Place your live bait on the hook normally through the upper lip or through the nostril. In most cases we like to place our bait down to the bottom and then raise it up 2 - 3 feet off the bottom so that it is placed right in front of the fish's sight at all times. Sometimes when your fish do not seem active, a slight jigging motion of the shad will trigger a strike, and in most cases this will send the whole school into a feeding frenzy. Limits can be obtained rapidly once the feed is on. It is important that when you get the school in an aggressive mode, re-bait and try to catch another fish as soon as possible.
Stripers have a tendency to move or leave the area once a few fish have been caught out of a school.
Down rigging has also been very productive this week. While some fishermen are trolling the open waters 40 - 60 feet, many fishermen are working slow and close to the shoreline in order to locate and catch some fish that are in the similar pattern that we are using for live bait. Working the breaks and drops trolling requires constant eye contact with your graph and being ready and alert to raise the cannon balls at all times. Many of the points do come up drastically and this can be hazardous in losing cannon balls or hanging up down rigger lines. Right now it is the traditional buck tail jig or jighead with shad bodies or twister tails.