Reaction Baits for Stripped Bass Fishing

As the summer fades into fall and the weather turns cool the days get shorter and the stripers get active. Fishing for stripped bass with reaction baits is one of the most exciting freshwater fishery's available for anglers. Fisherman from across the country get excited about the Stripped Bass migrations that make for exciting and thrilling fishing adventures. The stripped bass weighing up to around 60lbs for the biggest usually arr smaller in the 10 - 20lbs class for a really good fish. Depending on where you are fishing determines the size of the stripped bass. Some will be extremely big cause they go to ocean while others remain smaller cause they are landlocked in reservoirs and lakes. The Stripped bass has a voracious appetite making it the perfect fish for using a big flashy lure to catch their attention. Stripped bass will eat topwater baits, subsurface lures like rattle traps and lucky craft jerkbaits as well as bottom bouncing lures like spoons or hair raiser jigs. The following are a few of the better Stripped Bass lures on the market for fun fall fishing if the waters you fish have stripers swimming around.

Topwaters

The Stripped Bass chase baitfish whether that is shad, smelt, herring or bluegill they will school the fish up and slash through eating their fill. During this process the bait fish often move towards the surface in an attempt to avoid the stripers that lay below looking for a stray baitfsih to snack on. This causes the bait to become within range of seagulls, terns, and other birds from above that like to eat small fish. When an angler sees a bait ball busting on the surface one of the most fun ways to catch a stripped bass is to use a spook or sammy type lure to toss and walk back and forth above the fish. It usually only takes a few seconds for a fish to come up and take it down. This is a really excisting way to fish, however often it is hard to spot the exact moment the fish are in this position to eat a topwater bait, when you see bait skipping on the surface grab the topwater and give it a toss and hold on.

Subsurface

When stripers are not visibly chasing bait on the surface it does not mean that they are not actively feeding, they often are. Using a bait that looks like a minnow is the best bet for fishing between 5 feet and 15 feet deep. The best baits seem to be vibrating baits like a Rattle trap or a lucky craft LV500, Jerkbaits like a Lucky Craft Staysee, Pointer, or bevy shad, and swimbaits with a paddle tail and a jig head. These lures present a realistic baitfish profile and finish to the stripers that they will eat it and hit them hard when they are feeding but just not busting on the surface or being willing to commit to a topwater. Even when you are near busting fish tossing a Lucky Craft for stripped bass can be the best bet for catching the biggest fish of the school as the largest fish often sit underneath the schools of active stripers just eating as they swim below by catching everything trying to escape.

My personal favorite swimbait for stripped bass fishing is the paddle tail lures made by Big Hammer. They make a great jighead and paddle tail swimbait in so many colors that there will certainly be one that works great for your pond. The Big Hammer is the real deal for both large mouth and stripped bass, but rig up the 3/4 oz head or heaver and your favorite 5 - 6.5" swimbait and slowly real them along next to likely ambush spots and you are likely to catch a really nice stripped bass or maybe even a trophy large mouth.

Bottom Bouncing

Stripers will sit in deep water or on the bottom in deeper holes in a river and one of the best way to get there attention and response is to bounce a large jig like a hair raiser or spoon generally between 3/4 of an ounce all the way up to several ounces depending on the current where you are fishing. When the fishing graph shows a school of fish drop the spoon down to the fish and let it hit the bottom on a slack line. When you lift the rod up, do it in a smooth movement and lift the spoon 1 to 2 off the bottom, do not do big rips of several feet unless they will not eat the subtle version. Always drop the rod so the lure falls on a slack line, this critical to making the spoon do the shimmy action that cause it to flash and wobble like a wounded or dying bait fish. Sometimes a striper will hit the spoon hard but with its tail, when this happens give it one little pop and just hold on that fish is trying to stun the bait and is swinging around to chomp on the lure with its business end.