Live lining for striped bass from a kayak

This ended up being a really fun day for both stripers and fluke fishing from the kayak with Dan from Fishin' Accomplished. It was probably the first time I successfully landed a striper using a live bunker (aka pogy, Atlantic menhaden) as bait. I see now why so many people claim this method to be the most successful way to catch striped bass. Prior to this, I had never really seen bass under the bunker pods where I primarily fish on the Northshore of Long Island. There was a bit of a learning curve for me on when how to hook the bunker and when to set the hook but much of that could just be related to the size of the bass that hits the bunker, as well as the size of the bunker itself.
Dan's Channel: / fishinaccomplished
Dan's Video of this day: • 30 Dollar Rod vs 30 P...
Bass rod:
Shimano Trevala 6'-0" Heavy, Med-Fast action: amzn.to/3oe1eZt (affiliate link)
Newell S229-5: (maybe check ebay?)
mainline: 30lb power pro: amzn.to/3ly6fvg (affiliate link)
leader: 40lb ande mono: amzn.to/3PCEkb8 (affiliate link)
hook: 8/0 VMC 3x strong inline circle
#stripedbassfishing #liveliningbunker #kayakfishing

[@steven7984]

Love your videos

[@PeterRanieriII]

Thank you for letting me know, this helps encourage me to keep making them 🤙

[@kb7771]

Dude I've been binge watch your old videos....Taking notes brother! Not just your videos thought Pete, Dan, Funk, Bob and Rich lmao hopefully we can put together a kayak meet someday lol... I took your advice and downloaded Navionics and now I'm constantly reading structure all night.. Let's Go bro don't flake lol

[@PeterRanieriII]

KB, my man - happy to hear it! All my videos are me learning as well so dont take it as gospel, haha. I love watching those guys' channels as well, we'll all get out there someday, I can't wait to get back on the water in spring, miss it so much. You did?! Great news, yeah that is my go to app when im on the toilet or just bored, study up! It really makes a difference when you plan a trip and take all that info into consideration

[@savvy1856]

Peter, you can do these fish with MUCH lighter tackle than that monster Newell. Makes each one 10x more enjoyable. I'm using an Abu Garcia Revo 40 Beast on a Daiwa Proteus fluke rod and fishing EXACTLY where you are in this video. The difference in weight is INSANE...Trust me, it's more fun.

[@PeterRanieriII]

You are so right. I completely over gunned my tackle for this day, especially the rod too. I just didn't know what to expect fishing there for the first time and heard it was possible we could see 40lbers+ lol so I def over did it looking back. Your setup sounds really nice, thats def what I'm going for next time tho, I believe you!

[@savvy1856]

@@PeterRanieriII There are the occasional 40+ fish back there but don't be too concerned. I've caught fish up to 44 lbs. on the set-up I described. It's a blast!

[@erod235]

Great times!! Tight lines!!

[@PeterRanieriII]

Indeed! Can’t wait to try this again, tight lines 🤙

[@anewlookatlurestopwaterpop5466]

Good job you finally caught a nice one after losing so many good job.

[@PeterRanieriII]

Yeah thanks man, I think mostly because I was hooking the bunker wrong - lol it was frustrating

[@anewlookatlurestopwaterpop5466]

I know but it happens, I will see you guys this year.

[@PeterRanieriII]

@@anewlookatlurestopwaterpop5466 awesome, see you out there, spring will be here soon

[@anewlookatlurestopwaterpop5466]

Can't wait

[@thevernonposse]

The cast net guys def take more than necessary

[@PeterRanieriII]

I noticed that as well, one boat looked like they were chumming with the extras

[@FishinAccomplished]

Man, what an epic morning! Just watching that got me pumped up to get back out there! Just the anticipation for a bass to maul the bunker! Great edit as always Pete!

[@PeterRanieriII]

Epic is right, its such a rush when your line just starts peeling out...hopefully will learn to hook more next time lol. Seems the weight is a better idea, now we know!

[@NYCE_Fishing]

I tried live lining bunker there as well and my first day was a fail lol, but I redeemed myself the following day. Awesome video man.

[@PeterRanieriII]

Thanks, NYCE - lol live and learn as they say, glad to hear about the redemption! It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be to hook these fish

[@williamcarr1678]

You should try to just barely hook bunker in top of shoulder. You will get way better hook ups and bait can swim more natural !!!!

[@PeterRanieriII]

Your soo right, live and learn! I thought the belly would make them swim down but after thinking about it and hearing how others do it, for sure all that did was mess with their swimming. Next time!

[@MrReelsa]

Great Vids! Was there last weekend, so many boats was crazy in small space in dense fog situation.

