Discussion: Fishing Rubber, covering all the Bases

[porgy75]

What are some of the first rubber you reach for durning these different times?

Night?
Day?
do you fish them differently during different tides. thannks

[fishinmission78]

High - outgoing - plugs
High - incoming - jigs and rubber or bait

[Frankiesurf]

Depends on current where you are fishing. I was at a spot last week that the current is BRUTAL on high moon tides.

Keep in mind that the water on high tide can be much, much higher depending where you are fishing.

With higher currents speeds and higher water, I will generally throw something that will dig a little deeper. Bucktail and rubber shads are always on the list. That is normally just a start. It, as always, depends on where the fish are holding. If they aren't deep or lower mid then I work my way up to the top of the water column.

For the stormy seas/rough water I try to throw anything that will hold or just stick with bucktails or heavy shads if you can't get the plug dug in. This also depends on which way the current is moving and also wind direction.

[DarkSkies]

We have a thread here called "Artificial Only, the Surfcasters' Bible..."
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...al-Only-thread

I'll probably talk about rubber in that thread as well.
However, rubber has so changed the surf fishing industry, and the way some of us fish, that I thought it would merit its own thread.

[DarkSkies]

Many in the Surf fishing world like to focus on big plugs, big wood, big darters, big pencils, etc....
That's great when there are 30lb bass swimming all over.

In recent years I've seen a decline in the times and occurrences of larger bass hitting our surf locations.
If you're still geared up only to catch these fish you might be missing out on a world of opportunity.

In my experience., there is nothing as attractive as a smaller profile to consistently catch bass.
My thinking behind this is along the following lines...

!. Bunker, larger herring,and mullet are not always around as forage fish. When they aren't, it's my experience that bass are less likely to hit the large profiles that some like to throw.

2. The small forage fish, rainfish, killies, spearing, sandeels, etc, are around for a longer part of the year. They are the first forage to show up in the Spring and some of the last to leave in the Fall. (generally speaking).

3. This stands to reason that bass spend more time eating this forage, because of the availibility.

4. Rubber most closely approximates this profile.

5. Learning to fish rubber effectively can increase your catching opportunities.

6. Learning to do this, on a regular basis, can increase your confidence as a fisherman.

[DarkSkies]

I thought some of ya's might like to talk about rubber and how it fits into the fishing you do.....

[Monty]

Well I like to fish 14" Hogys, black ones, almost never throw them in daylight.
I am trying to work in 10" and 7" into my "fishing style" and its been unsuccessful so far and that experiment is about done for now.
97% of the time I fish unweighted (without wobble head).
Its very important to be able to get them deep at times...lots of times.
Really hardly ever fished rubber shads and or jig heads with rubber until this year, and I still hardly ever throw them (I enjoy fishing other stuff).
So I carry a few rubber shads and 14" Hogys (and for now a couple 7" and 10" ones).

[DarkSkies]

Good post, Monty....

The 14" Hogy is a deadly offering. It can pull a fish out of inactivity on a night you think none are around. Rubber eels are the closest things to live or dead eels, without the scent.

I'm not sure eel scent matters as much as presentation, as you mentioned.

In July some guys I know landed a 45" bass from an Ocean County rockpile, throwing a 14" Hogy.
The guy had his sitting in bunker oil....
To some that might not make sense, after all how does an eel smell like a bunker?
I guess it made sense to that big bass, though, as the guy fishing the Hogy almost had the rod torn out of his hand....












I noticed this in the winter as I would sometimes throw a 9" Sluggo while fishing the hot winter bite.
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...fishing+thread


The reason I was throwing it was that there were bigger bass around. When you throw a 14" Hogy, I would think you are anticipating that as well. I think what the larger rubber profiles do, (when they aren't getting choopped in half by the smaller bluefish) , is to call out the bigger fish to action.

Or, they could be just the very thing that slapped the bass on the head as you swam it by them, causing a violent reaction strike..

Again, my observations are unscientific, but I noticed this time and time again in the Winter. The nights when there were mostly schoolie bass around they wouldn't touch the Sluggo I was throwing as it didn't fit the profile of the 4-5" sandeels that were around.

