The Summer Striper Angler Gift Guide

By July the squid are done and the summer stripers have gone down. The water's in the upper 60s, the surface bite shrinks to dawn and dusk, and the fish spend the day on the deep side of the June rips: Halfway, Middle Ground, the Pollock Rip shoulder. In Cape Cod Bay it's tube and worm on the 30 to 40 foot contours. Residents hold on the Elizabeths' boulder fields, and the blues take the rips up top.

The mistake is waiting for them to come up. The Summer Striper Angler goes down to them: the finder first, then a tube on the contour or a jig on the marks. Here's the crate I'd build for one.

1  Perfect Tube

WHEN  July and August, water in the upper 60s, nothing on top for days, and the same marks on the same rocks every trip. The Cape Cod Bay contours, the Bearses arc at Monomoy, the Elizabeths. Black is the classic.

FISH IT  Troll 2 to 3 knots, just off bottom, with a fleece strip or artificial worm strip on the hook. Run wide S-turns: inside rod gets bit, slow down; outside rod, speed up. Don't set on the pickup. Count two and lift.

WHY THEY'LL LOVE IT  Resident bass that have seen every plug in the box still eat a tube. It's the most effective slow troll I make, built on an internal helix core, for August when casting stops producing.

“Great action of tube when trolling. High quality hook. Have used for years for striped bass.” Scott W.

2  In-Line Trolling Weight “The Depth Multiplier”

WHEN  The marks sit at 35 to 40 feet and an unweighted tube is running over their heads. The 3 oz is the call in shallower lanes.

FISH IT  It runs in-line, ahead of the tube. Not getting bit? Change line back first, then speed, then color.

WHY THEY'LL LOVE IT  Without it a tube only fishes as deep as it swims on its own. It's built for the Perfect Tube: the same tube fishes 10 to 35 feet, and the compact body doesn't kill the swim.

“Love this addition for a tube and worm approach in deep water” Richard M.

3  Sand Eel Jig “The Slim-Bait Specialist”

WHEN  July and August daylight. The bass have dropped to the deep side of the June rips: Halfway's southeast drop, the south edge of Middle Ground, 30 to 45 feet, sand eels banded on the screen.

FISH IT  Set up up-current and drop it straight down. Short lifts, let it fall; most eats come on the fall. The common miss: once the line angles past 45 degrees the jig is fishing open water downstream. Reel up and reset.

WHY THEY'LL LOVE IT  When sand eels are the bait, round jigs get refused. This one matches the slim profile in a holographic finish and sinks fast enough to reach bottom before the drift carries the boat off the mark.

“Outstanding sand eel mimic. Sinks quickly. Great action.” Daniel P.

4  Protail Paddle “The 7-Iron”

WHEN  Two jobs: the deep marks while the tide is slow, and the boulder fields on a bright, calm day when the residents go tight and deep under the rocks.

FISH IT  Drop it and bump it off the bottom; bump, don't rip. As the tide builds, step up in weight, because the weight is the depth control. Along the rocks, cast, count it down and swim it slow. Half the eats come on the drop.

WHY THEY'LL LOVE IT  Bright, calm days push residents under the rocks where a plug never reaches. This gets down to them. Our Block Island episode: big Protails bumped off the bottom at sundown, bass from 30 to 55 pounds. The big sizes carry a reinforced hook pocket for fish like that.

“Love the pro tail action. Life like swimming action. Deep diving when needed.” Kenneth E.

5  In-Line Epoxy Jig “The One-Two-Three”

WHEN  Mid June through August on the rips from Wasque to Monomoy: building tide, the rip standing up, bass in the turbulence and blues surfing the waves behind. Pink shows up in white water.

FISH IT  Stem the tide just above the rip, cast into the smooth water, tip up, and twitch it as the current swings it into the turbulence. Hook up, out of gear, drift back, repeat. Slack tide? Let it hit the bar and work it on the bottom.

WHY THEY'LL LOVE IT  A summer rip changes by the hour: topwater on the build, bottom on the slack. This is heavy enough for the bar and light enough to skip, and the keel and in-line head keep it tracking through the turbulence instead of rolling.

“I can burn it on top, or jig it at all depths. It works!” George L.

6  OG Swimmer “The Swiss Army Knife”

WHEN  Overcast, dawn or dusk, an onshore wind pushing bait against a boulder field. That's when the residents come out to the edges. The Elizabeths by boat, Nobska and the Knob from shore.

FISH IT  Fish the side the wind is hitting. Drift the field from one end to the other, fan-casting the rocks you can see and the patches you can't. Slow, steady crank. Sun gets high and the bites stop? Switch to the paddle.

WHY THEY'LL LOVE IT  The short lip is built for rock: it swims over what would hang a deep diver's bill, so they can work the shallow boulder fields where the residents live. It casts and it trolls, no retie.

“...got two striped bass on it first trip using the OG Swimmer.” Michael M.

Casting and jigging: 7-foot medium-heavy spinning rod, 30 lb braid, 30 to 40 lb fluorocarbon leader. Trolling: a 5'6" conventional with 60 lb braid and a long 60 lb fluorocarbon topshot, the weight ahead of the tube.

The paddle, the epoxy and the sand eel jig all run single hooks: faster unhook, cleaner release.

Keep the fish in the water, unhook it there, and hold it head into the current until it kicks off on its own.

More on the summer game: Cape Cod Summertime Striper Fishing Tips on Salty Cape. And from me on Hogy: the art of light tackle tube-and-worm fishing and stripers on the drop in Vineyard Sound.