The act of fishing is easy, catching fish harder yet, consistently catching fish and big fish a real challenge. So, what separates the average fishermen from really good fishermen?

Certainly, experience plays a significant role for an angler, but something every angler can do that will quickly pay dividends, is to open their eyes and observe what’s going on around them. Being observant covers a broad range of possibilities, but here are few things to consider.

Those of us who have tried fly fishing for trout know of the “match the hatch” approach. It’s often common for trout fishermen to carry a fine mess net which they use to sieve the water to determine the larva which trout are feeding on. A similar approach for stripers can be useful. It never hurts to know what the key food source is and honestly, it changes almost daily. As an exercise, walk slowly through the shallows and see how many minnows, shrimp or green crab you see. Move the seaweed away from around rocks and see what crawls or swims away. As you wade, are you noticing any bait fish? Identifying the available bait which stripers are keying on goes a long way towards catching fish.

Often fishermen experience a number of follows, with few actual takes. Ever wonder why this occurs? Observing the bait stripers are keying on can provide clues to why you’re not getting strikes. Try different lures or flies; size, shape, color and weight all play a critical role. My experience has shown, when stripers are following, but not striking, a simple change in size, a slight variation in color or a differing color eye on a fly that mimicks what the fish are feeding on often produces dramatic results.

Observing the waters flow is another key indicator to pay attention to. Stripers are grazers and they don’t like to work for their food. Water movement and in particular funneling water, flushes bait to awaiting stripers. In our tidal bays and estuaries, water is almost constantly moving and the dynamic nature of these flows result in the stripers dynamic feeding patterns. When the flows are slow, feeding often slows or becomes highly localized to those few areas where flow is occurring. Anglers will often experience a pod of stripers moving into a flow and the action gets hot, then it shuts off. The observant fisherman will notice the flow has changed and as a result the stripers have shifted their feeding position. A subtle move by the angler and bang, they’re back into fish.

Light is another variable worth mentioning. Striper feed most aggressively during low light hours. Early morning and late evenings are prime times to fish for stripers. On very bright days, the bite is best during these low light hours, but it doesn’t preclude good fishing at other times. What is important to note, is observing the fishing activity at that moment. Often, as the sun gets high in the sky, anglers notice a slowing in action. This is common and typically indicates the bite window is over. On other days, the action stays hot and never shuts off. What anglers need to recognize is, when the action stays hot, the angler needs to stay fishing. These bites can last for hours, but more frequently they only last for minutes. When the actions hot, keep the fly in the water and work hard to stay on the fish. This active strategy will yield fish.

The observant angler will over time acquire an intuitive feel for what the stripers are going to do, where and when they’ll be feeding and what they will be feeding on. This intuition is really an educated guess based on years of accumulated knowledge, a result of observation. So make note of what’s going on today, as these small pearls of wisdom will yield insight tomorrow and for years to come.