Surf Casting Bombers for Stripers

Bomber minnow plugs are time-proven striped bass producers in the surf. Learn how to tap into the best coastal action.

No fish in the United States commands the passion of the surf angler like the striped bass. From Maine to New Jersey, surf fishermen plan their lives around the spring, summer and fall months for the chance to tap into hot striper action.

Going back to the advent of surf fishing for striped bass, large, long swimming plugs have been designed to mimic natural forage baitfish, including as menhaden, mullet, herring and mackerel. One lure has not only the pedigree from the old school to be considered the godfather of manufactured surf plugs, but to this day remains the top offering for any surf striper angler – the Bomber minnow plug.

Look through any old fishing magazines, and you’ll quickly see the word Bomber was omnipresent through the text. That pattern still rings true. The Bomber plug is a surf striper angler’s best friend.

The Striper Run

The striper migration is broken up into the spring run, when the fish are moving northward along the Eastern Seaboard to spawn, and the Fall Run, when they fin southward to winter over. Their surf span can reach anywhere from Maine to North Carolina, but generally localize from Massachusetts to New Jersey for prime grounds. During the migration, stripers stick close to the coast and populate surf waters, sometimes even bumping into your legs as you stand in the wash.

Stripers in the surf are chasing schools of baitfish, which include menhaden, herring, mackerel, and mullet. Enter the Bomber. The Bomber 16A Heavy Duty Long A and 17A Magnum Long A, which are the two largest Long A minnows at 6 and 7 inches, match prevalent forage exceptionally well, and are the standard Bombers for surf stripers. The 4 ½-inch 15A Long A provides a smaller option for when forage is small, smaller bass are in the surf and long casts are less vital. 

The newer Bomber Long Shot, which comes in 5, 6 and 7-inch sizes, offers a similar but somewhat narrower profile and a wider wobble and is engineered to be cast exceptionally fall.

The Heavy Duty and Magnum Long A and all three Long Shot models come equipped with heavy duty salt-resistant hooks and hardware.

Proper Rigs & Gear

As with any fishing, you need the proper connection to your lure to make the offering work according to its designed.

When most bass are smaller, in the 5- to 15-pound range, you can get away with a medium to fast action rod rated for 8- to 17-pound. I like a St. Croix Tidemaster TIS76MF, matched with a Shimano 5000 Stradic reel spooled with 30-pound Power Pro braided line. That size set up is best for throwing a Bomber 15A or 16A or a 5- or 6-inch Long Shot.  

Larger bass, which are commonly 20 to 50 pounds, and sometimes weigh even more, require a beefed-up set up, such as a Lamiglas 10 -foot SSS101MHS, matched with an 8000-class reel. You can then launch out the heavier weight Bombers, such as the Magnum Long 17A, which is 7 inches long and weighs 1 1/2 ounces, or the 6- or 7-inch Long Shot.  

For a simple casting rig, use a 75-pound barrel swivel, a 30-inch section of 25- to 40-pound fluorocarbon and a 50-pound snap, which is used for interchanging lures. Roughly 18 inches up from the snap, tie a dropper loop to affix a white 2/0 bucktail hair teaser. Teasers are widely recommended by surf veterans for fishing Bomber plugs for stripers. The theory is that the teaser sparks an aggressive strike from bass that see the small teaser “baitfish” swimming away from the larger “predator” Bomber plug. Larger bass will inhale the Bomber plug as its meal.

• Use a long rod – 8 to 12 feet – to maximize every presentation with your Bomber.
• Use a teaser to attract more strikes and more decisive strikes.
• Match Lure size and corresponding tackle to the size of bass you expect to find in the surf.

Best Times to Fish

Sunrise hours are prime times to target bass with Bomber plugs as bass crash and blast bunker schools once the sun comes up. Favorite daytime color patterns include lighter colors like Pearl/Yellow (commonly called, Chicken Scratch), Yellow Baby Striper (commonly called School Bus) and Bone.

If you have beach buggy access, use it to run and gun along the beachfront to find actively feeding bass on bait schools. Move around the coastline, trying out different cuts, holes and sloughs in various towns and beaches. Bass hang in the deeper cuts as they stage in ambush points to corral bait schools.

Otherwise, pay attention to recent reports, and pick a beach spot that has diverse offerings. Watch for activity as you study the water, and don’t be hesitant to move, even if you’re limited to foot travel.

Surf stripers usually like a slow to moderate presentation, so when casting, a pace of one crank of the reel per second is a good general rule of thumb.

When night falls, stripers truly are in their glory. More fish are caught during the dark hours than any other time. When fishing the night shift, go dark. Black is tough to top on dark nights. It is widely believed that the bass see the silhouette of the dark plug better against the night sky.

Conversely, if there is a bright full moon, the opposite is true, and stark white Bone colored plugs seem to draw more strikes.

When retrieving the plug at night, an even slower retrieve is necessary. Crank s-l-o-w-l-y, as in one full turn of the reel handle every 2 to 3 seconds, so that the plug has a very deliberate waggle. The key is just to maintain contact with the plug with no slack in the line as you reel.

With literally thousands of lures available to cast to surf stripers along the coast, one plug remains at the top of the pack – the tried-and-true Bomber. Don’t leave home without at least a few Bombers in your surf bag.

Bomber 15A

Bomber 16A

Bomber 17A

Bomber Long Shot