You CAN lower the odds of catching a massive striped bass...read on to find out where and HOW!

by Tom Vassallo

According to the statistics in the book "The Striped Bass 60++ Pound Club" By Tony Checko the odds of catching a striped bass in the 10 -15 pound class are pretty good. Catching them in the 20-30 pound class is a very good bet as well. However, when you start to push up into the 40-60 lb range, the odds start to work against you a bit. You see, as of 2008 (when Tony put together the book) there had only been 150 stripers known to have been landed by rod and reel that weighed over 60 pounds on both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Now I say "known", because I personally have a friend who used to live in my town,  Waretown, New Jersey, who caught a 63 pound striper in the Barnegat Bay. Jerry Edwards was a diehard bay fisherman who went plugging by the sedge nearly every day. Now this was quite a few years back and I know it is true, because I saw the fish...and a photographer from the Star Ledger was on his way to take a photo of the fish when Jerry called me to come see the fish. So we can be reasonably sure that there are quite a few more that were caught and eaten or that just weren't weighed on certified scales...you know the story.

New Jersey's legendary former world record striped bass was caught by Albert McReynolds in Atlantic City in 1978. McReynolds held the record until 2011.

Now, researching statistics from Atlantic Marine Fisheries Council data, Tony estimated in his book, that there are in excess of two MILLION striped bass anglers fishing each year. (The figure could be as high as 3 million!)This includes surfcasters, recreational boats, party boats, charters, etc. When you figure each angler fishing on average three times or so a year (that's a LOW estimate), you are looking at six million fishing trips overall. Throw in 100 casts each trip and it is a staggering 600 MILLION casts! Now if you do some math, and we even quadruple the amount known from Tony's book...your odds are about a MILLION to ONE when you cast out for that monster linesider. But don't stop reading. You CAN lower the odds...and FishinJersey is about to tell you how!

In Checko's book, he lists 67 anglers,  who are members of the 60+ Lb. Club. Since Tony published his book in 2008, Albert McReynold's 78.8 pound world record from an Atlantic City jetty was shattered by Greg Myerson on August 4, 2011. Myerson's 81.88 pound cow was taken in Long Island Sound near Outer Southwest Reef off the coast of Westbrook, Connecticut. Just three years earlier, on July 17, 2008, Peter Vican had come close to catching McReynolds with a 76.9 lb. Striped Bass caught off of Block Island, Rhode Island. We will be looking at Myerson's and Vican's techniques a little later in this article. Unfortunately, among the top twenty fish, there are only two from New Jersey...in the top ten...only one.

Greg Myerson shattered the world record in 2011. His world record striper was caught off the coast of Westbrook, Connecticut and weighed an amazing 81.88 lbs. Myerson currently holds four striped bass world records.

I'm sure most of you would know what an "FBI profiler" does. Well, by examining the data from the top eleven all-time striped bass "monsters" and looking at some techniques of these top anglers, we can put together a "fishing profile" of how you can definitely improve your odds of landing a world record size striped bass. We will concentrate on where you should travel to fish, whether to fish from shore or a boat, what time to fish and what bait to use.  Let's get started!

So where's the best place to fish if you want to improve your odds of catching a giant striper? Nauset on Cape Cod? Montauk? Nope...you might want to head to Cuttyhunk Island in Massachusetts. That's right...of the top eleven largest stripers, three came from off of Cuttyhunk Island. It is located about 15 miles directly south of New Bedford. However, it is also located at the end of Long Island Sound, not far from Montauk, NY; Westbrook, CT and Block Island. Between these areas listed, SEVEN of the top stripers have come from the waters in the area of Long Island Sound! So if we narrow it down to where you should be fishing, you should be heading to the northeast end of the Long Island Sound between Block Island and Buzzard's Bay.

