Striped bass, also known as rockfish, are a common game fish of the northern Atlantic coast that are frequently caught by trolling bait or lures through the water. To increase the number of strikes from rockfish, try using fishing outriggers. Properly deployed and managed, outriggers can allow anglers to put more lines in the water, improving the likelihood of rockfish striking in numbers.
Rockfish Behavior
Rockfish are schooling fish, congregating in groups along the coastline from the Chesapeake Bay area and up to Maine. This migratory game fish moves into rivers to reproduce and is seldom found more than a few miles from shore at any time. The schooling nature of rockfish makes using outriggers an effective way to catch these fish. When set properly at the correct depth, fishing rigs on outriggers will pass through schools of rockfish to generate strikes. This can often lead to a feeding frenzy with multiple strikes in a short period of time.
Design
Each outrigger is a long metal pole attached on a pivot to the gunwale along the outside edge of the boat. The outrigger holds a series of eyelets and pulleys, through which a cord halyard passes. Quick-release clips attached to the halyard hold multiple fishing lines away from either side of the boat. When lowered, each outrigger extends outward from the side of the boat, spreading out the bait presentation in the water and preventing fishing lines from tangling with each other. Each outrigger can hold multiple fishing lines.
Rigging
Set up several fishing rods with rigs appropriate for rockfish. This can include a bait fish, such as a menhaden or sardine, hooked through the lips on a 2/0 or 3/0 hook on a wire leader, a 1/2- to 3/4-oz. jig head and plastic fluke, or a stick or crank bait. Add enough weight to the line to draw the leader and bait down to between 50 and 100 feet, depending on where rockfish are holding.
Deployment
Set one rig in the water and allow it to trail out behind the boat to the proper distance and depth. Attach the fishing line to the outermost quick-release clip on the halyard of one of the outriggers. Pull the halyard to draw the line out onto the outrigger. Attach another line on the first outrigger to the next clip and draw it out onto the outrigger. Repeat this process for any remaining quick-release clips on the outrigger halyard. Repeat the entire process on the opposite outrigger.
Trolling
Troll the boat at a steady speed to keep the bait at the proper depth. Observe the lines attached to the quick-release clips on the outriggers. Watch for the fish moving across the surface of the water as an indicator of a striper school below. Seabirds can also tip you off to a striper school location as they feed on injured baitfish left behind by the school. When a rockfish strikes, the quick-release clip will let go the line. To avoid tangling lines after a strike, bring in in any fishing lines set up on the transom of the boat and land the rockfish.
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