Spring Stripers in Arizona with Shane Edgar, Page 3

Spring Stripers in Arizona with Shane Edgar, Page 3

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Spring 2025

page 50

that would make the fish related to it and then I just wait for them to come to me. So, most of the time, I am going to wait at a place where the fish are going to be running over the top of and they will come to me.

WB: What are the lures/presentations you typically use?

Edgar: Most of the time, I am going to fish

vertically. I like to use the Ben Parker Magnum Spoon, the eight-inch Magnum Flutter Spoon by Nichols Lures. That’s going to be my bait before they start spawning and when they start to spawn

– when they’re deep. But once they go full swing

spawn, in that 25 to 30-foot range, I switch and

throw a nine-inch glide bait – specifically, the 6th

Sense Draw.

You can catch them on the spoon, even later; but when they actually start spawning together, they eat the glide better. So, when I see them actively spawning, I go for the glide; but I may still throw the spoon in the morning, when they’re a little less active and then by mid-morning when

they are more active, I go to the glide.

Those two lures are pretty much all I throw. But if they are actively spawning in only singles or doubles and I see them cruising on my

LiveScope, I will throw the 6th Sense Whale

6.0, a six-inch swimbait.

It depends on weather but by the end of the spawn – around June, I will switch back to the spoon until about they disappear in August or September.

WB: Anything special for the retrieve on either?

Edgar: For the spoon, I drop it to bottom. I

just click the button and let it freefall. As soon

as it hits bottom, I click it and bring it up three to

five cranks and hit the button again, letting it free

fall again. Most of the time the fish will f the fall. So, I just wait for the thump, click the reel and set the hook quickly, because they don’t hold on long. Most of the time, they T-bone the spoon; so they have it by the middle. So, you have to set the hook hard enough to slide it into their mouth.

For the glide, I make long casts past the schools and retrieve with big chops to make the glide do big side-to-sides.

WB: What is your tip for each one?

Edgar: For the spoon, don’t be afraid to stay in the same place, even if you are not getting bit. A lot of times the bite comes in waves, and you may go 20 to 30 minutes without a bite and then the school swims under the boat and you start catching ‘em or catching ‘em again.