with a 2-foot tide a flat might be fishable for the entire day; a flat with a 10-foot tide will be most stable around low tide, sometimes for several hours. Once the strong flow begins be prepared to move with the flow so as not to get trapped by the rising water when wading.

An early incoming tide will be the most productive in many locations. Stripers feel more at ease and as the flats cover there is food like dead sand eels, clams and crabs that are easy targets for stripers. This is especially true where tides are biggest. However, a falling tide in places that trap baitfish along edges and inside basins and drainage gullies can be excellent, too. Small creekmouths attract fish on a falling tide and they move upstream into the creek in search of food as the tide rises. Some small creeks are crystal clear and will remind the trout angler of Western spring creeks. Generally, big-tides mean a short fishing window.

Sand eels are the best baitfish for northern flats because they burrow and remain in the sand on dry flats through low tide. As water returns, some baitfish die and lay on the bottom. A flat where you see dead sand eels at low tide could be a hotspot, so stick around. Crabs are numerous on all flats and both crabs and shrimp are abundant inside creeks and estuaries. I do very well with a sparse, white Deceiver, and an epoxy sand eel fly made with purple Fluorofibre over cream Fluorofibre with some flash. Tie these flies 3 to 5 inches long. The lady crab, or calico, is a very important food source in the shallows; a reddish Del Brown Crab Fly is a good match for these. Any light tan bonefish fly 1 1/2 to 2 inches long will match both the common shore and sand shrimp that live on the flats inside most estuaries. And lightly weighted 3- to 4-inch Clouser Minnows in tan-and-white or olive-and-white are also very popular.

Top times for sight fishing are from mid May through early July. Then you can depend on good sunlight and the lower water temperature brings hungry fish onto the flats and into the creeks to feed. Some of the colder water locations from northern Massachusetts to Maine can have good sight fishing into August. In September and early October big flats might hold fish at times but the light is not as good as in summer. The key to good daytime fishing is cool water and abundant food sources.

In the spring there are places when you can sight cast and catch large numbers of smaller stripers, but the real fun begins when casting to big stripers. You will earn each fish, and you will remember each one long after the memory of a 20-fish day has faded.

(Some of this text was adapted from Inshore Fly Fishing and Stripers on the Fly published by Lyons Press.)

Gear Up

Depending on fly size and wind, anything from an 8- to 10-weight rod is standard. I use a basic, solid reel holding 150 yards of backing, and if I could use only one fly line it would be a clear intermediate. Fluorocarbon is the best leader material in my opinion, especially in the clearest water. I like knotless tapered leaders; use 10- or 12- pound test if the fish are spooky otherwise 16-pound is fine. The lighter leaders allow greater fly movement. On calm days I use a 10- to 12-foot leader even with a clear fly line when I need to cast my fly close to the fish. With a dark colored sinking line a long leader is necessary. Use a stripping basket. They work and with a sinking line and flowing water you will struggle without one. And quality sunglasses in tan, brown or copper are a must-have item.

SWA