Bigger bass, though, seem to be less discriminating at times, in my experience....if it looks like food they're gonna take a swing at it..... And as a result, in some circumstances, IMO it's sometimes possible to "Call"" the bigger fish to the table using big rubber like that.


As Monty mentioned, sometimes these fish are deeper, sometimes not....
But you won't know that till you work all levels of the water column.....

[DarkSkies]

This thread is also for you new guys as well.
Don't beel bashful, things are never learned in life by being afraid to ask questions....


And if you want to learn, here is your opportunity.....

[clamchucker]

Very good thread. Before rubber we fished bucktails and pork rinds. We fished them a lot when the weather was bad or the water was colder. The different types of rubber have made it a lot easier for some of the younger folks to catch fish. It is as you said, the fish almost can not resist them. I like the standard fin-s 4" on a jig head. You can do better if you vary the weight of the jig with the current and depth of the water. I don't like to use the expensive pieces because there is always a chance a bluefish will come along and bite it in half. Keep it simple if you want to catch fish on rubber.

[surferman]

I can catch small bass in Cape May backwaters by the end of March using zooms and fin es'. They are a great year round thing to carry.

[jigfreak]

You can do better if you vary the weight of the jig with the current and depth of the water. I don't like to use the expensive pieces because there is always a chance a bluefish will come along and bite it in half. Keep it simple if you want to catch fish on rubber.

This is one of the keys to success. Throwing rubber on the top when they are eating crabs or shrimp on the bottom gets you nothing. dragging rubber too deep when they are crashing bait on the surface will someimes cause you to miss fish. You have to think of where they are. If crashing bait then by all means fish it light and fast. If on the bottom you need to be low and slow. I have seen a lot of dudes fish rubber and fail. They fish it too fast. What clamchucker said about changing the jig weights is golden. This is the only way you will be able to catch more than one fish in a bridge or rip situation.

[DarkSkies]

Great thread so far guys, appreciate the different thoughts.

[cowherder]

Yes and you could add if you fish where there are bluefish around you will get chopped! I fished nomoco tonight until dark, incoming tide. started using the fin-s and got many bit in half. Isn't it amazing how they know just how to bite up to the hook?
Then I switched to bucktail and porkrind and they were slamming it. Small blues but fun anyway, managed over 20.

[williehookem]

I really like the tsunami shads. They do tend to get bit in half by the blues tho.

[jigfreak]

Good thread. I wouldnt be caught dead without rubber. Sodbanks bridges, bulkheads, warm water disscharges. All places to throw small rubber. Not a big fan of the sluggo unless the sandeels are thick. Hope you guys are not offended by that. I'm big on fin s and the bass assassin and the riptide mullets. Go by the power plant and see what bait is always in the shallows and the cuts, you will see minnies there over all other bait. These three work for me. Fish them slow, twitch every once in a while. How fast I fish them depends on the current.

[fishinmission78]

I really like the tsunami shads. They do tend to get bit in half by the blues tho.

Wait until the bluefish leave, and the peanuts are running down the beach.. Fish a cut or inlet. They are a fall favorite of mine for when peanuts are thick.

[DarkSkies]

I had some additional thoughts.......


Fall Season - (Sept to December) Rubber strategies....

1. For me there's a transition period, early fall when the fish are picky. When throwing rubber, I throw small rubber like fin-s's and thinner paddle tails because that seems to represent the primary forage for some of the areas I like to fish.

2. An interesting thing, that I have noticed, is that for the fishing I do, the storm and tsunami shads don't seem to produce. I have fished them side by side for comparison, and haven't gotten any action compared with some of the smaller rubber I fish.

3. Once the mullet start leaving the bays and rivers, this changes a bit for me....the rubber shads start to be productive again....

4. This is just my experience,,,some of ya's may have different experiences...but found to be true for the areas I fish.







5. Some of ya's may have noticed different things or had success with other rubber, so far this fall, beginning in Sept.....


Again, I think the strategy that works best for you is should be tailored to the areas you fish....


Let's hear about it....

[storminsteve]

Good point. I have not had any success on the storm shads till the peanuts start the long death march along the beaches. When rainfish are around I don't even bother taking them out.

[hookset]

That also depends on the current. Fish fast moving water and they are less picky.