Artificial baits for striped bass

Artificial baits can be as effective as natural bait for Striped Bass at times.

Using Artificial lures is an exciting way to catch Striped Bass, especially Top Water Lures, and if you have never cast a Topwater Lure into a feeding school of Striped Bass or hybrid bass you my friend have not experienced one of the greatest experiences of fishing, you owe it to yourself to go out and give it a try.

Top water lures can be productive through out the year when surfacing fish are present, Normally you will see this at dawn or dusk and especially on cloudy or foggy days.

Some of my Favorite Topwater plugs are the 7" Redfin, Yo-Zuri Mag Popper and the Zara Spook

Some other popular artificial baits include Bucktail Jigs, spoons, Deep running Crank Baits, spinner baits with trailers and Soft Swim Baits.

If you are into trolling with your outboard motors for Striped Bass, a method that is used on the eastern seaboard which has made its way to inland lakes is the Umbrella Rig. Other good trolling lures are your deep running crankbaits and swim baits.

Being aware of water temperatures when selecting lures.

With water temps in the 40’s and low 50’s, downsizing” is the way to go. Stripers are usually feeding on small 1”-3” shad. Small lures like the tiny torpedo, smaller topwater jerkbaits or swimming minnows reeled slowly are a good choice.

When water temps start rising into the high 50’s stripers start to get more aggressive and feed on larger 5" -7" gizzard shad. Start increasing the size of your lures. Use large topwaters. Some of my favorite topwaters are big rapalas, the 7" Cotton Cordell Redfins and Poppers, stickbaits & prop baits.

If You are seeing Striped Bass deep use jigging spoons and blade baits.
Some of the favorites include CC Spoons and Kastmasters.

Rattling baits, such as Diamond Shads, Rattlin Rapalas and Rat-L-Traps are good versatile choices. These are great lures for covering water fast and are also very effective when vertical jigging.

When deep water jigging, I recommend a sensitive rod with some good backbone. I also downsize my fishing line to12-15lb test since it keeps you in better contact with your lure. The sensitive rods’ key role is detecting the slightest hit. I have caught stripers as far down as 90ft. and it is amazing how soft of a hit a 25lb striper can make when inhaling your lure

Remember, it is very important to keep contact with your lure on the fall since they rarely hit it on the rise.