In the distance, two bass leaped out of the water – 25, maybe 30 inches long. 

“I think those are bigger bass coming in right now,” I said.

The two surfcasters I’d been talking with looked up and one shook his head.

“No, we’ve been fishing all over the place since first light, and we haven’t seen or heard of any bass over slot.” 

Smaller striped bass started to erupt on the peanut bunker in front of us. I could see flashes of silver and the splashing of tails. They both started casting into the schools of 15-to 25-inch fish. I held a pencil popper in my hand and watched these small bass rip through the peanut bunker at blistering speed.

Then about 100 yards out, at the very end of my casting range, I saw a striped bass leap completely out of the water, almost in slow motion. It was a much bigger bass. I fired my pencil popper at where the fish had just landed back in the water. My pencil arched high and dove into the water like an Olympic diver hardly making a splash. It sunk down about 2 feet upon impact. I twitched the tip of my rod to engage the walking action of a pencil popper even though my plug was still a foot under the surface. Before the pencil broke the surface of the water it was hit. I loaded up into my hookset and felt the distinct head shakes and the weight of an immovable force. I knew it was a big bass. Its broom-tail broke the surface thrashing back-and-forth once or twice before it gained traction. It was ripping out line, and I had that unmistakable and scary feeling of the fish being in control. The top of my rod pulsated with every swipe of its massive tail. I held my breath. I knew the fight had just begun.

Earlier that morning when I got to the water’s edge, I could make out schools of peanut bunker (baby Atlantic Menhaden) cruising down the beach in the crystal-clear water. There were 15 to 25-inch bass feeding heavily on them. It was still early. The sky was getting brighter, but the sun had yet to break over the horizon. The scarlet sky quickly turned to pink as the sun slid above the water. Rays of light glistened off the surface. The cool wind was blowing gently across the still-warm water making the humid air taste, smell, and feel like fall. It was made even better by the consistent action from 15 to 25-inch bass. 

Around 11 o’clock I heard the loud voices of the unmistakable giddy excitement that only fishermen get when watching bass blitz. Two Surfcasters started walking down from the parking lot toward me. They struck up a conversation asking me how the fishing had been earlier that day. They had been a town over that morning where they caught some low 30-inch striped bass before the fish pushed offshore. As we chatted, a lull in the blitz occurred. This is normal during blitzes. The bass feed hard and then stop to regroup and digest before continuing their onslaught. As we were talking, I noticed a school of bass a little bit further offshore starting to pour around the corner of some rocks in sight of the beach. 

 “I think those are bigger bass coming in right now.” 

They both looked up. One shook his head.

“No we’ve been fishing all over the place…”

One of my favorite plugs to fish in the fall is a 6-inch pencil popper. Nothing beats catching a bass on top water. I like this plug because I get the distance I need and it is easy to cast accurately. In addition, a 6-inch pencil popper pairs nicely with a 9 to10 foot rod. It will also cull the bigger fish out of a school.  I like to fish pencil poppers that are yellow over white in color because it mimics the coloration of the striped bass’s primary bait fish, the Atlantic Menhaden. An added benefit is that it is easy to see on the surface of the water. 

I change out all the hooks on my pencil poppers to Owner ST66 hooks because they are extremely sharp and very strong. There is nothing worse than losing a big bass to a bent-out hook. Some of my favorite pencil poppers to throw are the Poombahplugs 6-inch pencil popper. I am also a big fan of the Tsunami Talking Popper XD version. Both these pencil poppers cast well, are easy to work, and have proven time and time again to catch really big bass. 

When working a pencil popper during a blitz, I place my hand 10 inches above the reel seat and hold the rod loosely at the ends of my fingers. Not in a death grip! I reel slowly to keep tension on the plug in the water and use my fingers and wrist to create action with the plug making it thrash back-and-forth. In my experience, this seems to be the best way to entice a big bass.

Before my long cast, before the fight was on, I began walking away from the two now-busy Surfcasters toward one of my favorite spots on the beach. One of the most productive strategies I use to catch the biggest striped bass out of a blitz is by sight casting at the bigger bass. The way you do this is by watching the bass blitz before making a cast. Smaller fish are moving a lot faster than bigger ones. When a small bass jumps out of the water to eat a peanut bunker or any other bait it’s a flash of scales and a blur of fins. When a bass of considerable size jumps out of the water, you can see the whole fish – larger bass move slower and there is more fish to see when it’s out of the water. It may seem obvious, but your perspective from shore makes it difficult to gage the true size of the fish, so when a bass is far away, it will appear smaller than its actual size. This is why I can rely on knowing that if I see a striped bass clearly jump out of the water from far away that it is likely a big fish. After I see a clear jump, I try to cast as close to that fish as possible. Often bass will be in pods of similar-sized fish when they are blitzing. If you can land the plug near where the bigger fish just jumped, you will have the best chance of catching that bass or one of a similar size. 

There was a slight bowl in the sand which made a catchment for the peanut bunker. I turned the pencil popper over in my hand for about two minutes watching the melee in front of me. Patience. It was hard not to just give up and make a cast into the blitzing bass, but I knew that if there were some bigger bass around this would be my chance. There! I saw a bass that looked bigger, maybe 25 to 30-inchs jump clearly out of the water. Right as the bass landed, I fired my plug out into the water. It landed a foot to the right, just ahead of where the fish had landed. Before my pencil popper resurfaced, I twitched it hard twice and felt the big bass as it inhaled the plug. I felt the rod absorb the huge head shakes and saw the tail break the surface throwing water in every direction as it thrashed. When its tail finally got purchase, it took off on an earsplitting run, loud enough to make beachgoers turn and look in my direction. 

Because I was fishing off a sandy beach, I was not concerned about this bass breaking me off on any rocks or structure hidden under the surface. That morning I was fishing with a 9 foot Medium Lamiglas Carbon Surf rod paired with a Van Staal VSX 150. My only goal was to maintain tension with the fish and be patient when fighting it. On sandy beaches where there’s no obstruction behind me, I like to slowly start walking backward. This is a good way to not only land a bass when it gets close but also ensure that I am maintaining tension on the fish. After two long runs the bass began to tire. I slowly started to reel it in. Once the bass got within 10 feet I started to walk back again, not reeling. There were no waves and it gently beached itself on the wet sand. I then went over and grabbed it by the mouth and realize this fish was a true monster. Pulling a measuring tape out of my pocket while keeping the fish in the water, I measured it at 49 inches, one of the biggest bass I’d caught that season. I removed the pencil popper from its mouth. The two Surfcasters had stopped fishing and just watched. I turned and quickly revived the fish by walking it down the beach backward in the shallows. 

“I think those are bigger bass coming in right now.” 

“No, we’ve been fishing all over the place… 

The enormous striped bass exploded with energy and life and kicked off. 

I chuckled. It’s all about perspective. Things may be bigger than they appear.