[@PeterRanieriII]

Thanks Mr Reels, glad to hear ! Yea I don't like being around the boats, especially in fog. I bet it was a parking lot when you went too, oh well hope you caught a fish or two

[@TylerGoesFishing]

very nice fish

[@PeterRanieriII]

Thanks Tyler! 🤙

[@MrTcal4404]

Seeing those boils & the ff lit up gets my blood pumping! Great session. I got a massive gator blue last fall that inhaled a live lined bunker, thing took me for a ride! Elias has a bunch of live lining videos that I found helpful for hook placement, when to reel/set the hook, etc. Haven't seen any bunker over my way yet

[@PeterRanieriII]

Same! Oh man, they were hungry when we first started, loved watching that hapless bunker getting boiled on at the surface, haha. Can only imagine what a big gator blue is like on the kayak. I should've brushed up on his vids before this trip, I noticed he does hook through the mouth or notril and slowwww troll a lot, makes a lot more sense. It's just crazy how fast everything happens and your heart is racing as you're trying to get this bunker into the zone, lol it's a great time. They should be headed over soon, if your directly north of me on the sound I heard they are small pods in my area so this weekend you might see some, bring the bunker snags just in case!

[@MrTcal4404]

@@PeterRanieriII Incredible how they can inhale full size bunker like that...Got my janky homemade egg sinker + treble snag ready to go lol

[@FunkyFishingTV]

Great looking Keeper!!

[@PeterRanieriII]

Thanks! I tried a kebab recipe on the grill thanks to your recent video. Couldn’t find the recipe but it sounded like you were at a Greek party so I researched a Greek fish kebab recipe and it came out amazing. Def only going to cook it that way from now on!

[@FunkyFishingTV]

@@PeterRanieriII awesome I’m sure it was delicious! It was a middle eastern style party and we used lemon pepper seasoning that’s why it was yellow. What was the seasoning in the Greek version?

[@PeterRanieriII]

@@FunkyFishingTV ahhh that makes sense. It was cumin, cillantro, garlic...i forget everything else but heres the recipe I used. Didnt use everything it called for but almost everything: www.saveur.com/grilled-fish-kebabs-recipe/

[@jborselli15]

You usually hook the bunker in the belly? Never seen that before

[@PeterRanieriII]

I don’t have much experience hooking bunker but previously I would hook pilchards and goggle eyes in the belly if I wanted them to swim down. But yeah def seems through the nose or mouth is the way to go

[@ProphecyFishing]

Epic bite. Epic day. This is the type of fishing that got me addicted to kayak fishing 🙏 Next time You’re in this situation try the gulp on a Jig. It’ll stand out next to all the Bunker. Different species get caught in the cross fire all of the time. Matching the hatch isn’t always the way to go especially for the 40 plus pounders. Put an adult sea Robin, fluke, blackfish or porgy on in this kinda bit with a wait so he’s at the bottom & the biggest fish there is gonna eat it. Sorry for the rant. I bet the circle hook hurt you more than helped you.

[@PeterRanieriII]

I can tell why it got you addicted, this was so much fun. I like that idea about presenting something different for the bigger fish that is lazily watching it all go down for an opportunity on something. Like @joe k mentioned I think hooking the bunker not near the head was a mistake bc prob some of the bass grabbed it by the head and The hook was still outside the mouth and didn’t give them time to swallow it more. I do like circle hooks though for baiting live fish in general, if you do hook the fish your trying to catch, they do tend to hold well and in a good spot, just takes some getting used to with not pumping crazy on the hook set

[@LI-FLKayakFisherman]

Nice job on that second bass. What size leader were you using?

[@PeterRanieriII]

40lb mono. Thanks, yea he felt like a monster, everything happened so fast I even forgot to revive him but the fight was short and his dorsal was up nice

[@perrydelrossi345]

Can I ask where abouts you are fishing here in this video? You can PM me if you'd rather not respond in the comments. Thank you.

[@thomasschaefer505]

What state are you fishing in??? Great video.

[@PeterRanieriII]

NY. Thanks Thomas!

[@huckfin1100]

So painful to watch you don't hook your bait that way !

[@PeterRanieriII]

lol its painful to look back and watch it for me too, live and learn I guess

[@joshuariddensdale2126]

I've caught stripers just using frozen bunker. Although we're required to use circle hooks when using bait for stripers now. Over the weekend, I went out on the Wicked Tuna boat Dot Com for one of his haddock charters out of Gloucester, MA. We did pretty good. I personally caught a dozen haddock, a half dozen reds, and a couple of throwback cod (cod is closed in MA waters). We only went out about 10 miles to the north end of Stellwagen. In all, we landed about 50 haddock, two dozen reds, and released about 10 cod.

[@PeterRanieriII]

Thats awesome Josh, how are those guys? sounds like a fun time on a well known boat! Been to stellwagon once myself for a tuna trip that turned into a ground fishing trip with mostly whiting and a few haddock. They are very serious about the cod over there, super regulated, trying to get their stocks back up.

[@huckfin1100]

You best listen to master master say circle hook you buy circle hook okay bye now !