How-To — Cape Cod

Striper Baits: Best Baby Bluke Imitations #123

Posted by Capt. Michael Hogan on

Baby fluke flounder are another commonly found baitfish in the belly of stripers. Hogy Top Imitator: The Hogy 3.5” and 5” Hogy Flounders are designed specifically for imitating baby flatfish. They can be rigged on Jig heads and hopped along the bottom in shallow water. Fish them with the rod tip pointed upward and bounce on the bottom the same way you would fish a bucktail.

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Striper Baits: Best Squid Imitations #118

Posted by Capt. Michael Hogan on

Around inshore striper waters, you will often encounter large squid in the spring that have moved onto the shoals to spawn, followed by juvenile squid relatively soon after the spawning season is over. Needless to say, small squid are a bass delight in June and July. Small squid school up, but not as tightly as some of the other we have covered. Squid have an amazing ability to change color in an instant, ranging from white and pale pink to bright combinations of pink, red, orange, and even tan/brown. When unhurried, squid will often hang in small schools, moving back...

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Striper Baits: Best Sand Eel Imitations #117

Posted by Capt. Michael Hogan on

No matter what they might be called in different areas, I think there are sand eels in every body of water. Sand eels can range from 2 to 9inches and nothing drives bass and albies crazier than big balls of sand eels. They can show up at all levels of the water column so be ready with lures of different weights to reach where the bait, and most likely the predator fish, are holding . Sand eels have olive backs and silver sides, so that is where you should start when selecting lures to use when you locate fish chowing...

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Striper Baits: Best Peanut Bunker Imitations #116

Posted by Capt. Michael Hogan on

You know the fall has either arrived or is imminent when peanut bunker show up. Like the bay anchovy, peanut bunker ball up in great numbers just under the surface. Peanut bunker typically range from 2 to 3inches. And like both the bay anchovy and the silversides, peanut bunker too have a very distinctive color patterns. When they are dead, they appear to be silver as they lose their coloration very quickly. Don’t be fooled! But alive and well in their habitat, Peanut bunker have an olive twinge, with pink colorations. Your go to color patterns will be olive, ideally...

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Striper Baits: Best Juvenile Herring Imitation #115

Posted by Capt. Michael Hogan on

Late summer and fall are the times when these small baitfish make their way out into the big ocean. Juvenile herring get balled up easily, but in my opinion often separate faster than other schooled baitfish. While schools of juvenile sea herring can appear at any time, juvenile river herring typically move out of their birthing waters and out into open water following a day or more of heavy rainfall. I personally find that predators keyed in on herring tend to be the easiest to catch. Their silvery blue tinge is a common color pattern. Juvenile herring are more chubby...

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