At right: Top surf artificials for stripers include a top water plug, Storm jig, jumbo bucktail with curl tail, Kastmaster, Hopkins and Stingsilver lures. Photo by Joe Malat

As I am writing this article during the second week of January, the weather continues to be unusually warm. The birds and plants are confused and it seems the fish don’t know exactly what to do.

By now, striped bass should be plentiful in the ocean from Rodanthe to Kitty Hawk, but so far they have been scarce. Stripers are being caught almost every day, but the fish are few and far between. There was a good showing of stripers a few weeks ago from the shoals at the mouth of Oregon Inlet, a few straggler bluefish and stripers were found not far from the beach, and stripers have been sporadically beached on fresh menhaden around Oregon Inlet.

But the main body of stripers remains concentrated a long way to the north, from the North Carolina/Virginia line up into the Chesapeake Bay. No wonder the fish aren’t moving south; the ocean water temperature at Duck two days ago was 54 degrees, several degrees warmer than it should be.

Most folks aren’t complaining about the weather, but anglers are wondering when the stripers will arrive along the Outer Banks. It’s my guess that we could see some terrific striper action during late January and February. So, whether you are an Outer Banks surfcaster or boater, keep your tackle ready!

I love to catch stripers from the beach on artificial lures and if that’s my plan I’ll ride the beach and look for bird activity and feeding fish. Large Hopkins, Gator spoons and Rat-L-Traps, and two to four ounce bucktails dressed with eight-inch soft plastic curl tails are my go-to lures when the fish are feeding on big baits and a long cast is required.

Sometimes big stripers might shy away from a jumbo-sized lure. If the stripers are chasing small baitfish, I’ll throw a small lure such as a three-quarter to one ounce Hopkins Shorty or Smoothie. Stingsilvers or Kastmasters may also be deadly. I like a seven foot rod for casting the tiny lures, while a ten foot stick gets the nod for tossing the big stuff. Either way, I’ll match the gear to the conditions of the day, the size of the lure, and how far these lures must go to reach their target.

Blind casting may catch sporadic fish, but the best time for working lures is when fish are showing or their presence is revealed by feeding birds working on the water’s surface.

Fishing with bait on the bottom is also a proven method. Sliding sinker, “fishinder” rigs, tied with 80-pound test, eight-inch long monofilament leaders, and baited with mullet or menhaden are preferred by bait fishers. This is the same rig preferred by anglers who target jumbo red drum.

Live eels are a natural food for stripers, and they may be fished on a couple of different rigs. One option is to hook an eel through the eyes on a 6/0 offset bend hook, rigged with 18-inches of 60-pound test monofilament. A 3/0 black barrel swivel connects the leader and line, no weight is used and the eels are slowly retrieved or allowed to swim with the current. This “free lining” technique will work in the deep water found around inlets, but may be futile along the ocean beach with breaking surf. It doesn’t take much wave action to push a weightless eel back to beach and out of the feeding zone for stripers.

The method preferred by anglers fishing on the open beach is to rig an eel on a fishfinder rig, hooked through the tail. Bait fishers should use relatively heavy tackle in the surf, such as stiff rods in the nine to eleven foot range that can cast four to eight ounces of lead, plus a large piece of bait.

If the tackle shops don’t have fresh mullet or menhaden, don’t forget the seafood department at your favorite grocery store. If the price doesn’t break the bank, I’ll bait my hook with a piece of just about any type of fresh fish, rather than use a hunk of frozen mullet.

Any type of surf and sea condition may produce stripers on the beach. They may bite on bluebird days as well as blustery days with a wind-tossed surf. The presence of bait seems to dictate whether or not the predators will be there. Hopefully, in the upcoming few weeks, large schools of menhaden will be close enough to the beach to lure the stripers within casting range of the beach fishers.

Last year was not good for surfcasters, but boaters did well, with most of the fish concentrated in the ocean from Rodanthe north to Duck, and the fish randomly appeared at just about every possible location between those two points, from a few hundred yards to a couple miles off the beach.

Stripers are always looking for food and they can come to the beach any time the baitfish are in the surf zone. The North and South sides of Oregon Inlet are the likely hot spots along the northern beaches and Cape Point near Buxton is the best bet on Hatteras Island. But who is to say what this year will bring?

As evidenced by the warm weather we’ve had recently, this year is very different from the past three. Anglers might want to monitor local fishing reports and keep in touch with their favorite Outer Banks tackle shop to see when the bite is on.