Striped bass
Morone saxatilis
Stripers from the shore, on either coast. How to read structure and current, when to fish bait against lures, and the gear that actually holds up.
By Augustus Muse · Published September 23, 2026
The complete setup
| Part | What to use | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Rod | 10 to 11 ft on a beach, 7 to 8 ft on a jetty | Daiwa FT Surf Spinning Rod — 11', 2-Piece Medium |
| Reel | 3000, the largest we can get | Abu Garcia Max Pro 3000H Spinning Reel |
| Line | 30 lb mono, or 30 lb braid | Vicious Ultimate Monofilament — 30 lb, Clear, 330 yd |
| Leader | 20 lb plus fluorocarbon, heavier around rock | P-Line Floroclear Fluorocarbon-Coated Line — 20 lb, 330 yd |
| Hook | 7/0 circle for chunk bait | Eagle Claw Lazer Sharp Circle Hook — 7/0, Black Nickel, 5-Pack |
| Weight | 4 to 8 oz depending on current | MO's Bank Sinkers — 6 oz, 13-Pack |
| Rig | Heavy sinker slide, not the light one | Tru Turn Boss Kat Sinker Slide — Black Nickel, 5 Pack |
| Light | Rechargeable head torch with a red mode | Neither of our suppliers carries a headlamp worth selling. Buy one elsewhere before you fish at night. |
| Pliers | For unhooking in the dark | Rapala 8" Super Stainless Steel Pliers |
Striped bass are the reason a lot of people fish from shore at night. They're big, they hunt in the wash, and a good one on a surf rod is about as much fun as shore fishing gets.
They're an East Coast fish by origin and a West Coast fish by introduction, so the advice below holds on both coasts even though the seasons and the regulations do not.
Where do striped bass feed from shore?
Wherever current pushes bait into a place they can ambush it. Stripers are structure and current fish before they're anything else.
That means rips, the edges of jetties and rock walls, river and creek mouths on a dropping tide, and the white water where waves break over a bar. On a featureless beach, look for the cut in the bar where water drains back out.
The pattern is always the same: bait gets disorganised by moving water, and stripers sit where that happens.
Bait or lures for striped bass?
Both work and they suit different situations.
Bait on a fish-finder rig is the approach for a beach at night with a big bait sitting still. Bunker, mackerel chunks, clams or a live eel depending on what's around. Big bait, big hook, and patience.
Lures are for when you can see or hear fish working, or when you're covering a rip or a jetty and want to find them. Here we'll be honest again: our lure range is heavy on offshore trolling plugs and freshwater bass baits, not on the swimming plugs and bucktails that shore stripers are usually caught on. A coastal shop will serve you better for that.
What hook size for striped bass?
Big, and circle rather than J where you can. A 6/0 to 8/0 circle handles a chunk of bunker or a whole mackerel fillet, and a circle hooks a striper in the jaw corner almost every time, which matters because plenty of them get released.
Don't strike a circle hook. Let the rod load and start winding. Striking pulls it straight out of the fish's mouth, which is the single most common way beginners lose them.
What gear holds up for shore stripers?
The heaviest end of what we sell, and honestly the edge of it.
A ten or eleven foot rod for a beach, or seven to eight feet on a jetty where a long rod is a liability. Thirty pound mono or braid. A leader of thirty to fifty pound fluorocarbon, because a big striper in rocks will test everything.
The gap we can't fill is the reel. Every spinning reel either of our suppliers stocks tops out at size 3000, and a serious striper angler on the East Coast is usually running a 5000 or larger with a sealed saltwater drag. A 3000 will land fish, and it will also wear out faster doing it. We'd rather you knew.
Why fish for stripers at night?
Because they feed then, and because they come shallower in the dark than they ever will in daylight.
Fish you'd need a long cast to reach at noon will be in the first wave at midnight. That changes the gear too: a shorter rod is fine, and a high visibility line is genuinely useful when you can't see anything.
Night fishing means a head torch is the most important thing in your bag, and we don't currently stock one. Buy a decent rechargeable one with a red mode before you go.
Common questions
- What's the best tide for striped bass from shore?
- Moving water, and usually the two hours either side of a tide change. A dropping tide draining a creek or a bay mouth concentrates bait and is a classic window.
- Should I use a circle hook for stripers?
- Yes for bait, and in some places it's required rather than optional. Circles hook in the jaw corner, which means a released fish swims off in better shape. Check whether your state mandates them.
- Can I catch stripers on the same gear I use for surfperch?
- You can start there, but a perch setup is light for a big striper. Move up to 30 lb line and a 7/0 hook before you go looking for a serious fish.