How to "find the fish?"

[bossross]

So, striper fishing has been unbelievably good this season.

We've caught fish with a wide variety of methods. Live lining bunker, chunking, jigging, trolling and top water plugs have all produced fish.

The last few days have proven to be tough though. We have found the bunker and snagged them, no takers. We've found marks and trolled through them and jigged them, again no takers.

My question is when there seems to be no fish, how do you 'find' them? No way all those fish vacated the area so abruptly (or did they?)

[Luna Sea 5]

the alternative is to anchor at your favorite spot and chum heavily.  You will bring them to you.  The fish didn't vanish.  They are there, but just may not be actively feeding.  If you get a good, heavy chum slick, you force them into a feeding frenzy, hence, upping your odds of scoring.

Just troll, or drive until you see good readings, then drop anchor and draw them in.

The ocean is huge.  You may not see them on your screen, but they may only be 100 yards from you. 

When I chum for stripers, I never get a reading on my FF.  The chum slick runs behind the boat.  The fish will be holding about 30' off the back.  Your finder won't pick them up. Sometimes you just have to find a good spot and go blind. 

[Salty Dog]

 

[Luna Sea 5]

think of it this way.  Fish are always moving.  Its like trying to swat a fly.  It is there, but you might miss it 15 times before you swat it.  Its hard to hit a moving target.  If you get a good reading on your fish finder, its because the fish are holding in a particul spot, over a particular structure, or chasing a particular bait.  The fish are there, but if they aren't holding, and always moving you may never see them on your finder. BUT THE ARE THERE.. trust me.. they are all over this season.

[bossross]

Thanks for the response Nick. I haven't chummed for stripers, I'll try that next time it's slow out there.

So, I'm guessing chumming with cut up bunker is the thing to do? 

[IrishAyes]

Look for structure. Have a good chart of the area and a good bottom machine (depth finder). Typically, if you find structure, you may find where the fish are.

By structure I mean anything that changes the norm of the area. A hill, a hole, different bottom make-up. (clam bed, rock, etc)

Good luck.

[Luna Sea 5]

Thanks for the response Nick. I haven't chummed for stripers, I'll try that next time it's slow out there.

So, I'm guessing chumming with cut up bunker is the thing to do? 

No.. buy a bushel of clams.  shuck about 4 or 5 at a time.  Dice them up on your cutting board.  Every few minutes, fling a section of that chum in the water while baiting your hook with the whole clam. 

[double3fd]

when you mean chum heavy, are you referring to cutting up clams into tiny pieces and tossing them over / cracking the shells, or getting a 5 gal bucket of ground up meat and hanging off the side?

[Luna Sea 5]

when you mean chum heavy, are you referring to cutting up clams into tiny pieces and tossing them over / cracking the shells, or getting a 5 gal bucket of ground up meat and hanging off the side?

some people just bat the clams with a bat into the water.  I like taking a few clams, shuck them, dice them up and sparingly fling them in the water towards the bow.  Keep it steady until the fish arive.  What I do is use my left over clams from the previous trip as my chum clams because I have to freeze them anyway and stripers will only take fresh clams.  Then buy a bushel of fresh clams as my bait.  If you want some help, I will be doing this tomorrow morning.

[double3fd]

cool thank you