Pencil Poppers for Big Stripers in New England

Despite my advice in the last post to fish deep for summer stripers, there are still some tactics from the spring that will work. One of my favorite tactics that I carry over from the spring is first light pencil popper fishing. Although summer stripers combat the hot summer sun by heading to deep water, they still spend their nights prowling the shallows for baitfish, crustatceans, and other prey. Fishing pencil poppers in a shallow boulder field, or even in deeper water like at the Cape Cod Canal, at first light can be a great way to catch large striped bass.

One reason why I believe pencil poppers (and spook baits alike) work so well at first light is because large profile baits, like pogies (bunker/menhaden) and snapper bluefish come into the areas as well, and the stripers are tight on their tails. Pencil poppers and spooks mimic these baitfish extremely well.

Due to their popularity, there is a wide selection of pencil poppers on the market today, ranging from inexpensive plastic models, to pricey custom built wood plugs, and even build your own plug kits. My favorite pencil over the past few years has been the Salty's 2.5 oz canal style lure kit. Not only do these plugs perform well, but it is also pretty fun painting and assembling them yourself.

Other great pencils include those from Left Hook, Afterhours, Guppy, Gibbs, and Cape Cod Tackle. For spooks it is tough to beat the Tattoo Sea Pup.

Next time you're out slinging eels all night, try to stick it out to first light, and clip on a pencil popper or spook. I prefer to work these lures slower and really emphasize the side to side movement of both, even though conventional pencil popper fisherman insist on whipping the tip back and forth to create a spastic movement. Both methods certainly work.

Here is a 44" striper I caught mid July last year on a pencil popper at first light. May have broke 30lbs, but it was fairly skinny. Not bad considering I had caught nothing throwing rigged eels most of the night.

-S.B.