when

Question
im from PA but travel to Asbury Park, NJ a lot to fish.  when would be the best time to go fishing for stripers and blues.  also what rig/bait/lure is good for both species.  im 14 any other tips would be greatly apprecieted.

                              -thanks  

Answer
Hello again Scott;

It is just about time to start fishing for bass along the NJ coast.  The most effective way to get the early season bass is with natural baits.  Skimmer clams and sandworms seem to be the best choices at this time.  Fresh cut chunks of bunker, herring or mackeral could also work very well.

Any rig that will allow you to get the bait to where the fish are is acceptable.  Depending on your equipment, condition of the surf or area where you intend to fish, various terminal rigs could be used.  Probably the most common, and one of the best, is a basic fishfinder setup. A 4/0 to 6/0 hook if using clam or large chunks, a smaller 1/0 to 4/0 if using worm or smaller cut fish bait.  Two to four feet of 20 to 40 pound test leader and sufficient sinker weight to hold bottom.  This may seem a bit general and broad, but precise rigs can only be determined by the specific location and conditions under which you are fishing.  A sandy oceanfront beach, jetty, mouth of an inlet, backside of the inlet, pier, dock, bridge or marsh bank, are all places to find bass.  Though the same basic baits will work in each location, the rig has to be adjusted for whichever you are fishing.  Even if you fish in one specific place, the rig quite often has to be adjusted over the course of a couple of hours as conditions such as tide, current, wind and wave activity, and amount of seaweed in the water change.  

Get the bait to where you think the fish are.  That is the fundamental concept of bait fishing.  Whatever it takes to accomplish this is the "right way" to do it.  

If you elect to fish artificials, surface plugs and bucktails are the way to start.  These are the "old reliables" and have proven themselves over many many years.  Basic white with a red head for both the plugs and bucktails have probably caught more bass than any other color.  But I say "start" because on any given day these may be ignored by the bass in favor of something different.  If you consider the various types, sizes, colors, and weights of lures that fishermen have caught bass on over the years, you could easily count hundreds, if not thousands, of different lures that have proven themselves.  So what an experienced fisherman does, is start with proven basic lures and then when that does not work, tries different things.   

Of course, if there are no fish around, no matter what you toss in the water, you will not catch.  But when there are fish, then sometimes the difference between catching and just fishing could be the size, color, shape or style of lure.  And then there are those wonderful times when the fish are so hungry and active that virtually anything you toss in the water is eagerly attacked.  But those times are quite rare and you will most likely have to put in a whole lot of time before you are lucky enough to be at the right palce and right time to have such an exciting experience.

-Rich