Saltwater Fishing

By Brandon White In part three of this series we covered details about light tackle spinning reels you have to choose from when light tackle fishing for striped bass. In this article we’ll cover light tackle bait-casting reels.

Bait casting reels are not as popular as spinning reels for light tackle striper fishing arguably because they are more difficult to cast. If you make a mistake casting and get a backlash you can have a real mess on your hands and find yourself untangling yards and yards of line while your friends are casting and catching away. However, with a little practice you can get good at casting these reels and once you do I suggest you’ll be reaching for them more often. In fact, bait-casting reels are ...

by Lenny Rudow
From the Bay Bridge to the Choptank to Cove Point to Point Lookout, summer fun begins with a livewell full of spot and ends with a cooler of kickin’ stripers. You want to get the fish snapping this season? Live-lining is the ticket to bent rods—here’s how it works.

Making Bait
Before you put live bait on a hook, you’ll have to go and catch it. But spot isn’t the lone option; white perch and bunker will also work for tempting those stripers—though for the past few seasons, the fish have definitely preferred spot, then bunker, then perch, in that order. When fishing for stripers in the 18” to 26” class 3” to 6” baits are about right, and when targeting larger fish, look for 5” to 8” baits.

Spot and perch can be caught fairly easily, by fishing bloodworm bits, grass shrimp, or artificial bloodworms (like Fishbites) on ...

By Brandon White. In Light Tackle Fishing Part 2 we covered details about the different types of rods you have to choose when light tackle fishing for striped bass. In part three we’ll dive into reels, specifically spinning reels and then in part four we’ll cover bait casting reels.

Spinning reels are probably the most widely used reels for light tackle anglers targeting striped bass. They are easy to cast, versatile and can be used in almost every application of hunting stripers from jigging to casting and from throwing jigs or swimming lures to casting top water poppers.

When choosing a spinning reels there are a few attributes that you need to understand: reel size, gear ratios, ball bearings, reel body make up and drag systems. Let's take a look at each attribute in detail.
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