Targeting Monster Stripers: How to catch striped bass in wide open areas

Learning how to catch striped bass amongst the 604 square miles of water that constitute Cape Cod Bay is a lot like looking for a needle in a haystack. The area you fish may not be much more inviting. However you can consistently locate quality fishing no matter the time of year, climate or the presence of bait, as long as a sound fishing approach is employed.

And in this day an age, consistently locating striped bass relies heavily upon the use of electronics.

How to catch striped bass: Developing a starting point

We all like those rare days when diving birds and breaking fish lead the way to great fishing. Or those exceptional moments when the fishing report we read in yesterday’s newspaper rings true.

The truth is that on many striped bass fishing trips we do not have these luxuries. Way more often than not we are welcomed by long distances of seemingly dry water, with no evidence as to where the bite is best. Which presents the dilemma, amongst all this open water, where do we start?

Utilizing the most contemporary intel possible is a smart way to learn how to catch striped bass, and begin building a search strategy.

Let’s say the only data we have is that last Saturday and Sunday a number of nice stripers were caught in 60 feet of water somewhere in Cape Cod Bay. While we are not presented any detailed fishing intel by this information, the piece of info we are given (60 feet of water) is very important considering the vastness of Cape Cod Bay.

Sixty feet of water will then be our starting point.

How to catch striped bass: Beginning the search

Cruising to a depth of 60 feet and immediately putting baits in Cape Cod Bay is not the smartest of decisions. The likelihood that bass will be holding in the first place we try, regardless of whether it is a reputable striped bass hot spot or not, are incredibly slim.

It is additionally a waste of time to troll for striped bass around Cape Cod Bay for several hours in 60 feet of water, hoping and praying to stagger across a striper or two. On another hand we can make best use of our time and efficiency when striper fishing by taking a much more proactive procedure for finding striped bass by using our electronics.

All that is required for this particular striped bass fishing technique is an effective color sonar unit. Systems worth thousands of dollars are nice, however a color unit bought for a few hundred bills will perform just fine.

The next step to routinely finding striped bass is to determine what track to begin the search. Say for example you get to a depth of 60 feet, and know from experience that you have done nicely to the west. In this situation it makes the most sense to head in a westerly direction.

Keeping a close eye on the sonar, we’ll cruise west at a reasonable rate-one that will permit us to clearly see striped bass marks on the sonar, while also enabling us to cover plenty of water. For most units, a speed of around eight miles-per-hour performs fine.

Because Cape Cod Bay is vast, and also for the most part, devoid of any fish holding structure, we frequently may go miles without marking a single striper on the sonar. This is excellent news because we now have eliminated miles of water that we may of wasted hours trolling through.

How to catch striped bass: When you should start fishing

On some trips it may only take a few minutes to mark a striper on the sonar and begin to catch stripers. On other trips it could take several hours. Nonetheless one must always not underestimate the value of even just one single striped bass mark on the sonar.

When you see a definitive bass mark on the sonar, it's likely that that you have found one of hundreds of striped bass in the area. Striped bass on Cape Cod are particularly prone to hanging out in large schools. During 2010 we located on numerous instances, schools of bass of around a mile in length.

It is now time to put lines in the water and start fishing. And if after fifteen or twenty minutes, there are no takes or additional fish marked on the sonar,it's time to continue the search.

It's often possible to locate a school of say 20-40 pound stripers and follow them for miles. Having said that it is easy to lose the school if too much time is spent fishing in one place, and not enough time is spent using sonar to remain on top of the school.

How to catch striped bass: Splitting free from traditional methods

A lot of people tend to get caught up on hammering the GPS coordinates from a productive past trip, or gravitating to renowned hot spots or fleets of other boats when striped bass fishing. Often times, lines will end up in the water despite no evidence of fish on the sonar.

The reality is that striped bass are almost always on the move, and frequently move quickly. In wide open areas without structure and significant current,shelling out more time actively on the move, and a smaller amount time with lines in the water, will improve the probability of locating an area holding striped bass.

Captain Ryan Collins is a striped bass charter and commercial fishermen from Cape Cod, MA. his fishing blog, myfishingcapecod.com, is focused on helping novice and veteran fishermen catch more and bigger stripers. Check out his blog today for more information on the top striper hot spots, secret techniques and how to catch striped bass.