by Dave Lilly is always coming up with new ideas to catch stripers and fluke, but ended up saving a trip with Wally Smith by digging into the the bottom of his tackle box.
They got into a big fleet near Breezy Point, but didn’t see much going on. Trolling all his favorite lures on wire didn’t produce a hit before Lilly found a Stretch 25 in the bottom of his tackle box. As soon as that lure was deployed on braided line he was hooked up — and that continued with everything from shorts to overs on every drop.
That long, slim lure is made by Mann’s, and enables anglers to fish deep without weighted lines or drails since the diving head digs down as speed is increased.
It seemed to be especially effective in Raritan Bay during the early striper run when they seemed to prefer herring. Why it was the only lure which worked yesterday is a mystery, though much smaller Atlantic mackerel of tinker-size are in the prey mix this year.
Lilly went to the Tackle Box in Hazlet this morning to buy another Stretch 25 only to find they haven’t had one in stock for years! However, I suspect most local anglers have some saved and only in need of new hooks after all these years.
Lilly said it was flat calm yesterday, but blowing a gale today — as is predicted into Monday afternoon with west winds up to 35 knots.
Tight Lines 
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