The author cast a small Deceiver in releatively placid surf to take this hefty striper.

Chunk baits may be cut from such forage as menhaden, herring, mackerel, alewives and most any small fish. With an 8- or 10-inch baitfish I often cut the bait in half, preferring the head section as it holds up better than the softer tail chunk.

Patience is the key to fishing with natural bait. Plan your day or night’s strategy, and spend an hour or two in each of the variable beach configurations of the area you plan to fish.

Going with Artificials

I have long been a proponent of using a Clouser Minnow or other saltwater fly as a teaser, on a dropper off the main leader, approximately three feet ahead of the primary lure. The teaser regularly brings me many stripers, and upward of a dozen different surf species as a bonus each season.

There is such a vast array of saltwater lures that work in the surf that most newcomers become mesmerized by the selection. Often they go forth like a postman with a huge sack, lugging a 10-pound lure bag into which is jammed every lure imaginable, which they change every third cast trying to find the “right” lure. Wrong way to go. Shoulder bags are heavy and cumbersome so I use a fly-fishing vest with lots of pockets, or a fanny pack. What fits inside is what I use, with specific lure types that suit surf and wind conditions, and the species of baitfish I expect to encounter.

Within the general category of plugs, there are more than a dozen models, with more arriving each day. I’ve caught stripers on all of them at one time or another. However, I limit my choices and usually carry a popping plug that’s got the balance and weight so I can really get a lot of distance if I need it. There’s also a metal-lipped surface swimming plug, and a subsurface swimmer, and either a darter or a rattle plug.

When the wind is howling out of the northeast and the surf’s a churning maelstrom of white water, I carry only the heaviest plug types that can handle the elements. Metal squids go in a pouch in one pocket. Into another I stash the vintage Hopkins No-Eql and Shorty with plastic tube tails on 6/0 or 7/0 O’Shaughnessy hooks that have served me well over the years. Ditto for three or four Charlie Graves block tin squids including a sand eel, mullet, bunker and heavy surf runner. These are also rigged with a single hook, dressed with either white bucktail or feathers. The Kastmaster is another fine surf metal, in that its aerodynamic design enables you to cast into the stiffest wind with ease. Many of the state-of-the-art metals molded to configure to the exact shape of a mullet, sand eel or menhaden are also effective.

Bucktail jigs are standard, but as of late, swim shad lures (a.k.a. swimbaits) such as those produced by Storm, Tsunami and others, have proven extremely effective, especially when bass are breaking in baitfish. Adding a strip of pork rind to the hook of a bucktail jig always increases the number of strikes. The pork gives that slithering action when worked both with a steady and whip-retrieve.

Presenting Lures in the Wash

Whether you cast artificials in the surf for stripers, or for snook, tarpon or bull reds in southern beaches, you have to maintain contact with your lure. And the bigger the surf, the tougher this is. Above all, cast a lure over and beyond a cresting wave. Upon splashdown, immediately position your rodtip near vertical to gain control of the