If you had to pick one lure type for striped bass, it would be soft plastics. They're cheap, they cast well, they imitate everything from a sand eel to a bunker depending on size, and they catch fish on a dead-simple retrieve or a technical one. Master a couple of rigs and you can cover most striper situations.
The main styles
- Paddletails on a jighead: a thumping tail and a swimming action. The everyday searchbait, slow-rolled or bounced.
- Jerk shads / sluggos (soft jerkbaits): a darting, erratic, wounded-baitfish action, rigged weighted or weightless.
- Swimbaits: bigger profiles for bigger bait and bigger fish.
Rigging
Most soft plastics ride on a jighead sized to the depth and current, roughly ¼ oz on a shallow flat up to 1–2 oz in a deep rip. Match the hook size to the bait so the plastic sits straight and the hook point clears the body. For a weedless or weightless look, use a weighted swimbait hook.
How to fish it
- Slow-roll a paddletail: cast, let it sink to the level you want, and reel just fast enough to feel the tail thumping. Simple and deadly.
- Jig it in current: in a rip, let the jig sink and swing naturally with the flow, lifting and dropping the rod tip. Most eats come on the fall.
- Twitch a jerk shad: sharp downward rod snaps with slack between them make the bait dart and dance, great when fish want an erratic target.
Tip Let the current do the work. In a rip, you often don't need to retrieve at all, just keep a semi-tight line and let the jig sink and swing down through the seam. Feel for the tick and swing.
Gear
A medium-heavy spinning setup with 20–30 lb braid and a fluoro leader is the tool: enough tip to feel the jig and enough backbone to move a good fish out of the rocks.