Catch the Fish Before They Fly South

I haven’t heard much buzz about stripers from the more serious fishermen I know, so I can only assume the blitz has not come yet. I have had luck in October in past years, but in September, I find that I usually end up catching scup instead.

Every year, I get excited and make my way to the salt water a little early, both when the stripers migrate north at the end of April, and for the big move south throughout October. I am also usually the first to arrive at a party, and I show up 10 minutes early to everything I go to. Patience has never been my forte.

After years of showing up early in pursuit of stripers but hooking into scup instead, I was prepared. They are relatively easy to catch, and they taste better in my opinion than they often get credit for. They are a smaller fish with a keeper size of 9 inches, but they fight like champs. I always think they are going to be bigger than they are just from the fight they give.

On this particular Sunday, I decided that scup was my plan B, or maybe my plan A and a half.

I went to Quaker Lane Bait and Tackle, which is my favorite place to stock up on the day’s necessities. The guys there are always cool, helpful, and have a little of the rugged charm that I prefer a bait and tackle store to have.

I bought a dozen sandworms. They look like big millipedes, only with pinchers that actually suck a little to be bitten by. This bait attracts a number of fish. I have caught flounder, blues and dogfish with them, but they work especially well for scup.

I figured I would show up to the rocks with the goal of being the first to report hooking into some big stripers, but in the event that they have not arrived yet (which would probably be the case), I would use the sandworms and go for scup. A few keepers would be worthy of firing up the grill and enjoying some local flavor.

For about a half hour, I threw a white swim bait with a jighead in pursuit of stripers. This setup works well for blues as well, but blues have gnarly teeth and they shred these soft plastic lures. They are, however, relatively cheap, so I don’t mind going through a few. I had no luck, though. It was time to try the worms.

As expected, I started getting bites almost right away. Within five minutes, I had a nice scup on the rocks. Without hesitation, I cleaned it right there and put it into the little brown bag that the box of bait came in.

I quickly caught another and another. I threw a few smaller ones back. The blitz was on.

A father and son nearby seemed to not be having any luck. Every time I caught one, they would watch and give me a congratulatory smile. At one point, the father asked me what I was using. I scurried across the rocks with three of the worms to offer to them, which they graciously accepted. For the next 20 minutes or so, we all caught a bunch of scup. After cleaning two more of them on the rocks, I decided to leave so I could use the remaining sunlight to get the grill started. As I walked back to my car, I looked back and saw the young boy catch another scup. They put this one in their cooler. I guess we ate the same thing for dinner that night.

There is still time to hook into some quality fall fishing. It really fizzles out by November on the coast. By the time you get out there, you might initially decide to go for scup, but find yourself hooked up to a huge striped bass. That would be a good plan A and a half.