Big bait, big fish. Look at the size of that lure, a Tournament Grade Tackle Horse Bunker Spoon.

Give them what they want.

A day on the waters for Brian begins with castnetting bunker
for charters, who arrive later
that morning.

He avoids buying bunker or storing his own in a pen, because the freshest bunker, fished with the most natural presentation, can be key for trophy striped bass, the wariest.

Penned bunker can become red around the nose and gills and get some of the slime knocked off.

So Brian catches 100 of the baitfish to keep on the boat for the trip.

Most are placed in the vessel’s two livewells for liveline fishing,
and some are stored dead in a cool place on the boat for cutting
them to fish as chunks.

Brian tries to avoid keeping on ice the menhaden for chunking, because the freshwater can damage the saltwater bait.

On the charter, if bunker are schooling the area, he’ll usually set up either on a drift or on anchor and fish a combo of live and chunked bunker, and if one works best, all lines will be switched to that bait.

If no bunker are around, he’ll troll to cover ground to locate bass.

First, about the bait fishing.

When fishing bait, the boat will often be anchored, if a specific structure or hole is the target.

If a broader area is meant to be fished, the boat is drifted.

For chunking, Brian will cut the bunker on an angle from behind the head to the vent on the bottom, keeping the entrails attached.

An 8/0 Owner SSW circle hook is impaled through the bottom jaw and out the top jaw.

That helps keep the bait from spinning in current, and prevents other unnatural presentations, like flared gills, if the head were hooked from the back.

A 2-1/2-foot, 50-pound Gamma fluorocarbon leader is snelled to the hook.

The other end is attached to a 130-pound Owner swivel, and the main line is attached to the swivel. 

A fish-finder or sinker-slide rig is used, and the weight is either attached to the snap on the slide or to a length of light line attached to the slide.

If the fish are found on the bottom, the snap is used.

If they’re feeding farther up in the water column, an appropriate length of line is used to attach the weight.

Brian will set out various options and see what works, then stick with that.

Big stripers will often hug bottom, but not always, and he’s caught them from bottom to top.

Live bunker are fished on the same rig, but maybe with a bigger hook, maybe 10/0, depending on the size of the bait.

Livies are hooked through the nose, through the lips or behind the
dorsal fin.

If the boat is drifted, the bait is hooked through the nose or the lips, because the bunker gets dragged, and should be fished as naturally as possible.

Don’t drag it backwards.

If the boat is anchored, hooking the baitfish behind the dorsal can help make the bunker swim away from the boat.

If both the chunking and livelining rods can be fished in the rod holders, that’s what Brian does.

That allows a striper to hook itself, without error from the angler.

We tend to overcomplicate.

But if currents, on anchor, or the drifting boat prevents the lines in rod holders to remain clear of each other, anglers will hold some of the rods to help.

While trolling, Jersey Devil in fall usually drags two Tournament Grade Tackle bunker spoons, one on the port side and the other on the starboard, and a Stretch plug down the middle.

The Stretch plug tracks well on a straight line in the middle.

The fish are often feeding on bunker, so imitate the bunker with the spoons.

But if more big bass start to grab the Stretch, Brian might switch to all Stretch lures.

Tournament Grade Tackle makes a large, 14-inch Horse Bunker Spoon that sometimes wallops large stripers.

Big fish eat big bait.

Catch those two points: The fish are often eating bunker, and big bass will eat the biggest bunker.

Give them what they want.

Brian trolls with custom-made, soft-action, 10-foot rods that help impart an extra lively, natural presentation.

Many variables come into play for all these methods of fishing,
and these are basic ways that Brian catches large striped bass.

The next advice is to get out there and put in the time, start
developing techniques that suit you, enabling you to land big bass consistently.

Another suggestion: Book a good charter specializing in the fishing, paying careful attention to details.

Figure out what big stripers want.

Then give it to them!