For the striper experts

Do you ever use a tube n worm rig?

I am not an expert by any strech of the imagination but I have been thinking about trying that for a while. I have not found a good source of red surgical tubing though.

Never tried it, it's pretty much an east coast thing, but can see why it wouldn't work in the right setting.

I'm no expert either, but I caught my very first striper at age 16 using a homemade tube-n-worm jig trailed behind a Hopkins spoon which tossed from the shore.

If you're using a tube-n-worm jig in an area where stripers are feeding on sandworms, bloodworms, pileworms, or eels.... then it should work.

I have also heard of people using a tube and minnow instead of the worm. I was planningg on trying it at the Mendo tournament but now my secret weapon is out  

pile worms are dark and stripers like them around here.  Try dark reds and red/browns.  Don't know if it will work but worth a try.

long time ago, I used to use big spoons with a worm trailer, and minnow shaped senko things- I don't know what they're really called- with a plastic worm hook and no weight.  Worked great in the shallows around strawberry pt.

I use to fish Long Island NY south shore for stripers, blues, etc. The surgical tube rigs are common and popular. They were designed to imitate young american eels, a big prey item for the stripers. Black was a great color for night fishing; and black tubing is easy to find, at least up here.

I hope to hear if it works for you guys.

Back to the garage, and my boat.

I've not heard of significant eel population here on the left coast.  However, we do have the clam worm ... http://www.enature.com/fieldguide/showSpeciesSH.asp?curGroupID=8&shapeID=1070&curPageNum=8&recnum=SC0116

Up to 36" long with "Iridescent greenish, bluish, or greenish-brown above, usually with fine red, gold, or white spots, paler beneath; appendages red, showing blood vessels."  I would think a tube bait of these colors would do well for stripers in our saltwater here.

-Allen

I guess clam worms are basically the same as pileworms which is probably one of the best all around baits for the bay.

So what are pileworms to you?  I'm just asking because I don't know if what I think of as pileworms are what they really are or at least what they are here in California.

To me ... pileworms are the worms found when digging under barnacles or mussels or anything else attached to rocks.   Usually darker and smaller with biting pinchers.

Clam worms are found in the sand or mud.  Much, much bigger than pileworms.  Yes, up to 3 feet.   Joel would be scared of them!  

Tube worms are another great bait.  Found in clusters of tubes attached to rocks.

-Allen

Allen,
The pile worms I've used are darker than blood worms and have 2 large pincers.  Blood worms are lighter in color but have 4 small pincers.

Both are excellenst bait for surf perch, but both are pricey, with I believe blood worms being a little bit more.

Used tube worms a alot.  The frozen tube worms are SOFT and don't hold up well.  Fresh Tube worms work great.  

Last time we got live tube worms were in Cresenct City (80's).  Used a heavy Metal rake to scrape the undersides of the floating docks.  Peel them out of the tube and hook em.  They made excellent bait for red tailed surf perch along the N. Coast beaches.  Best of all, they are free.

BTW, Fred's dad's buddy would slay the stripers from the surf.  A couple years ago, he had over 100 from the beaches.  He likes to hit the beaches south of HMB (less crowded), rather than the Pacifica area.  He's too old to be tossing lures so his method is to use live grass shrimp from alviso, or sometimes sand crabs.  He just tosses it out just past the break, where the water churns on the outflow.  You'd swear its only 2  feet deep, but thats where they come in to feed on the high tide.  Last time I went with him, we got skunked while he landed 3 stripers and 4 barred perch in 2.5 hrs.

Stuart

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but I hear alot about Mickey's Jigs among surf striper anglers in the bay area.  

What are they?  Anyone got a picture or url that shows one?  Haven't been able to find anything on them...

Erik

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but I hear alot about Mickey's Jigs among surf striper anglers in the bay area.  

What are they?  Anyone got a picture or url that shows one?  Haven't been able to find anything on them...

Erik

but with a big hook...

Erik,
No picture, but I'm sure you know what a Hopkin's looks like, right?  Well a Mickey jig is very similar, just a shorter version.

I've thrown wooden pencil poppers, hair raisers and large Kastmasters.  All with the same result.  "O"  Someday, I will hook up.

I think it was in July or sometime in the summer, but my dad would take us down to Martins beach for for day and night smelt using an "A" frame net.  I was too small to fish for stripers, but rather was the bucket boy.  I really wish I was older to fish.  Some guys did well back then.

Isn't it really, really early for stripers?  I could swear it was usually mid summer when reports would pick up.

Stuart