Fishing a Rip with Topwater Squid Plugs for Striped Bass

By Salty Cape Staff

Fishing a Rip with Topwater Squid Plugs for Striped Bass

Fishing the rips at Monomoy can get tricky during the spring season, especially when it’s a little overcast and a little windy, but this is one of Capt. Cullen Lundholm’s favorite spring striped bass fishing spots. And most often, we find that overcast and drizzly weather produces more fish than the sunny and warm days (even if they are a little more comfortable).

When striped bass are keyed in on squid, you’re going to want something flashy and noisy to cause a lot of commotion and draw these fish to the surface, like the new Hogy Charter Grade Squid Plug. The beauty of these plugs is that they have the durability to allow you to catch multiple smaller fish without having to put new soft plastics on the hooks. They are basically the bulletproof version of the softbaits, as Capt. Mike would put it.

“The fish are just starting to show up here,” Capt. Lundholm said. “So it should only get better from here.”

Because it has been a slow start to the season, paying attention to your signs (like birds working the surface or bait fish on the fish finder) is important, and valuable, in these situations as it can lead you to a promising school of fish. To do this, Capt. Lundholm suggests moving to different areas away from the mass of boats to look for small pockets of fish.

Once you’ve found an area that you want to work, you can stem the tide in that area and make sure you’re not drifting back over the rip and spooking the fish. Stay in front of them when you’re setting up your drift.

“So the way you’re doing that is by keeping the boat in gear, with just enough forward motion to stay the same distance in front of the rip,” Capt. Mike Hogan said. “When you hook up, you can bring the fish to you unless it’s a bigger fish, in which case you can drift down on the fish.”

If the fish are sitting in shallow water, why would you drift over them if the engine is running? The less traffic over the fish, the hungrier they will stay for a longer amount of time.

Fishing the Rip

Step One: Begin by casting back into the rip (remember your boat positioning as mentioned above)

Step Two: Twitch the rod, make the lure dance in the waves.; first, second or third wave (diagram above). This will simulate a fleeing squid skipping, dancing and darting on the surface.

Step Three: In this situation, both Capt. Lundholm and Capt. Hogan had fish on but if it doesn’t work as easily for you, cast and repeat until you need to set up your drift again.

“This is a very easy technique if you have little kids on the boat or inexperienced anglers,” Capt. Mike said. “Really almost anyone can do it by twitching the rod.”

Fishing a Rip with Topwater Squid Plugs for Striped Bass

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