Warm-water striper fishing is a whole ’nother ballgame. From April through October, you need to focus on the bottom, where fish are seeking refuge in cooler water. The St. Johns has depths to 80 feet between the Fuller Warren and Main Street bridges, and this is an excellent place for summertime stripers.

The nice thing about lazy summer stripers is that we know they are on the bottom close to the pilings seeking cool water. The problem is they are not feeding. There are two approaches I use for targeting them: live bait deep and artificials around pilings.

The livebait rig is relatively simple. I use a 7-foot, medium-action spinning rod and 20-pound-test line. I thread an egg sinker and a bead on the line, then tie on a swivel with a 15-pound leader and a plain shank 3/0 bronze hook. Bait choice depends on what is available. In order of preference, I’ll fish shad, menhaden, finger mullet, shiners, croakers, spots or shrimp. I generally soak these baits as close to the pilings as possible. Sinker size depends on current speed and depth. In deep water and fast current, I sometimes use 3 ounces; in shallower, slower water, a 1-ounce sinker is adequate. It is best to use as little weight as necessary to keep the bait on the bottom. During the summer months I seldom fish water shallower than 15 feet.

Artificials are more useful for locating fish. You can cover more water and more pilings in shorter time. Work lures right in the pilings, as close to the bottom as possible, and work them slow—these listless fish aren’t in a chase mode. Virtually all of the pilings hold fish, so if you focus on one set of pilings and be patient, eventually some fish will pass through your area.

One of my favorite summer striper lures is a big Mr. Wiffle shad tail paired with a 1-ounce leadhead; the blue-and-clear metalflake combination is excellent. Giant Got-Cha grubs in nite-glow by Sea Striker are also effective, as would be any other type of similar soft-plastic lure. The Hyper Striper Stump Jumper has yielded three fish over 16 pounds for me; it’s a specialized bucktail with a flashing blade and super-action tail. The gray shad with clear tail, blue shad with pearl tail and chartreuse with chartreuse metalflake tail have all been productive. I use them in 3⁄4-ounce, 1-ounce and 11⁄2-ounce sizes, depending on the depth and current. Another one of my favorites is the Bomber Flair Hair Jig in both yellow and white—basically a bucktail jig with a grub on it. I like this lure because it is well balanced and the hook always stays up, making it somewhat snag-proof. My tackle box is loaded with 1⁄2-ounce, 1-ounce, 11⁄2-ounce and 2-ounce Flair Hair Jigs. The 2-ounce Flair Hair is superb for probing the deep, turbulent waters around downtown’s Main Street and Acosta bridges.

My jigging outfit is a 7-foot, medium-action baitcasting rod with 30-pound-test line—tough stuff for pitching big baits and pulling big fish away from the pilings. Smaller artificials are best worked with lightweight spinning tackle.

Where should you start looking for stripers? In one word: Pilings. Jacksonville stripers aren’t as predictable as some of the other local inshore fish. One day you may catch 15 next to a certain set of pilings, then return the next day during the same tide and get skunked, or catch 15 fish next to 15 different pilings. Just when you think you have them figured you find out you don’t.

When the water is fresh enough you can usually find stripers under all of the downtown bridges. The Mathews Bridge, Cesery Boulevard and University Boulevard bridges on the Arlington River, the Hart Bridge, the Main Street Bridge, the Acosta, the CSX railroad trestle, the Fuller Warren Bridge and bridges on the Ortega River are all good. Some overlooked spots that are very productive are the Maxwell House Coffee docks, docks in front of the Music Shed, the dock in front of the Sun Trust building, Jones College dock, the Southside Electrical Generating Plant dock and all of the piers lining the shore from Empire Point all the way to Millers Creek. The bulkhead in front of the CSX building is 26 feet deep next to the bank and occasionally holds fish. I find the mooring pilings alongside the Jacksonville Landing right before you enter the no-wake zone of the Main Street bridge to be one of the most consistent spots. On rare occasions during overcast conditions, stripers will deviate from the pilings and roam in schools along deepwater drops around Exchange Island.

Anglers should be aware of the no-wake zone from the CSX railroad trestle to the Main Street Bridge. On special event days, such as during football games, the zone extends all the way to the Hart Bridge. There are flashing lights on both the Hart and Main Street bridges indicating when the special event no-wake zone is in effect.

What I like most about downtown striper fishing is the size of the fish. They usually average around 24 inches and 8-pounders are fairly common. Surprisingly, there aren’t many anglers targeting them. Maybe it’s because the upriver section from the Buckman Bridge on into Palatka has a better reputation for stripers. Or, perhaps anglers simply haven’t figured out the downtown fish. Whatever the case, there are hundreds of pilings lining the downtown stretch of the St. Johns, and every one has the potential to yield big striped bass.

FS