I’m a fresh water fly fisherman in Colorado but am taking a trip in June to my home state of NJ and driving out to Long Island to fish for Stripers.
I may buy a rod before I go out and would like to know what is the recommended Wt for Striper fishing.
Thanks Much. :~)
Typically a 9 but you can probably get away with anything ranging from 7 to 10. I’ve even fished a 5 for schoolies and intend to again in the coming weeks when they work their way into RI and MA (if it isn’t too windy.)
If you’re targeting larger fish in rocks from shore and/or at night, go with as heavy a setup as you can comfortably cast. I use a (T&T Horizon) 12 wt underlined with an 11 wt intermediate. Big bass are masters at wrapping you around rocks.
From a boat, use a 9 or 10 wt, Most people use those when surf casting from shore, although two-handed rods make a lot of sense casting from shore. There’s a special line of rods for surf casting the beach, and they will cast shooting heads amazingly far.
I know a 12 wt sounds like an overkill, but after you loosa a couple of big’uns, you will see it my way.
Just wanted to make you aware that perfectly good fishing exists on the Jersey shore too, from Sandy Hook all the way down to Cape May.
[url=http://www.stripersurf.com:1ad61]www.stripersurf.com[/url:1ad61] has lots of good info.
I can see the benefit of a 12wt when fishing around the rocks, but a 9 should be fine in the surf. You’ll also be happy with it as a pike rod when you get back to CO.
Thank guys for the information and the web site. Very helpful.
Josko, can you tell me where I might find more information on the special line of rods for surf casting the beach that you mentioned?
Well, some of the two-handed rods designed expressly for surf fishing include the Temple Fork TiCr 12 12 4 T (12’ 12 wt), CND Atlantis (11’ 11/12 wt), and T&T DH 1212-3 (12’ 12 wt). Don’t let the 12 wt designations put you off. These are designed for overhead casts and really do give you an edge in surf fishing (the NE). flyfishingforum.com has a lot of discussions on two-handed technique.
[This message has been edited by josko (edited 02 April 2005).]
I have a 9 weight diamondback backwater that suites me just fine. Like epy said, any thing from a 7-10 should be fine. I think a 9-10 is your best bet though.
you need something to fight through the oceans winds.
Lars,
We do quite a bit of stripers on the delta on the west coast.
What you toss for troutoids will do well for schoolies and small bug tossing if that is your target.
It took us awhile, but we find ourselves using the 10wt stuff more and more…much easier to toss bigger bugs and lines and to toss in the wind, if necessary. Like said earlier, it could come in handy for pike at home too. What little experience we have with pike has been done with the same bugs and lines we use for stripes at home.
…lee s.
“What little experience we have with pike has been done with the same bugs and lines we use for stripes at home.”
Interesting Lee S.
I have a bunch of salt water flies I tied up for Bonefish a couple of years ago.
I think I’ll give them a try for Pike.
Hmmmm? We have NO experience with bone fish, but the flies we see done for them, I would generally question for pike though.
The stuff we used was more
“meaty”…like 3"-5" baitfish immi’s and poppers, with a couple rabbit strip leeches of the same general size. For us the baitfish stuff seemed best (white/chart w/ flash mostly)…maybe it was just that time of the season? Maybe the ciscoes were active?
Here on Cape Cod most guys fish a 9. It’s my choice - more pleasant to cast than heavier lines, and enough backbone to land big fish. You will want a floating line for fishing the surf, as an intermediate is too difficult to control in crashing waves. Intermediate line is perfect if you will be fishing bays and from a boat. You might also consider a hi-d sinking line to get a fly really deep when boat fishing and the cows are hugging the bottom. Tight lines, Alec