Punkering the Linesides…n’ pop’n em too!

I heard about the Lunker Punker a while back. I never really wanted to buy one for the Largies because of the price but once I knew the big Stripers loved em and since it is Striper season, I coughed up the 50 bucks and bought the Lunker Punker Jr. at Mel Cottons. I spooled up my Dobyns 736c with some 65 LB braid with a 20 pound mono leader and hit the Delta.

While sitting at my cubicle at work this past week, all I could do was vision this lure in action while fishing a tullie point in the early minutes of the morning. Of course, i was hoping to catch a big Striper on it too…

My Dad, Straps, and I hit the water before sunrise and found an early morning bite. First cast I hooked into a 5 to 7 pound Striper on a rat-l-trap but my dad blew it because he can’t see in the dark and accidentally got the net caught up in the lure without the fish in the net. Oh well, we saw it. We then decided to leave our first spot to look for some bigger fish, we then found a spot where they wanted the topwater lures and it was on. I must have farmed 6 BIG Stripers on the bait before I finally caught one because I was not waiting to feel the bite before setting the hook. I also noticed that when I sped up my retreive they would hit the bait harder and with more aggresion. One of the fish that blew up on my bait which I almost hooked had to be any where from 12-15 pounds. I did come away with one of his scales though.

While I was missing these fish and desperately trying to land one, my Dad had tied a fluorescent orange pencil popper to Strap’s pole. Well few casts later, a 7.5 pounder BREACHED on Josh’s bait! Completely launched out of the water. He was psyched. His first Striper on a topwater lure and new PB. We’re calling this bait The Buoy

They landed the fish and were busy trying to get the lure and the fish out of the net when I get nailed. This is definitely the largest Striper I have ever hooked into and the fish is on good, peeling drag. This fish is nice! I look towards the back of the boat and there is no net ready! I have to end up fighting the fish longer than I would have liked which resulted in a bent out eye on my hook holders!?! Luckily the Striper was still hook on the other hooks. The net finally comes free and we land the 10 lb 7ounce Lineside…I accomplished my goal for the year, a ten plus on a topwater bait.

The tide was at the last hour of the incoming tide. The way I found these fish was that I looked for a flat near some deep water. Basically, an entrance into a sunken island next to the channel. We hit three spots with this characteristic until we found a school of hungry Stripers. We were catching them in only 4-6 feet of water and 10 yards from the flat was 25-30 feet of water. Find these spots early morning, I mean before the sun comes up early, and cast away. If you are not getting bit, find another spot like this until you find the school that wants your shit.

Cheers to the fellas at Black Dog Bait Company for making such a wonderful topwater bait!