Big Striped Bass

Big Striped Bass: Best Flyfishing Retrieves
by Ted Demopoulos

Striped bass -- so what's a big one on flyrod? Just for this discussion, let's consider big to be 20 pounds and up. That might be a 40" thin striper, or a 32" football, both of which I'm happy to catch. I won't claim I've caught lots of big striped bass flyfishing, but after a few decades I've caught a few, and two retrieves have produced ALL of them for me.


The Best Retrieve for Big Striped Bass . . .
Is NO retrieve at all. Yes, just cast out your fly so the current works it, and keep your light tight and your rod tip pointed at the fly so it swings with the current.

Your fly might be moving incredibly fast at a river mouth with the tide ripping, or barely moving in an almost slack current, but fish, including big fish, love this.
Ever see bait just hanging in the water, maybe grass shrimp, or sand eels, or tinker mackerel? Just floating almost motionless in the current? Well, striped bass have seen them too and love to eat them.
I particularly like this (non) retrieve in river and stream mouths on the outgoing tide. Cast your flyline across the current, angling about 45 degrees from downstream so your fly drifts naturally across the current. Point your flyrod at the fly as it drifts and when your fly stops moving, retrieve and repeat.

This is a killer technique! It also works in the surf, off of rocks, and anywhere there is current. You might get a forty foot drift, you might get a four inch drift, but any drift may be enough to attract a large striped bass to your fly.

The 2nd Best Retrieve for Big Striped Bass . . .
So if no retrieve is the best fly retrieve for big bass, what is the second best?
Well, everyone always says, "vary your retrieve," so vary your retrieve to the extreme.

The 2nd best retrieve for big striped bass is fast -- as fast as possible. Put the flyrod under your arm and strip with both hands literally as fast as you can! I'll sometimes use one hand only as it's easier, but sometimes a two handed super fast retrieve works when a one handed one doesn't.
I love this retrieve off rocks, especially during the daytime. Sometimes it works when nothing else does. I also love it when fishing from a boat.
I've taken some big striped bass on flyrod using these two retrieves. How big?? No monsters yet, and I can't tell you how much the biggest have weighed as I released them, but I've taken a number of 20 and 30 pound class striped bass on flyrod, and a couple of stripers that may have been in the low 40s.




http://www.ideamarketers.com/?Big_St...ticleid=390549

Ted, I'm 60 years old, but I'm trembling like a little boy who can't wait to get out and play with his toys. I've been salt water fly rodding for two seasons. Each Spring and each Fall, I manage to take a few stripers into the mid-30's. I haven't got to that 40" range yet, but I'm working on it.
The "no retrieve" retrieve you wrote about is one of my favorite striper tactics, especially if I'm working seams. Sometimes if it's not producing and I know or strongly suspect that fish are present, I'll try this: holding the rod straight out in front of me, I slowly twist my body a quarter turn to the left or to the right and then spring forward again. This draws the fly forward slightly at a slight angle to the current and it tumbles back into place. I can't tell you how many times this little "tumble" has helped me hook up.
After early Spring, I fish almost exclusively at night. Some nights it's so dark you really can't see your hand in front of your face. So it's all feel. You feel the fly drawing forward against the current. You feel it, almost imperceptibly, tumble back into place. And then, the often, nearly imperceptible nudge of a striper as it inhales your fly. Sometimes it's just that, the faintest thump.
As for the fast retrieve, that's gotten me nothing but blues. Go figure.
What waters do you fish mostly? Do you specifically set out to track these larger fish? Have you taken any of them while working the shorelines? Or mostly from a boat? Any more tips? I'm all ears. Thanks for the post.

paumanok, that's an article I found on the net, the link is listed on the bottom. You're right, reading that I felt like I was there, the guy describes the exact feeling of what happens the moment the fish hits. I'm learning about fly fishing, and put it up bcause I thought some guys here would post and tell me some more about what it's like.

7deadlyplugs, one of these days I'll learn how to read. Still, it was an interesting post. Thanks for putting it up. Questions still stand, though. Where do you fly fish? What gear do you use? Do you target mainly striped bass?
I'm on Long Island. My home waters are the head of Smithtown Bay, with it's two phenomenally productive estuaries; and the ocean beaches and bay of Robert Moses State Park. Last season, I did manage trips to the Connecticut River, Quonney Pond in Rhode Island and Martha's Vineyard. Late last fall, a fellow showed me around Sandy Hook. That's definitely on my to-do list for the upcoming season. All chasing stripers. All with a fly rod.
That is, with one notable exception. After a night on Lobsterville Beach, I went the next day to re-fish Menemsha Pond. The tide was flushing out and a serious north wind was blowing against it. No chance of working a fly rod. But, instead of leaving, I broke out my one-piece 7' Okuma; I tied on a 6" blue over white yozuri slider (kind of an over-sized Zara Spoke); heaved it as far as I could across the wind and the current. I danced it back like a rabid dog in heat. Three stripers swiped at it and missed. The fourth wasn't so lucky: he chomped down and started stripping line. All 42 inches of him. That was exciting.
But let me tell you: working a fish half that size on a fly rod? That's downright exhilarating.