There are few people who know striped bass as well as Captain Paul Dixon. Widely considered a pioneer of striped bass fly fishing and flats fishing for stripers, Dixon has a wealth of knowledge. In his home waters of Montauk, it’s as if Dixon speaks striped bass. This summer, we had the chance to fish with Paul and learn how he targets and catches stripers. These are Paul Dixon’s striped bass tips.
Tips to Catch More Striped Bass on Teasers
One of Dixon’s favorite ways to catch striped bass is with a teaser. This involves casting a hard surface plug, like a spook, without hooks to get a striper’s attention. Once the fish is interested, you bait and switch the plug with a fly for an explosive take. Below are Paul’s tips for fishing teasers effectively.
1. Use a Floating Fly Line
The most important part of fishing a teaser is keeping your fly in the strike zone. To do so, the angler should focus on keeping the fly in line or just behind the teaser. Dixon recommends using a floating line so you know exactly where your fly is in relation to the teaser. Bass chasing a teaser aren’t very line-shy, so clear tip fly lines are not super important for this fishing.
2. Water Haul Your Line
When working the teaser, Paul’s best casting tip for the fly angler is to water haul your fly constantly. The water haul keeps your line close to the boat and off the water. When a fish appears, you can quickly pick up the fly and cast it at the teaser. To water haul, Dixon recommends having about 9 feet of fly line out of the rod tip.
3. Fish a Two-Handed Retrieve
The purpose of a teaser is to draw a reaction strike from stripers. To achieve this, the teaser must be worked quickly and erratically across the surface. When it’s time to cast, Paul is a firm believer in retrieving the fly with a two-handed strip. This ensures you can retrieve the fly fast enough to keep it close to the teaser.
4. Never Pull Your Fly Out of the Water
You can’t catch a fish with your fly out of the water—this is especially true when fishing with a teaser. If bass are blowing up on the teaser and chasing it down, keep your fly in the water as long as possible. It may appear that the fish have lost interest in the teaser, but are actually still following behind it. If you leave the fly in the water, there’s a good chance a bass may surprise you and grab your fly.
5. Pause Your Teaser in Deep Water
Working the teaser properly is just as important as fishing your fly. Paul Dixon recommends casting the teaser to areas that may hold bass, like points, troughs, and breaks. Once the lure lands, wait before retrieving it. Then retrieve and twitch it so the lure walks the dog erratically. Every so often, Dixon likes to pause the teaser before resuming the retrieve. This tactic is especially productive in deeper water to get the attention of big bass.
6. Add a Leader Loop to Your Teaser
Paul’s last tip is to add a piece of leader line (30-40lb), tied in a loop to the back end of your teaser lure. The loop can be placed over the reel handle, since there are no hooks to put in the hook keeper. Paul keeps this loop fairly long and does not trim the tag ends down. His belief is that the extra line looks like a tail and can help draw the attention of striped bass.
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