Now should you fish from a boat or from shore. Well...it really is no contest. When we look at the top eleven stripers, only  three were taken from the surf! It seems that in order to get the "big girls", you have got to get offshore . According to world record holder Greg Myerson and Peter Vican who has a fish in the top five (and TWO 70+ pounders!), you need to find the right bottom structure. Myerson has been quoted as saying, “These big fish are lazy. They do not want to chase bait around in a lot of current but would rather feed on lobster at slack tide". Greg has stated on many occasions that he consistently uses his fish finder to find lumps or structure on the bottom. He feels that very large bass do not like to fight the currents, so they hide in the depressions at the low spots in the lumps or hide behind boulders and structure in an ambush position. Why listen to Greg? Myerson has stated that he has caught more than 25 striped bass that weighed at least 50 pounds, eight or nine over 60 pounds and three more than 70 pounds!

Peter Vican may not be a household name, but this striped bass master has a fish in the top five and he has TWO seventy pound plus stripers under his belt! Vican hails from Rhode Island.

When you look at the best time to catch a monster fish, most are caught in the evening. Al McReynolds got his around 8 o'clock in the evening. Greg Myerson hooked his behemoth bass around the same time...and Peter Vican, who has caught two seventy pound class monsters, caught his largest bass at 3:30 AM! So sleep late in the morning and fish from sundown to sunrise to increase your odds at that trophy fish. But time is not the only factor. Myerson swears that the first quarter moon is when these giants are more easily found and caught. Greg fishes mostly at night for the big ones. He prefers the first quarter moon, where neither the light or tides are excessive. However Greg caught his world record striped bass on the outgoing tide with a half-moon high in the sky at sunset.

Finally, what is the best bait or lure to use? Of the top five bass of all time, three were caught with live or rigged eels, one with a bunker head and only one with a lure. That means you would have an 80% better chance of landing a 60+ pound fish by using bait instead of a lure. Greg Myerson, world record holder says, " I fish for them with a three-way swivel with the largest eels I can find and send them down among the lobster pots." Now Greg has done a lot of research on stripers and he states they will never pass up a nice lobster (I wouldn't either!) Myerson says his research shows that when lobsters scurry across boulders or hard structure, the hard shell or carapace makes a scratching noise that is like a call for big bass. He even has patented a "Rattling Sinker" which holds BB size weights in a glass vial. The vial is inserted in a hole through the sinker. Greg says he uses the sinker to "make noise on the bottom to try to mimic a lobster [or crab] scratching along the bottom; this attracts the striped bass, they see my eel and go for it.” There have been others marketing a rattling sinker jig that creates this sound as well.

James R. Bramlett shattered a 54-year-old Alabama state record with this 69.9 pound striped bass he caught on February 28,2014. Bramlett, 65, also eclipsed the IGFA all-tackle world record for a landlocked (freshwater!) striper when he hauled in this cow. The monster bass was caught on a 10 inch gizzard shad...Live Bait Rules!

So there you have it. In search of a 60+ pound striper? Here's the lowdown...fish the Long Island Sound, preferably on the east end towards Rhode Island or Massachusetts (However, Greg Myerson says he has a few "special spots" off the coast of Westbrook, Connecticut...can't doubt that!) Fish from a boat...so that means trailer yours up, or find an experienced charter captain in that area. Search the sound for boulders or lumps with good sized depressions or tell your captain that's the bottom you wish to fish that could hold a fish of that size. Go out at sunset when the moon is in the first quarter and be prepared to fish late into the night if necessary. Finally use a heavy 6 ½ foot rod and a heavy duty reel loaded with plenty of 50 lb braid with a 50 lb fluorocarbon leader. Myerson uses a heavy duty 6-½ foot St. Croix tuna rod and a Quantum Cabo reel spooled with 50-lb. Berkley Gorilla Braid. On the end of that line should be a 14 - 16 inch eel using a three way rig...and don't forget the rattling sinker. Then drift that big eel past some of those boulders or through the lumps and hold on! Who knows...maybe...just maybe...you can increase your odds of joining the 60+ club. Now get out there and fish!