How-To: Summertime Soft Baits in Monomoy Rips

We spent 15 minutes on the phone with Capt. Dave Peros to discuss the best soft baits for summer time striped bass fishing in the Monomoy Rips with the Hogy Originals. Here's what we learned... 

Capt. Dave Peros
Website: www.captdaveperos.com

Location: Monomoy Rips

Tides: Fishing is good on both tides, as long as the rips are setup properly. Each rip may fish a little better or worse depending on the tide.

Approach: It is best to move around the rips searching for surface activity and birds; this is a great way to locate concentrations of fish and pinpoint productive fishing areas. Position up current of rip in the flat water and cast parallel or slightly up current and let the bait swing into the rips. Using the motor to hold ahead of the rip in flat water, if it is calm enough you can drift through the rips. Sometimes near slack tide, fish tend to stage between the rips in flat water. Casting is primarily sight fishing during surface activity.

Rigging Selection: Hogy X-Strong Unweighted Classic Swim Bait Hooks

Bait Selection: Hogy 10-inch Original Series for top water presentations.

Why This Bait? These bass are feeding on squid, big sand eels and butterfish and the large profile makes it easy for stripers to locate the bait in murky or turbulent water. During midday sun, the bone color has been the most productive.

Colors: Bone, Bubble Gum and Amber are great to imitating squid and sand eels.

Retrieve: While stemming the tide, cast and let the bait drift through the rip. A twitch/pause retrieve works very well, though sometimes a dead stick drift and retrieve on a taunt line will be very effective as the bait drifts through the current and wiggles from wave action.

OUTFIT

Rod: St Croix TIS 80HF 8’ Heavy Fast Spinning

Reel:  Shimano Saragosa 5k

Line: 17-pound test Silver Thread

Leader: 30-pound test Seaguar Fluorocarbon tied with a blood knot non slip loop knot to rigging.