Damn Good Striped Bass Fishing Charters

The best striped bass fishing charters are:

• Hallie Loren Sportfishing Charters guided by Eddie E.
• Josie Mac Sportfishing guided by Ken P.
• Long Island Light Tackle guided by Rick G.
• Fire Island Fishing Charters guided by Steve S.
• Two Rivers Edge guided by Kevin R.

Our Damn Good Guides currently offer 84 striped bass trips, and the most popular trips are Boston Inshore Fishing guided by Joe, Sacramento River Fishing guided by Tyler, and Cape Cod Striped Bass Fishing guided by Rich.

Our guides are rated a 4.92 out of 5 based on 9504 verified reviews on Captain Experiences.

All guides on Captain Experiences are vetted by our team. You can access their reviews, click through trip photos, read bios to get to know them, and preview trip details like species, techniques, group sizes, boat specs and more.

Looking for kid friendly striped bass guides / fishing lessons? Check out our beginner and family friendly striped bass guides.

Deep Sea fishing is the most popular type of fishing for striped bass as well as inshore fishing, nearshore fishing, and lake fishing.

The most common fishing techniques are light tackle fishing, bottom fishing, and artificial lure fishing but trolling and jigging are popular as well.

Prices for striped bass can range anywhere from about $500 to $1,800, but the average price for a half day trip for striped bass is $972. The average price for a full day trip for striped bass is $1,257.

Hiring a guide provides a number of benefits and many choose to book a fishing guide for a combination of experience, local knowledge, convenience, and cost-effectiveness.

Working with experienced fishing guides who know the best local spots and techniques can dramatically increase your odds of a great day. Having someone who is on the water every day and knows the area like the back of their hand is going to give you the best chances of success.

Booking a guide is also more cost effective, especially if you only get out a handful of times per year. When you consider all of the costs you would incur on your own such as the price of a boat, maintenance, insurance, gas, high-quality gear and tackle, repairs, and more, you’ll find that DIY is sometimes not worth the expense.

Even if you’ve got a great setup already in your home waters, booking a guide also provides a great opportunity to experience new techniques, new locations, or even a chance at a new target species to knock off the bucket list.

The most popular season for striped bass fishing is summer, and most anglers book their trips 7 days in advance.

See here for more information on striped bass fishing licenses, striped bass bag limits, and fishing season regulations for striped bass. When in doubt, your guide will always know all the relevant striped bass rules and regulations.

Striped bass (Morone saxatilis), which you may know by the name striper, linesider, or rockfish, are one of the most popular game fish in the United States found both in fresh and saltwater. So popular in fact, it is the state fish of Maryland, Rhode Island, and South Carolina.

Originally a saltwater fish, striped bass have been successfully stocked in freshwater lakes and rivers across the United States, beginning a rich history of fisheries as early as the Colonial Period. However, they do need to be restocked periodically, as it is rare for them to spawn in freshwater as they do in salt.

They have a streamlined, silvery body that is marked with longitudinal stripes that start at their gills and run to the base of their tail.

The average size of a striped bass is between 10 and 30 pounds, and 20 to 35 inches long. They can grow to this size after living for up to 30 years. Though in freshwater, they tend not to get as large as their saltwater relatives. Also, like many other fish species, their females are larger than the males.

On August 4th, 2011, Gregory Myerson landed a 81.88 pound, 54 inch striped bass near the Outer Southwest Reef off the coast of Westbrook, Connecticut. He fought the fish for 20 minutes after hooking it with a drifted live eel. This catch gave him the bragging rights of having both the All-Tackle Record as well as the Men’s Line Class Record for striped bass from the International Game Fish Association.

The striped bass is widely spread throughout the United States and Canada. In freshwater, they stretch from Canada to the Mississippi, as well as from coast to coast. In saltwater, they can be found on the Atlantic coastline, as well as in the Gulf of Mexico. Strong numbers can be found in Texas, Massachusetts, and Connecticut.

Within these areas, they thrive in water that is 55 to 68 degrees. Very warm or very cold water is not preferred, however they will go into warmer water to feed, and spend more time in cooler water where there is more oxygen.

Stripers can be inconsistent on where to find them, depending on the time of year and where you are headed. Some will migrate upstream to fresh waters to spawn, others migrate to farther northern waters in the summer, and others still will stay in one environment.

Regardless, most of the year, the best time to fish is dawn and dusk. Essentially, two hours past sunrise, and two hours to sunset. However, closer to winter, midday tends to be the best time to wet your line.

There are multiple ways to fish for striped bass. You can cast in the surf, fly or spin fish, troll, or jig with both artificial and natural baits. If using live or cut bait, squid, mullet, and worms will work best. For artificial lures, plugs, spoons, and plastic lures are great.

Stripers tend not to search below them for prey, so methods like using electronics or following surface boils and diving birds to locate them and then using topwater lures can be key.

Striped bass make for excellent table fare. With a mild flavored, white meat it is very versatile. It can be served pan-seared, grilled, steamed, poached, roasted, broiled, sautéed, deep fried, raw, or pickled.