The best times to find these small baits are the four days up to a spring tide, the new moon being the better of the two. The new moon offers the fisherman stealth which is not always necessary but can never hurt.

To observe juveniles bring along a dip net and a good flash light and observe their activities. Whatever you find in your net, be it a shrimp, crabs, white or red worms or a juvenile bait fish can become the model for a new fly.Take note of when in the moon cycle and the time of tide a particular creature makes its appearance as well as air and water temperatures and anything else that is happening that may in some remote way relate to its arrival. For example, what types of birds are present. One day all the information may come together and patterns can be anticipated. I have been focusing on these events for about four years and that is not very long considering there are only a few days in June and July to explore and witness the arrival of a new batch of juveniles, try out new flies and hope for cooperative weather. I have tried many flies and many different flies work. As with all fishing it is more about presentation than the lure though the size of the fly is critical.

The rig that has been most successful for me over the years has been tying a floating fly such as a small gurgler or spun deer or elk hair fly at the end of the tippet and 18 inches above that I attach a fly on a dropper and sometimes another above that one. I tie my droppers using a three-turn surgeonís knot leaving the tag no more than 4 inches long. This approach to droppers eliminates any possibility of fouling. Another good rig is to tie on two flies and attach a float or strike indicator half way between the flies. Both of these rigs along with the floating line keep the offering right in the surface where the stripers are feeding.

As a technical note, casting two or three flies plus a float or large spun hair bug requires a more open loop in the cast. This is accomplished by slowing down the casting stroke otherwise the leader will become a frustrating mess to tend to on a dark buggy night.

Finding reliable spots where these hatches or swarms pass by, along with structure and current is key. Sometimes there is a spot with structure, current and the shrimp decide to throw a big party and the stripers donít show due to high water temperatures. It is an anomaly but it will shut down a night that could have been good fishing. Temperature is important in the summer months.This can be solved by having an alternative location that has all the above requirements plus deeper water. Through time on the water one will find fishing spots that have a track record for holding a concentration of stripers competing for these little offerings versus spots where the fish are spread out and the competition is less. The fly will then need to be presented to individual stripers and as it is with trout the fish will not move very much to feed. However, this is not difficult to do at night because the striperís popping is a clue to their location. Trust your ears to tune into where the popping is coming from and cast above it.

What types of flies work? For half-inch shrimp I mostly use General Practitioner variants on #6-#10 hooks. For tiny bait fish I will use #6-10 hooks with half a dozen pieces of bucktail and flash combined with tiny jungle cock nails. I lean towards light blue bodies because I have found them to be more successful than any other color. Crabs can be made of deer hair on #6 hooks or smaller and also used at the end of the tippet. A new fly that I am tying is a trout Bi-Visible using olive and yellow hackle that is clipped and an olive CDC tail. It is under an inch and on a #10 hook or smaller. Good hooks for small flies are Partridge CS54, Mustad 3407, scud and nymph hooks that 2x strong and Mustad 36890.These hooks are all strong.

The hook set is as important as the presentation of the fly. Hits are not at all strong but subtle because the striper is holding a position in a feeding lane and not moving to take its food. It gently inhales it in a relaxed manner. The hook set should be a brief gradual tightening of the line and then a sweep set. If a strong sweep set is used immediately the fly will usually be pulled from the striperís mouth. If the hook ups are in the corner of the mouth, then one knows that hook set was properly executed . If the hook is in the front top lip, then the hook set is happening too quickly and will cost one a few hook ups.

© 2006 by Mark Gustavson