In a few of your lectures I’ve attended and some of the stories you’ve written you stress the need for quiet when stalking bass. Is that aspect of striper fishing really that important or is it slightly exaggerated?

Sound, sight and scent are senses predatory fish use to locate and capture prey. Once you begin to take your quarry for granted you lose the edge. While I agree that stripers are not as spooky as heavily fished stream trout they most certainly are sensitive to noise and shadows. The fishermen who don’t approach structure as quietly and naturally as possible are the same ones who call those of us who take all the precautions and catch fish lucky. Don’t make any unnecessary noise and approach ledges, bars and boulder fields uptide or upwind so as not to run over the shallow areas casting a shadow or making noise and spooking the fish holding there.

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION COMES FROM
Phil S Hyanis Ma.

You wrote about using the new braided lines and how not to get into trouble with them. I recall you saying you should not use a graphite or boron composite rod with the braids because they would not provide sufficient give. I didn't take your advice and broke one of my expensive rods while codfishing this fall. What was your original suggestion on this combination?

Dear Phil,

Thanks for sharing your experience with us. I've watched some very expensive rods explode because of the tremendous load put on them by the unforgiving braids which do not stretch and the very sensitive rods which do not have as much give. My suggestion is not to combine these highly sensitive rods with these lines until you feel you are up to handling them. I use an S-glass rods with braids and use a few yards of mon backing or tape the braid directly to the spool so it won't slip. I then tie on a length of 50-pound test mono leader material and this is the set up that I use for cod and tog with a great deal of success. Yes there can be a marriage of braids with graphite rods but you can't use them in the same manner you have used the older versions of the glass rods.