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“I like the five-inch AA’s Bad Bubba Shad on a 1/2-ounce head,” said Pringle. “It gets tons of bites. The six-inch size still catches them, but it eliminates some of the numbers.”
He likes several colors, but the White/Chartreuse, Sexy
Fall 2019
Minnow, and Platinum colors have proven themselves on
many trips.
The action is crucial.
“One key is to test it by the side of the boat to make sure
you are getting that kicking action” he added. “Not too fast,
and not too slow, just enough to get the tail to kick.”
GO SURFACE WITH A FOLLOW-UP
This is one of Pringle’s favorite ways to catch big stripers each fall. The ima Big Stik is his go-to, a big pencil popper that is built to withstand the abuse of giant striped bass.
“I use the silent version for calm days and the rattling when there is some chop on the water,” he said. “If I miss a fish on top, I’ll be ready to throw that Bad Bubba Shad, and you will catch quite a few that way.”
His favorite colors are Sardine, Bone, and Red Head. This style of topwater from ima is also available in a smaller size called the Little Stik. For the most part, Pringle sticks with the bigger version but will downsize after repeated missed strikes on the Big Stik.
GLIDE TO TEMPT THE SLUGGISH
Another of Pringle’s favorite ways to fool big stripers is with a glide bait. His choice is the ima Glide Fluke 178, in both the sinking and floating models.
“Glide baits are a great way to make inactive stripers react,” he said. “Fishing it allows you to keep it in the strike zone longer and you want it to look injured. A basic slow retrieve leads to getting a lot of followers.
“I’ll give it a quick three turns of the handle and then stop it. This is when they will pounce on it. Another way to do it is with quick kicks of my wrist to get the bait to swing in and out almost like a walking bait.”
Pringle opts for the Floating model on flat, calm days and the Sinking version when fishing subsurface as he
feels it does an excellent job of covering both the top to the bottom in the water column.
THE EXCEPTION TO THE RULE
While much of his striper fishing is done shallow, he will fish deeper holes in 10- to 35-feet of water, if he locates baitfish and striper activity before they move shallow each fall.
“This is when I’ll use a 2 1/2 to 3-ounce spoon,” said Pringle. “It can be one of the best ways to catch big numbers of fish. The swimbait shallow and the spoon out deep are what is responsible for those epic 60 to 100-fish days you hear about during the fall run.”
He prefers a blue and silver spoon for clear water and will mix in chartreuse and silver for off-color water. •
Randy Pringle has been catching stripers for years and makes a living putting clients on them. He has a simplistic way to target them using these proven methods for catching fall stripers.
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