How-To — Jigging

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 Butterfish Imitations #120

Posted by Capt. Michael Hogan on

Schools of baby butterfish often ball up in the fall and provide another food source that fish like bass and albies feed on heavily. Butterfish have a unique broad, round profile that is hard to replicate and still have a good swimming action with a metal lure. As a result, softbaits with a similar profile in bone or silvery coloration is the way to go. They are slow moving, so a slow to medium retrieve is ideal. Hogy Top Imitator: We have two deadly options for imitating juvenile butterfish. The best option is our Hogy Pro Tail Paddle in up to...

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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 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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